Review: Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo

@brunosbom
Jun 10
3 min read

In Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo, face the criminal underworld using your most reliable weapon: a powerful yoyo.

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Developed by Pocket Trap, the studio behind titles like Dodgeball Academia and Ninjin: Clash of Carrots, Pipistrello is certainly a game that strengthens the already impressive lineup of pixel art masterpieces from Pocket Trap.

GAMEPLAY / VISUAL

As a good Brazilian, of course I had to try Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo. When I received the game for review, I honestly had no idea what it was about, and I didn't even know it was a Brazilian game. What immediately caught my eye were the graphics, with a lush pixel art style that is incredibly well-crafted and unique.

Right from the start, we're introduced to a story rich in detail about the Pipistrello family, who apparently hold an important — and possibly governmental — role in the city. We play as the charismatic bunny Pippit and, after a few events, we team up with our aunt, Madame Pipistrello, to begin our journey.

Among the many mechanics involving our yoyo, we can obviously throw it and see it come back to us. You can toss it and, after a while, it returns automatically. If it lands somewhere, it comes back instantly. When thrown, it can bounce off corners like a pinball, which is extremely fun.

We can also jump, and while in the air, we become temporarily invulnerable. It’s similar to the rolling mechanic in Dark Souls, perhaps? It works like a small window to buy time and think about your next move.

Some platforms can be frustrating to use. Not because they're imprecise, but because the mechanic itself is complex, tricky to master, and it’s difficult to feel both accurate and safe at the same time. It may take a while to fully understand the jumping logic.

Every time we get hit or fall, we lose hearts, but we can recover them by defeating monsters along the way.

To get quality-of-life upgrades, we need to make contracts that cost in-game coins. These contracts work as temporary penalties. For example, to gain an extra point of strength, we need to collect 500 coins, and until that contract is fulfilled, we play with one less heart. It’s a very interesting and challenging mechanic.

AUDIO

The soundtrack is definitely a highlight. It evokes samba and even traditional Brazilian instruments, mixing 8-bit influences, classic games, and the national culture in a unique way. The game is without a doubt one of the best at using this kind of approach in an original form, even while leaning on familiar elements of Brazilian music we already know.

ACHIEVEMENTS

The achievements are heavily tied to gameplay, and it’s a relief to see a game that doesn't just throw in countless meaningless collectibles. Not that Pipistrello doesn't do this in some way, it does, but there are so many creative and well-designed achievements that this ends up being a strength. The game is unique in every sense, and its confidence in its own creative vision allows for collectibles to actually make sense.

This is very different from generic games that make you collect a thousand items across the map. Collectibles belong in games that make an impact, and this one is certainly among them.

TRAILER OFFICIAL

RESUME

I was honestly speechless because I loved the game. It’s simply amazing. The art is beautiful, the audio is flawless, and the gameplay is excellent. To be honest, I hadn’t played anything from this developer before Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo, but this experience was so outstanding that it made me want to check out their previous work and hope for more titles like this in the future.

I sincerely wish the studio great success, because the Brazilian games industry deserves titles of this quality. It's not just the audiovisual impact that stands out, but also the way the game presents Brazilian cultural elements in such a unique way. It deserves a place among major indie titles, alongside Mullet Mad Jack, Knights of Pen and Paper, and other memorable names.

This game truly deserves international attention. It’s far from being just another indie title. More than a national product, it’s an example of what an indie game should be. I genuinely hope to see more games like this, and maybe even a sequel to Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo from the same developer.