Pipistrello is simply an addictive game, perfectly balancing very light “puzzles” with its constant charm. It is immediately one of the better entries in the genre I’ve played. I don’t aim to paint it as some genre-sweeping revolution, instead just as a very well-crafted experience. Every few screens has a fun, weird little character that just wants a hamburger or is pleased to pass some quirky observation about this incredibly brightly colored city. It’s yet to cross over into being overly smarmy, and I don’t expect it to in the back half of the game either. The few minutes of setup at the start is text-heavy, but after that the game smartly steps back to let you focus on acquainting yourself with its systems. The size of the game world means that even when you only have time to sit down for 30 minutes, you can still make some satisfactory progress and feel good about having done something. This is a smart, polished game that won me over within that first 30 minutes. Every time I think I’m settling into a groove I’m thrown a new wrinkle that gets my mind running once again and really excited and just…having fun. I really feel that this game will find an ardent audience to champion it, and I’m quite pleased to be one of them. It’s exactly the kind of title that made me want to spin up ‘Off The Radar’ in the first place; an addictive experience that came out of nowhere and kept impressing me. I’m excited to see the rest of the game, and even more excited to see what Pocket Trap will bring us next. Frankly, I will be surprised if this isn’t sitting comfortably on many favorites lists come the end of the year.
Show notes:
Read the text version of this here: https://mykonosfan.beehiiv.com/p/youre-going-to-hear-a-lot-about-pipistrello
Available on: Steam (what this episode is based on), Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5
Price: $19.99 USD, Demo available
Release date: May 28th, 2025
Developer, publisher: Pocket Trap, PM Studios
Prior works: Ninjin: Clash of Carrots, Dodgeball Academia
Disclosure: An early review copy was provided to me
Links mentioned: The Golden Bolt, Crub, and my mall photography
Find me elsewhere:
My BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/mykonosfan.com
My Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/MykonosFan
My Steam Curator page: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/43237486/
My other podcast, with other creators involved: https://crubcast.transistor.fm/
My YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@MykonosFan
If you have a game you'd like me to look at: [email protected]
‘Off The Radar’ is available on Beehiivin text and audio form, on your podcast service of choice, and will be delivered early to my Patreon supporters when no embargoes are in the way. Speaking of, a special thanks to Adrian, Buckles Chucklo, Harry Baker, Hiro, James Boss, GoldStorm07, Svendelica, Jeet, TheCrazyEven, Patrick Thompson, and Cooking Mama for their support.
Music attribution:
Intro music, 'Jungle Waves' from DIMMYSAD
https://pixabay.com/music/drum-n-bass-jungle-waves-drumampbass-electronic-inspiring-promo-345013/
Outro music composed by AllHailBuckets
https://open.spotify.com/artist/2dWDmPnBqbOuoGGF5oclcv
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
01:57 The progression system
05:14 The essence and takeaway
