Escape From Puppy Death Factory is an online game available on Adult Swim's website, made by one Mr. Podunkian. You play as futuristic dog Laika "K9" Ludryavka, who has returned to the Earth from space 20 years after a terrestrial nuclear conflict. Detecting the cries of captive puppies not far from where the conflict began, K9 sets out to locate and rescue them through the various environments of an apparently-abandoned factory. As K9 explores the factory and recovers puppies, she gradually learns of its backstory, as well as the possibility that it is not completely empty.
Gameplay revolves around K9's Swap Gun; Shoot its projectiles at a blocky object or an enemy, and it and K9 will switch positions. Gameplay quickly becomes complicated, involving lasers, electrical circuits, refracting mirrors, explosives, timed puzzles, and other gimmicks. Many puzzles allow for experimentation and can be solved in more ways than one, which is required to fully navigate the factory and recover all the puppies.
Adorable and snarky tropes include:
- After the End: The world has ended in nuclear hellfire, and all Earth life has been rendered extinct except for K9 (who was out in space when the bombs fell), 31 puppies, a kitten, and the General.
- Apocalypse How: Around Class 5 at the beginning of the game, and during the Golden Ending, it becomes Class X.
- Anti-Frustration Feature: After defeating the villain, the layout of the map is subtly edited to herd you towards your spaceship, since there's literally nothing else to do at that point.
- Bad Ending: Attained if you get no puppies before aborting.
- The Bad Guy Wins: Subverted. The General (who is totally not a caricatured version of Kim Jong-il) succeeded in wiping humanity off the face of the earth with a stockpile of nuclear bombs, only to face defeat at the paws of a little space dog and her trusty swap gun.
- Death Is a Slap on the Wrist: Getting fried by a laser beam or squished between two moving blocks simply returns Laika to her last save point.
- Down the Drain: The "Sewers" region.
- Energy Weapon: Present in the mid to late stages, and can be redirected or reflected for hitting switches or for other purposes.
- Everything's Better with Rainbows: K9's Swap Gun projectiles, and all of the teleportations are rainbow beams.
- Final-Exam Boss: The entrance to the mountains and missile silo is blocked off by a puzzle requiring you to use knowledge from at least three different areas in the game, and the game encourages you to save the area for later.
- Golden Ending: If you save every living animal.
- Gotta Catch 'Em All: 31 puppies and one kitten.
- Heroic Mime: K9/Laika is mute.
- Load-Bearing Boss: The General's death triggers the firing of the nuclear warhead, blowing up not only the bunker but the entire Earth.
- Mecha-Mooks: All enemies in this game are this, most likely due to the nuclear fallout.
- Multiple Endings: Depending on how many dogs and possibly a kitten you save.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: The villain is a very unflattering caricature of Kim Jong-il.
- Optional Boss: The only boss in the game is entirely optional, but required to get the best ending.
- Palette Swap: #6 and #26 are recolors, as well as #22 and #31.
- Powered by a Forsaken Child: The General uses tin cans transformed from dogs to prolong his immortality.
- Puzzle Boss: The boss requires that you employ the swapping skills that you've developed during the game.
- Sequel Hook: If you acquire the best possible ending, the General's former guard kitten commandeers the Muttnik and launches back into space.
- Shout-Out:
- There are a lot of allusions to the Metroid series in this game.
- K9's body suit and Swap Gun strongly resemble a quadrupedal version of Samus's powersuit, especially in coloration.
- K9's ship, Muttnik, resembles Samus's Gunship.
- The music that plays on the outside of the factory resembles the "Silence" music from the original Metroid.
- Mr. Podunkian admitted to using Metroid as his main inspiration music-wise.
- The art style is very reminiscent of Crystal Caves.
- Puppy #6 quotes the old man who gives you the first sword from The Legend of Zelda, except with the substitution of "THIS" with "ME", of course.
- The Puppydex. Gotta catch 'em all!
- There are a lot of allusions to the Metroid series in this game.
- Shown Their Work: "Muttnik" isn't just a clever portmanteau of "mutt" and "Sputnik" — it is a nickname the American press gave the real Laika when she flew into space in 1957.
- Sugar Bowl: The protagonist and the puppies she rescued end up on one in the Golden Ending. That place can't support a kitten, however.
