History VideoGame / PonyIsland

* FreezeFrameBonus: Looking through the credits of Pony Island reveals that several historical monsters (among them Nero, Joseph Stalin, Pol Pot and Osama Bin Laden) had a hand in helping Lucifer with the game. [[TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers Oh]], and {{Dracula}}, who is a distinct individual from Vlad the Impaler, since both are credited.

* AnachronismStew: Since the game is set in Limbo, time and space has no meaning. The Arcade machine has an old style curved CRT monitor, the graphics look like something from Atari or Coleco, the desktop looks like Windows 95, the copyright notice for pony island lists 199'''2''' and the machine prints out arcade tickets. [[spoiler:Then there is the fact that the player is a [[UsefulNotes/TheCrusades Crusader from the 1200s]] who's able to operate a computer.]]

--> "You don't want to give me your souls? Fine. '''I am no longer asking'''."

* SequenceBreaking: The player is told that the FinalBoss hasn't been coded yet. The player can get to it anyway through exploiting a few glitches. [[LampshadedTrope Lampshaded]].
-->[[spoiler:Lucifer]]: ''I wanted there to be more of a build-up, but if you're here we might as well do this.''

** There are [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WLdZJXRPnE certain names]] that Hopeless Soul will have special answer for, including [[JustForFun/HorsinAround Bojack]] and [[spoiler:[[VideoGame/{{Undertale}} Chara]]]].

* TheOverworld: The devil later adds an "Adventure Mode" to Pony Island, where you go from stage to stage a-la VideoGame/SuperMarioBros [[spoiler:The devil's shoddy programming means you soon go OffTheRails to explore it.]]

* BlatantLies: During your second go at Pony Island, Lucifer will surround the pony with Devil heads that kill it after a few seconds and are unavoidable. His response after you inevitably lose? "MY GAME IS CHALLENGING BUT FAIR."

* BlatantLies: During your second go at Pony Island, Lucifer will surround the pony with Devil heads that kill it after a few seconds and are unavoidable. His response after you inevitably lose? "MY GAME IS CHALLENGING BUT FAIR"
** When the 1st version of 2D Pony Island refuses to load a new game, forcing the player to fix it, Satan is dejected about this, arguing ''it was going to work'' because he "tested it 1,000 times". Evidently, he did not.

* DummiedOut: InUniverse; many aspects of the game are left out by the creator Lucifer himself no less, since he's ''never'' satisfied with his work. A lot of content and features made by him remain orphaned and nonfunctional in the machine. Ranging from game options like 'Pony Blades', 'Ponymobile', and 'Unlimited Ammo', to system programs such as Buer.exe, an outdated guardian of an important core file.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: The [[spoiler:pony wings, butterfly enemies, and Lucifer's final form]] appear on Satan's desktop.
* FreezeFrameBonus: Looking through the credits of Pony Island reveals that several historical monsters (among them Nero, Joseph Stalin, Pol Pot, and Osama Bin Laden) had a hand in helping Lucifer with the game. [[TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers Oh]], and {{Dracula}}, who is a distinct individual from Vlad the Impaler, since both are credited.

* GenreRoulette: Shifts between a [[EndlessRunningGame Running Game]], ProgrammingGame, and a game of miscellaneous MindScrew puzzles.

* TheIlluminati: As you browse upon the profiles in the devil's computer, a strange eye starts to follow you around. [[spoiler:Log into the Guest account, and move an image file of a triangle over it, and the eye is finally content. The message "Illuminati Confirmed" displays, earning you a free ticket.]]

** [[spoiler:The Hopeless Soul outright encourages the player to delete the core files as it's "the only way to advance the plot".]]
** The fight with the third demon, [[spoiler:Asmodeus.EXE, is ''nothing'' but this as he tries to trick you into looking away from the game window. This includes faking a UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} friend message, playing social media notification sounds at random, and intentionally causing a program stall that you have to "wait for the program to respond" on]]l

