History VideoGame / Pikuniku

Enter Piku, a strange ball with legs. While at first they get accused by villagers of being a monstrous beast, they eventually help them to restore the world back to its former glory. Along the way they'll meet characters of very diverse characteristics who just want them to stop and help.

* AbandonedMine: [[spoiler: Or possibly AbandonedTown. Strangely, its residents are shaped like Mr. Sunshine. The worm that assists you suggests that these are people rather than robots.]]

* AndYourRewardIsClothes: There are hidden temples and side-quests that aren't plot-important, just (occasinally NintendoHard) extra areas. The rewards from most of these are... hats with no practical use.

* CrapsaccharineWorld: Everything is cute and shiny and colorful, little birds are flying around, pretty flowers are blooming, there's lots of free money and dance parties for everyone...[[spoiler:and the evil corporation that's taken over the island is surveiling the population and strip mining their communities for resources, which it's hoarding to rebuild a new society from the ashes after destroying the island with a volcanic eruption]].

* DoomAsTestPrize: Wow, Eli is so lucky, winning a free tour of Sunshine Inc's headquarters! [[spoiler: Too bad he was actually kidnapped as an experimental subject and genetic source to create Mr. Sunshine's perfect future villagers.]]
* DoorToBefore: The more difficult platforming and puzzle sections usually give you a shortcut back to the beginning. In some places the "door" is a frog that teleports you.

* FauxAffablyEvil: Mr. Sunshine presents an affable front, offering money for "junk" and offering a tour at some point. Late in the game, however, the villagers slowly start catching on as to how he's destroying them, at which point Sunshine doesn't even try to hide his insanity anymore.

* GreatEscape: Late in the game, Mr. Sunshine arrests Piku and puts them in jail for breaking his robots and interfering with his plans. It is within jail that Piku learns of said plan and needs to escape to stop it.

* MegaCorp: Sunshine Inc has only the best intentions for the people of the island! Shhh. Just take your ''free money''.

* PlayableEpilogue: After completing the game, you can explore the world and talk to the townspeople and see what's changed. If you pause and look at the list of objectives, it simply says, "The end."

* VileVillainSaccharineShow: ''Pikuniku'''s universe is weird, quirky, and adorably out-there. Mr. Sunshine's plan [[spoiler:to wipe out the island in a volcanic explosion and create an {{Egopolis}} filled with mutants]], however, wouldn't be out-of-place with a crazier Bond or JRPG villain.

* AdvertisedeExtra: Niku, despite appearing next to Piku on the Nintendo Switch game icon, doesn't appear in the story mode campaign and is only playable in the co-op mode.

* AndYourRewardIsClothes: There are hidden temples that aren't plot-important, just NintendoHard extra areas. The result from most of these is... a hat with no practical use.

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Developed by British-French indie group Sectordub, published by Creator/DevolverDigital, and first released on January 21, 2019 for [[UsefulNotes/IBMPersonalComputer PC]] and UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch, ''Pikuniku'' is a puzzle platformer game in a world where all is not as it seems.

!! TRUST ME, IT’S FREE TROPES!

!! This video game provides examples of:

* TragicVillain: [[spoiler: It's implied Mr. Sunshine's hometown town being wiped out in a volcanic eruption has driven him to try and recreate it at the cost of the entire rest of the island.]]