McPixel 3 is a game that certainly doesn’t take itself seriously. And it’s one that I’m sure its lone developer had a lot of fun making. It could be best described as a series of interconnected simple adventure game-ish minigames where you, as titular McPixel, manage to somehow survive ridiculous situations.
Having had zero experience playing the original McPixel – that’s right there was no McPixel 2 before 3 and after the first! – playing McPixel 3 has been revelatory for sure. The chance I’ve been having to catch up on what I’ve been missing these last ten years and see what the fuss was all about, and of course, get a few laughs in for good measure.
To be honest, for as funny as McPixel 3 can be, admittedly there’s really not much to it when it comes to depth. If you come into this game looking for an experience that will last you for a long time, you’re better off not even starting it. This is the sort of game that you play on and off when you want to clear the air and not spend a lot of brain power.
That’s not to say that McPixel 3 dumb game in any way. Yes, it’s extremely silly, over the top, and very very simple, but it’s also very tightly designed and well thought. For one, there are numerous approaches you can take in levels that can potentially branch out to varied outcomes, then there’s the sheer absurdity of the obviously wrong solutions.
Well, calling them “wrong” probably isn’t the right way. There’s no incorrect way of playing McPixel 3 in the traditional sense of the word. You do progress in it at some point, unlocking new stages to play, but rewards are aplenty for making mistakes along the way. And it’s those jokes that make just throwing ideas into the wall to see if they’ll stick the main draw to playing McPixel 3.
Then again, McPixel 3’s brand of humor isn’t for everyone. If you’re looking for something more high brow that will have you think about repercussions for hours on end, you’re better off skipping this completely. On the other hand, the sheer charm and stupidity that’s in this game, coupled with the sheer amount of options and permutations to levels is sure to please anyone keen on having a very chill time.
I’m curious to see what more there is to McPixel 3. There’s a lot of it I’ve still got to try out and witness the chaotic results of. The slice that I saw so far has been positively silly, borderline crazy… pretty much what Devolver’s so great at fishing up.
And those are reasons enough to keep its paltry 140 MB download on my hard drive for the foreseeable future. Never know when there’ll be a boring phone call or inscrutable meeting I’ll need something to click through and pass the time for.