* TheReveal: Getting all the truths is a slow version of this. [[spoiler:You play as a Crusader named Theodore who left behind a mother and daughter to fight alongside King Louis IX during the 7th Crusade. You died in 1252 in the waning summer sun to Abu Al-Kindi, who fought for his city along the walls of Jerusalem. You died far from home wearing plate armor and riding a horse and your soul was damned from a presumably vicious streak. The place you are in is purgatory except, in here, you have to prove you are redeemable. [[note]]Specifically, your character was killed 1252 years after the birth of Christ. Modern historians believe Jesus was born some time during 6 B.C. to 4 B.C. Assuming they mean he died in 1252 exactly, then it should be noted that there was no mass assault on Jerusalem that year. So your character may well have thrown himself on the sword, so to say, by attacking Jerusalem solo to fulfill his oath after Louis IX failed to reclaim the city.[[/note]]]]
* TheScottishTrope: To say Lucifer has [[AntagonisticOffspring a negative relationship with his father]] is putting it rather lightly. He ''never'' speaks his actual name, and gamers who sift through the code long enough [[spoiler:discover he only refers to him as "father, pure evil". Baphomet warns the player not to go around uttering that slanderous nickname, [[TheWatcher since he is always watching and listening]]]].

** In the credits Literature/{{Dracula}}'s name shows up.

** One of the glitched option screens has a list of [[Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle Yes, No, Maybe, I Don't Know, and Can You Repeat the Question]].

** Louey bares a resemblance to The Gatekeeper (in his pajamas, at least) from ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime''.
** The existence of "Adventure Mode", an allegedly cheerful exploration mode in the middle of a dark game, is clearly a parody of ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddysWorld'', itself a self-parody of the ''Five Nights at Freddy's'' series.

* TheStinger: [[spoiler:After the credits, Hopeless Soul appears and requests that you uninstall Pony Island so that his own soul can be free as well. Also by typing "David" in the red devil face where it tells you about your background, then digging through some hidden in-game control options. It will reveal to you the title of the sequel — "Pony Island 2: Panda Circus".]]

* SugarBowl: At one point, you have to replay a reskinned version of the game with obnoxiously-cutesy graphics and a lengthy ForcedTutorial explaining things the player has already learned from earlier playthroughs. [[spoiler:It actually gets a little ominous when the player pulls out the pony wings before Louey explains how to use them.]]

You are in limbo, [[HauntedTechnology trapped in a malevolent and malfunctioning arcade machine]] devised by the devil himself. The devil detests having his puzzles solved and poor programming exposed; you will need to think outside the box to proceed and you will be insulted when you do.

* DeceptivelySillyTitle: "Pony Island" sounds like it'd be a game targeted towards young children. But this game is definitely not targeted towards 3-year olds.

* EndlessRunningGame: The Pony stages are this mixed with AutoScrollingLevel — Your pony is fixed in one position and you must avoid obstacles to get to the end of each level.

* DeceptivelySillyTitle: "Pony Island" sounds like it'd be a game targeted towards young children. But this is not a game about ponies.

* MindScrew: The game. And that's ''without'' considering [=PonyIsland.META=]…

[[caption-width-right:350: ''[[NeverTrustATitle This is not a game about ponies.]]'']]

Available on [[https://www.humblebundle.com/store/pony-island Humble Bundle]] as a DRM free download and Steam game, as well as [[http://store.steampowered.com/app/405640/ Steam itself.]].

* AnachronismStew: Since the game is set in Limbo, time and space has no meaning. The Arcade machine has an old style curved CRT monitor, the graphics look like something from Atari or Coleco, the desktop looks like Windows 95, the copyright notice for pony island lists 199'''2''' and the machine prints out arcade tickets. [[spoiler: Then there is the fact that the player is a [[UsefulNotes/TheCrusades Crusader from the 1200s]] who's able to operate a computer.]]

* {{Gaslighting}}: [[spoiler:After beating Beelzebub.EXE and dumping the second core, Lucifer gasses you. When you wake up, the entire game has been changed to look like that of an actual SugarBowl game. [[AGlitchInTheMatrix The facade doesn't last long however]], and you break it once you kill Louie.]]

* NewGamePlus: [[spoiler:Replaying the game after beating it will cause Lucifer and Hopeless Spirit to call you out on doing this stuff again. [[NightmareFace And then there is Louie...]]]]

* SugarBowl: At one point, you have to replay a reskinned version of the game with obnoxiously-cutesy graphics and a lengthy ForcedTutorial explaining things the player has already learned from earlier playthroughs. [[spoiler:It actually gets a little ominous when the player pulls out the pony wings before Louie explains how to use them.]]

* ButThouMust: Early on, Lucifer will force you to type "yes master" regardless of what keys you press, or if you complete the message. [[spoiler:Also, as he actually lampshades at one point, doing what Hopeless Soul asks is the only way to progress the plot, despite all the warnings that he's not trustworthy.]]