Paw Paw Paw

Simple and silly, Paw Paw Paw is a fun little action RPG with a solid co-op offering and a fair variety of options to suit different play styles.

53%Game Brain Score

story, graphics

gameplay, music

47% User Score Based on 197 reviews

Critic Score 66%Based on 4 reviews

Platforms

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About

Paw Paw Paw is a single player and multiplayer arcade hack and slash game with fantasy and comedy themes. It was developed by Simpleton and was released on November 13, 2020. It received mostly positive reviews from critics and neutral reviews from players.

Paw Paw Paw was a peaceful and prosperous kingdom. Until one day, when the King had decided to enforce everyone to wear pants. We are the resistance. We are the Antipants.

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47%

Audience ScoreBased on 197 reviews

story12 positive mentions

gameplay19 negative mentions

Paw Paw Paw features a charming and humorous narrative that adds a unique twist to the classic beat 'em up formula, making it enjoyable and engaging.
The game offers a variety of character classes and RPG-style customization, allowing players to develop their characters and adapt their playstyle, which adds depth to the gameplay.
The co-op mode enhances the experience, making it a fun game to play with friends, where coordination and teamwork can lead to chaotic and entertaining moments.

The difficulty balance is inconsistent, with some levels being overly punishing, especially for solo players, leading to frustration during gameplay.
Combat mechanics can feel clunky and unresponsive, with issues like poor hit detection and the potential for players to be stunlocked by enemies, detracting from the overall experience.
The game suffers from repetitive gameplay and grinding, particularly in the later stages, which can make the experience feel tedious and less rewarding.

