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Pid

Pid Game Cover
79%Game Brain Score
gameplay, graphics
grinding, stability
79% User Score Based on 926 reviews
Critic Score 76%Based on 1 reviews

Platforms

Playstation 3Nintendo SwitchXbox 360PCMac OSXboxSteam DeckWindowsPlayStation
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Pid Game Cover

About

Pid is a single player and multiplayer arcade platformer game with comedy and science fiction themes. It was developed by Might and Delight and was released on October 31, 2012. It received mostly positive reviews from both critics and players.

Pid was developed by Might and Delight for PC, Mac, X-Box, and PlayStation and released in 2012. It is a story-driven platformer that includes a variety of puzzles. It was praised for the artwork, presentation, and soundtrack; and received the 2012 European Games Award in the Innovate Newcomer category.

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79%
Audience ScoreBased on 926 reviews
gameplay100 positive mentions
grinding21 negative mentions
  • Beautiful and unique art style with charming characters and environments.
  • Captivating and well-composed soundtrack that complements the game's atmosphere.
  • Innovative and engaging core gameplay mechanic involving gravity beams, offering creative puzzle-platforming challenges.
  • Controls are often sluggish and floaty, leading to frustrating precision platforming experiences.
  • Difficulty spikes significantly in later parts, causing unfair deaths and tedious repetition with sparse or poorly placed checkpoints.
  • Lack of a level select or backtracking options makes collecting secrets and completing achievements overly punishing and sometimes impossible without guides.
  • gameplay
    280 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay centers on a unique gravity beam mechanic that offers creative puzzle-platforming opportunities and steady introduction of new mechanics, keeping the experience fresh and engaging. However, many players found the controls clunky, character movement slow, and gameplay sometimes tedious or frustrating due to imprecise mechanics and poor checkpoint design. While the game shines in level design and innovation, its slow pacing and occasional difficulty spikes limit enjoyment for those preferring fast or fluid platforming.

    • “The core mechanic of placing gravity beams to propel yourself through levels is clever and satisfying, and the level design stays creative for a good chunk of the game.”
    • “The gameplay thoroughly explores this mechanic, with every area in the game having a slight twist to how the game plays.”
    • “When the game sticks to that, it's fun, and as it tucks more and more items into your inventory to play around with, the mechanics can get quite advanced and demand a lot of your critical thinking and reflexes.”
    • “Almost all of the objects introduced as new mechanics are consumable and only restock if you purchase more at certain spots or get random drops from enemies, creating frustrating and confusing gameplay where you die without knowing if it's your fault.”
    • “The gameplay is clunky and unresponsive; the slow character movement and mechanics become even more obvious when playing challenge rooms stripped down to just mechanics without visuals, making core gameplay not fun.”
    • “Poor checkpoints, bad controls, and annoying enemies made me frustrated after about 4 hours of gameplay to the point where I never want to play again.”
  • graphics
    218 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game features a unique, charming art style with gorgeous, smooth 3D graphics presented in a 2D perspective, complemented by detailed environments and pastel colors. While the visuals and atmospheric design are widely praised for their creativity and appeal, some users note performance issues on low settings and occasional clunkiness in gameplay overshadowing the aesthetics. Overall, the graphics are considered a standout element that enhances the game's mood and story, making it visually memorable despite some technical drawbacks.

    • “The graphics are enjoyable and beautifully rendered, the style is great, character design and everything are fantastic.”
    • “Pid is a lovely 2D platforming puzzle adventure game with a gorgeous visual aesthetic, and a charming, somewhat extraordinary story about a boy who, on his bus ride home from school, gets lost and trapped on a distant planet where the interplanetary traffic has died down for centuries.”
    • “The graphics feel like they are ripped from a Pixar movie, and often have one or two rooms per level that dazzle you with their difference in style.”
    • “The character's hitbox is much bigger than the visuals and swings when you rotate on the spot.”
    • “Even on the lowest graphical settings, the performance is mildly laggy.”
    • “And once you start playing through these challenge rooms, stripped down to just the mechanics with all the visuals removed, the clunkiness of the character movement and mechanics becomes even more obvious.”
  • story
    205 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The story in this game is generally described as charming, intriguing, and cozy, featuring a simple yet engaging narrative about a boy trapped on an alien planet trying to find his way home. While some find the plot and characters compelling with pleasant world-building and subtle emotional moments, others feel the storytelling can be slow, awkwardly delivered, or overshadowed by challenging gameplay. Overall, the story is appreciated for its atmosphere and unique setting, even if it isn't the main focus or fully satisfying for all players.

