If there is one thing I love in my games, it’s a healthy dose of what and why, and The Perfect Pencil Demo offers general befuddlement vibes in spades.
From the moment the demo kicks off, The Perfect Pencil throws you into a hand-drawn fever dream of a 2D action adventure, where you’ll find yourself wielding a pencil to fend off a nightmare world straight out of someone’s deep-seated anxieties.
If you’ve ever wanted a game that feels like your subconscious on a caffeine-fueled rampage, this one’s it. With a heavy splash of surreal storytelling, this Metroidvania is as strange as it is engrossing, with just enough unsettling imagery to keep gamers like Cody glancing over their shoulder.
Players will take on the role of John, our hero. Then, with no backstory or explanation, an alien shopkeeper pops a camera on John to act as his head as if it were a typical Monday.
This camera head is not just an aesthetic choice, either: it lets players scan environments, pick up hidden items, and see details other games would rather bury in a metaphor.
The Perfect Pencil demo also shines in its accessible, forgiving combat, which captivates players interested in enjoying the game for its vibe, speedrunners, and combat veterans alike.
But where The Perfect Pencil sets itself apart most is in its world inhabited by adults acting like creepy, oversized toddlers. Think folks crawling out of cribs or haunting you from high chairs, but with unsettlingly authentic expressions.
As John, you’ll explore these hand-crafted scenes full of bizarre, meaningful details, where every environment and interaction is layered with hidden messages. Fear, social anxieties, and obsessions are woven into the art, making the journey feel like a psychology class… but one where you fight with a pencil.
And it’s not just about the combat or the art. The Perfect Pencil weaves player choice into the game’s fabric, letting you shape the story through your interactions with the cast of weird, occasionally disturbing NPCs.
While The Perfect Pencil is more story-focused than your average Metroidvania, the demo lays the groundwork for its own niche, an unusual, introspective one that pairs exploration and personal themes in a world that feels familiar and deeply strange.
BOTTOM LINE:
The Perfect Pencil demo is a hand-drawn Metroidvania with creepy, surreal vibes and a story-driven focus.
Thanks to a world full of bizarre adult-baby enemies and haunting metaphors, the demo is weird but intriguing and worth checking out if you’re a fan of the genre.