story
65 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
18%
73%
9%
The story revolves around a kingdom of anthropomorphic animals where a mad king enforces a ridiculous law requiring all citizens to wear pants, leading to a humorous resistance. While some players find the premise amusing and engaging, many criticize the writing quality and depth, describing the narrative as shallow and often nonsensical. Overall, the story serves as a lighthearted backdrop for gameplay, but it fails to resonate deeply with players, leaving a mixed impression.
- “Set in a kingdom populated entirely by anthropomorphic animals, the story begins when the king, under the influence of a mysterious object that falls from the sky, decrees that every citizen must start wearing pants.”
- “The story is funny, simple, and yet unique.”
- “Usually the story in beat 'em up games isn't something the player follows, but here, it's constructed in a fun way that makes it easier for the player to get engaged, and I like that.”
- “The plot revolves around the king driven mad, requiring all the furries to wear pants, which they don't like. We can only wonder at the mental state of the developer as they came up with this and then got their credit card out to buy some fake reviews.”
- “The story takes itself way too seriously for what it is, and the dialogue is poorly written, making the premise feel ridiculous.”
- “This game boasts a shallow, unfulfilling combat system, boring and generic visuals, and a story that takes itself too seriously for how absurd the premise is.”
gameplay
59 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
24%
44%
32%
The gameplay of "paw paw paw" is characterized by a mix of satisfying mechanics and frustrating issues, leading to a gameplay loop that can feel both rewarding and repetitive. While some players appreciate the RPG elements and humor, many criticize the clunky combat, unresponsive controls, and lack of polish, which detract from the overall experience. Despite its charming aesthetic, the game struggles with balance and depth, leaving it feeling mediocre for seasoned gamers.
- “These mechanics help create a satisfying gameplay loop where each victory feels meaningful, and every failure encourages you to improve your loadout or adjust your tactics.”
- “In the end, Paw Paw Paw is a charming, energetic, and surprisingly deep beat ’em up that combines humor, style, and solid mechanics into a cohesive package.”
- “What makes this game really fun are the RPG mechanics that are present, which allow you to level up your character of choice, acquire new items, and pretty much create a build of your liking with its small but direct skill tree.”
- “It's janky and unsatisfying to play... and any experienced gamer will tell you, the handling, responsiveness, and general gameplay feel of the control scheme must be well polished for this kind of game to succeed.”
- “Unfortunately, the gameplay feels super clunky and it just isn't that much fun.”
- “The gameplay is just hit attack over and over until you kill enemies.”
music
46 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
37%
43%
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with many players finding it repetitive and poorly suited to the game's atmosphere, often describing it as annoying and forgettable. While some appreciate the upbeat and catchy tunes, they note that the limited variety leads to a monotonous experience. Overall, the soundtrack fails to enhance the gameplay, detracting from the overall enjoyment for many players.
- “Accompanied by an upbeat, percussion-driven soundtrack, each stage feels vibrant and energetic, even during moments of chaos.”
- “Cute art, catchy music, and a ridiculous story with good writing.”
- “Everything is perfect in it: from gorgeous soundtracks, to excellent battles with enemies and bosses.”
- “Truly annoying music.”
- “The soundtrack is god awful - you will hear the same 10 seconds on loop over and over again.”
- “The music is a midi loop from 1995, and the dialogue is vapid enough to make me groan every time something is said in-game.”
graphics
39 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
18%
74%
8%
The game's graphics feature a cartoon-inspired art style that is colorful and charming, enhancing the absurdity of its world, though many reviewers note that the simplistic 2D visuals feel more suited to low-effort mobile apps than a PC game. While the fluid animations contribute to lively combat, the overall graphical quality is considered lackluster, with limited options for improvement and a general sense of disappointment regarding the depth and detail of the visuals. Despite some positive remarks about the art style, many players feel the graphics do not meet the expectations typically associated with PC gaming.
- “The cartoon-inspired art style complements the absurdity of its world, while the fluid animations make combat feel lively.”
- “The game's graphics are charming and colorful, with cute animal characters and vibrant backgrounds.”
- “Simply amazing on the surface level it just looks like a decent fighting game with a quirky art style and cute animals but if you look into the deeper lore of the game it really dives into the sad cruel reality of nature and the food chain with poachers trying to kill out their race with the over looming threat of commercialization and deforestation threatening the lives of every being in the forest leaving you with new thoughts on the world around us.”
- “Another game where the art has nothing to do with the graphics; disappointing and boring.”
- “While there are options to change the resolution for the game, all this does is scale up the simplistic 2D art assets used to make the game, which makes little or no difference to the graphics quality.”
- “Considering this is being evaluated as a PC game, having the graphics phoned in like this isn't going to result in a high quality, visually impressive game that PC gamers are used to seeing.”
grinding
27 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
7%
4%
89%
The reviews consistently highlight that the game is excessively grindy, requiring significant time investment for achievements and progression, often described as uninteresting and tedious. Players note that solo play amplifies the grind, making it feel like a chore, while multiplayer may alleviate some of the monotony. Overall, the grinding aspect is seen as a major drawback, detracting from the game's potential enjoyment.
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
- “A lot of grinding.”
- “This game is way too grindy in several ways: there's an achievement involving farming 500,000 food which takes something like 10-30 hours of uninteresting grinding on its own.”
- “The balancing and grinding complaints seem easy to address (compared to making the game in the first place), so I'm not sure why this game was made and kept this way.”
- “Most of the game is played grinding against mediocre characters, waiting to get enough upgrades to finally make the game progress at a bearable speed.”
humor
21 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is characterized by its absurd and self-aware narrative, revolving around a rebellion against a king's decree that animals must wear pants. While the premise and dialogue are often amusing, some players feel that the writing could be improved, and the gameplay can become repetitive. Overall, the game successfully blends charming visuals and a quirky storyline with solid mechanics, appealing to fans of humorous beat 'em ups.
- “It takes the classic formula of old-school brawlers and infuses it with a humorous and absurd narrative about rebellion, freedom, and pants.”
- “It’s a ridiculous premise that immediately sets the tone for the rest of the game—silly, self-aware, and full of charm—but beneath the humor lies a well-crafted brawler that delivers both satisfying combat and a steady sense of progression.”
- “The story is funny, simple, and yet unique.”
replayability
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
40%
20%
The game offers some replayability through its variety of playable characters, hidden details, and skill trees, but many players find the leveling system grindy and unsatisfying, leading to a lack of motivation to replay. While some users see potential for fun in replaying, others express that they are unlikely to return after completing the game.
- “This game I finished and will not touch again; however, I have Castle Crashers on 2 platforms and over 300 hours in it due to its fun and replayability.”
- “Infinitely replayable multiplayer.”
- “There's replayability in it for sure, as I can already see that even before finishing the actual game.”
monetization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
67%
The monetization aspect of the game has been criticized for appearing to be a cash grab, with numerous suspicious reviews suggesting a pattern of fake feedback from accounts that also promote other low-quality titles. Additionally, there are concerns that the game may be a mobile port lacking microtransactions, which detracts from the overall experience.
- “I'm pretty sure this is a mobile port with the microtransactions ripped out, but honestly I don't even care enough to research it.”
atmosphere
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
67%
The atmosphere of the game is mixed, with some users appreciating the well-drawn art and cutscenes that contribute positively, while others criticize the mismatched music and pervasive stunlocks that detract from the overall experience.
- “The art in this game, especially in the cutscenes, is drawn quite well and creates a nice atmosphere.”
- “Stunlocks all over the place and music that doesn't fit the atmosphere at all.”
- “It's got the semi-cheap atmosphere from cc.”
stability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game experiences stability issues, including occasional glitches where characters may clip into the environment or become stuck during revival animations.
- “The game suffers from occasional glitches, such as characters clipping into the environment or becoming stuck during revival animations.”
- “Frequent crashes and bugs make it hard to enjoy the game, as stability issues disrupt the overall experience.”
- “I often encounter frame rate drops and lag, which significantly affect gameplay and immersion.”
optimization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game "paw paw paw" is noted for its optimization, particularly enhancing the experience for co-op gameplay.
- “The game feels incredibly optimized for co-op runs, enhancing the overall experience.”
- “I appreciate how well the optimization works, making gameplay smoother and more enjoyable.”
- “The optimization in this game really shines, allowing for seamless multiplayer interactions.”
character development
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Reviews indicate that the character development is lacking, with many users finding the art and character design uninspired and unengaging.
- “The art and character design is boring.”
- “Character progression feels stagnant and uninspired.”
- “The characters lack depth and meaningful development throughout the game.”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional response to the game is largely negative, with players expressing feelings of regret and disappointment, suggesting that their time spent playing felt unfulfilling and frustrating.