Line #11 VideoGame/ThePedestrian2020


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_pedestrian.jpg]]
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3	->''"I can see the signs in my sleep now, always guiding me closer. Will this really work? Have we almost achieved the impossible?"''
4	-->-- Blurb from the game's Platform/{{Steam}} store page
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6	''The Pedestrian'' is a [[PuzzlePlatformer Puzzle Platform]] VideoGame by Skookum Arts.
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8	The game has you playing as an image of a person that can either be a male or female (you can choose between the two images at the start of the game). The game is about said image navigating a series of pictures to reach an exit door. One of the hooks is that the images can be moved around and connected to each other with black lines. This is required in order to be able to solve the puzzles throughout the images.
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10	The game was funded on Website/{{Kickstarter}} on February 13th, 2017. It was released on Platform/{{Steam}} for the PC on January 29th, 2020. A Platform/PlayStation4 and Platform/PlayStation5 version came out in January 2021. The developers have also [[https://twitter.com/SkookumArts/status/1291478233666531329 confirmed]] that a Platform/NintendoSwitch version is in development, although without a firm release date targeted.
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12	!!''The Pedestrian'' contains examples of:
13	* BookEnds: The office in the first area features a picture of a boat at a dock facing the sun. [[spoiler:The game ends with the sign designer having teleported to that same area to take a well-deserved break from their work.]]
14	* BrokenBridge: Some levels will require you to retrieve an item from the next or previous level in order to proceed with the game overall. There are a few levels that consist solely of several of them: you can do some stuff individually once you get the necessary items, but to actually proceed you have to get everything.
15	* DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist: Dying simply resets the puzzle you were in [[spoiler:except for any objects on signs covered in yellow paint in one late-game area]].
16	* FeaturelessProtagonist: The PlayerCharacter is a monochrome image of a human being. [[spoiler:The trope also applies to the protagonist of the first-person segments—their only notable feature is the hand with which they hold the Multi-Space Connector.]]
17	* FiveSecondForeshadowing: For most of the game, the camera is more or less fixed on the current puzzle and only moves to keep up with the player character. Come the final section, [[spoiler:the game shows you how to move the camera manually with the right stick/mouse, something that up until now only moved the cursor in sign repositioning mode. This neatly sets up the UnexpectedGameplayChange mentioned below.]]
18	* LockAndKeyPuzzle: Sometimes, the PlayerCharacter needs to bring a key to a locked door to progress.
19	* NoPlotNoProblem: There doesn't really seem to be anything to The Pedestrian besides navigating drawings. [[spoiler:That said, the names and descriptions of the Steam achievements among other details in the game suggest something deeper at play...]]
20	* PaintingTheMedium: The pause screen is always displayed on a TV screen in the vicinity of the current puzzle. [[spoiler:Even in the first-person segments.]]
21	* PurelyAestheticGender: Your choice of protagonist gender does not affect the gameplay in any way.
22	* SaveScumming: [[spoiler:Later in the game, you are introduced to a device that applies yellow paint to signs connected to it, saving the state of the layout within. Puzzles with them require you to keep switches flipped or buttons pressed while the PlayerCharacter and everything else in the level is reset.]]
23	* SawBladesOfDeath: Some levels feature buzzsaws that can kill the human image in one shot.
24	* ShapesAndSymbolsTropes: In line with the use of information signs as the basis for levels, all the objects in them are depicted with simplistic pictograms and iconography.
25	* ShoutOut: One of the Steam achievements is called “[[VideoGame/{{Portal}} They lied about the cake.]]”
26	* SpringsSpringsEverywhere: Not springs per se, but the game has black boxes with a thick line on top. They propel the PlayerCharacter upward when they're landed on.
27	* TeleportersAndTransporters: [[spoiler:The sign designer has a working teleporter at their home studio which they use [[MundaneUtility to warp to a vacation spot]] for their day off.]]
28	* TertiarySexualCharacteristics: The female picture wears a dress.
29	* UnexpectedGameplayChange: [[spoiler:Unlike the rest of the game, the last couple of puzzles feature first-person puzzle platforming in addition to the normal third-person gameplay. This signifies the coordination of actions between the human image and their designer and how they both affect the latter's reality through the Multi-Space Connector.]]

Context VideoGame / ThePedestrian2020