    • “Story and plot are cozy and comforting, revolving around light fantasy science-fiction elements that are charismatic and intriguing, with each twist and turn captivating the player to continue the journey.”
    • “Pid is a lovely 2D platforming puzzle adventure game with a gorgeous visual aesthetic, and a charming, somewhat extraordinary story about a boy who, on his bus ride home from school, gets lost and trapped on a distant planet where the interplanetary traffic has died down for centuries.”
    • “The controls were very tight, the gimmick and items were absolutely perfect, the art style and level design fit together nicely, the music was superb, the characters were interesting (even though each only had a handful of lines of dialogue), the puzzles were the right combination of thinking and doing, and the overall plot was just wonderful.”
    • “I didn't play very far into the story, so maybe it picks up, but first impressions let me down badly; the sentence structure is awkward and clunky, none of the first few characters have any particular charm to them, and I spotted several grammatical mistakes in the first few minutes, all of which make the game feel somewhat unprofessional.”
    • “By itself, this is fine, but Limbo's purpose was to create a moody effect on the player first, with the puzzles serving to support the theme, whereas Pid kind of shoehorns a generic story in with more mechanic-heavy platforming elements, dampening the mood when you're forced to replay a sequence over and over again while listening to a boss's maniacal laughter or scroll through a character's dialogue before starting.”
    • “The story is kinda meh, but the art style and the gameplay are amazing!”
  • music
    194 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music in Pid is widely praised for its calming, jazzy, and atmospheric qualities, significantly enhancing the game's unique aesthetic and immersive experience. Many reviewers highlight the soundtrack as a standout feature, noting its ability to complement the visuals and tone, while providing a soothing contrast to the game's challenging gameplay. However, a few players find it repetitive or occasionally grating during frustrating sections, but overall, the soundtrack is considered a major positive and memorable aspect of the game.

    • “Pid is one of those games that's hard to forget — a beautifully atmospheric platformer wrapped in soft pastels and a genuinely lovely soundtrack, hiding a surprisingly punishing challenge underneath.”
    • “The controls were very tight, the gimmick and items were absolutely perfect, the art style and level design fit together nicely, the music was superb, the characters were interesting, the puzzles were the right combination of thinking and doing, and the overall plot was just wonderful.”
    • “My personal favorite moment came when, whilst traversing the maze level, a traditionally tedious experience in most games, soft saxophone music started playing as you neared the exit, turning an otherwise trying level into a moment of sudden zen where the tone aided the design of the level.”
    • “The soft lighting, cartoonish sounds and flat music can be downright grating at times.”
    • “I also found the music, although well polished, to be quite boring.”
    • “Very boring, some contrived mechanics and a looped soundtrack that made me feel like I was in an elevator.”
  • atmosphere
    47 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Pid is widely praised for its unique, dreamy, and nostalgic atmosphere, enhanced by soft pastel visuals, detailed artstyle, and a captivating, jazzy soundtrack. The game's ambiance creates a memorable and intriguing world, though some reviewers note a mismatch between its gentle aesthetic and punishing difficulty, which can undercut the overall experience. Despite mixed feelings on gameplay challenge, the cohesive combination of graphics, music, and environment consistently stands out as a major strength.

    • “Pid is one of those games that's hard to forget — a beautifully atmospheric platformer wrapped in soft pastels and a genuinely lovely soundtrack, hiding a surprisingly punishing challenge underneath.”
    • “This here has quite the nostalgic flair to it, a dreamlike atmosphere and a killer soundtrack if you like jazzy tunes.”
    • “The scenery, music, atmosphere, and gameplay all combine to form this truly unique experience.”
    • “Its atmosphere doesn't match its difficulty and it's not a gripping game.”
    • “Although it has cool graphics and art style, coupled with a decent soundtrack to maintain the atmosphere, absolutely no other element of this game is worth one's time.”
    • “An introduction that sets you up for a lovely light puzzle platformer, with some exploration and light atmosphere, suddenly hits you with what could be mistakes for an action platformer, a'la super meat boy.”
  • grinding
    22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Grinding in the game is often described as tedious and repetitive, particularly due to challenging platforming sections, punishing instant-death mechanics, and backtracking. While some players find the puzzles rewarding and the art and music engaging enough to tolerate the grind, others feel the game overstays its welcome and becomes frustrating. Overall, persistence may be required to enjoy the experience despite its grind-heavy design.

    • “At best it's passable, and at worst it's tedious.”
    • “It doesn't make it challenging, just tedious.”
    • “One third of your way in, the level design stops being fun and intuitive while at the same time becoming tedious and time consuming.”
  • humor
    18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The humor in the game is widely appreciated, described as funny and enjoyable, often enhancing the lighthearted and playful tone. Players find the story amusing, contributing to an entertaining experience suitable for casual play and providing a fun challenge.

    • “Funny little platformer with good story and nice controls”
    • “I recommend this game as a free time game, because it's awesome, and it is actually funny.”
    • “Story is funny and ok.”
  • emotional
    10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The emotional impact of the game is mixed, with some players finding the story heartfelt, touching, and subtly engaging, while others describe it as boring, unconvincing, and lacking emotional depth. The art and narrative style are praised for their potential to evoke feelings, though not all users felt personally invested in the characters or story progression.

    • “This game has a very heartfelt storyline that engages the player in a way that makes you feel like it's your duty to act as the character.”
    • “Because it is a beautiful game with a simple but heartwarming story and is one of the greatest indie games you can get.”
    • “In terms of the story, I think it's very catchy yet subtle, which makes it interesting and emotional at times.”
    • “Sluggish platformer with a boring story.”
    • “Boring story that thinks it is better than it is.”
  • character development
    10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Character development in the game receives mixed feedback, with some praising its charm and depth that complement a fascinating story, while others find it lacking or minimal. However, character design is consistently highlighted as a strong and visually appealing aspect, contributing significantly to the game's overall appeal.

    • “With a fascinating story, and wonderful character development this game will keep you gripped.”
    • “I would recommend it on the basis of the combination of the soundtrack, art, and creative/adorable character designs alone.”
    • “The bosses and character design is top notch, and there's even a story, while not particularly special, serves as a great placeholder for the world.”
    • “No character development.”
  • optimization
    7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's optimization is mixed, with generally smooth performance and well-designed settings praised by some users, while others report mild lag even on low graphical settings and note a lack of co-op optimization. Certain gameplay elements also demand precise timing and route optimization, adding to the challenge.

    • “In particular, one of the collectibles requires extraordinarily precise timing landing a long series of wall jumps and beam deploys/cancels, while another requires an optimized jumping route to complete a task before the planks disappear from under you.”
    • “Amazing game with great performance.”
    • “A wonderful performance, this.”
    • “Even on the lowest graphical settings, the performance is mildly laggy.”
    • “Also, the game is not optimized for co-op.”
    • “One of the collectibles requires extraordinarily precise timing, landing a long series of wall jumps and beam deploys/cancels, while another requires an optimized jumping route to complete a task before the planks disappear from under you.”
  • replayability
    7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game offers moderate to high replayability through features like time trial challenges, a hard mode, challenge rooms, and co-op mode, enhancing its overall appeal. Despite some players feeling it lacks replay value before completion, many highlight hidden collectibles and additional modes as strong incentives to replay.

    • “The game took me around 10 hours to beat on normal, but there are also numerous time trial challenges you can try, which are a nice addition and add to the replayability.”
    • “Also, the co-op mode is a nice extra touch, makes it replayable.”
    • “Re-playable, hard mode available when finished on normal, challenge rooms, do you ask for more?”
    • “Doesn't have much replayability even though I haven't finished it yet.”
  • stability
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game features appealing graphics and a well-designed plot and map, but its stability is marred by some bugs, particularly with jumping mechanics. Overall, stability issues are present but do not significantly detract from the experience.

    • “Nice graphics, but the game is buggy.”
    • “Jumping is a little bit buggy, which affects the gameplay experience.”
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76%Critics’ scoreBased on 1 critic reviews
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10h Median play time
12h Average play time
4-30h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 4 analyzed playthroughs
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Frequently Asked Questions

Pid is a arcade platformer game with comedy and science fiction themes.

Pid is available on Nintendo Switch, PC, Mac OS, Steam Deck and others.

On average players spend around 12 hours playing Pid.

Pid was released on October 31, 2012.

Pid was developed by Might and Delight.

Pid has received mostly positive reviews from both players and critics. Most players liked this game for its gameplay but disliked it for its grinding.

Pid is a single player game with multiplayer and local co-op support.

Similar games include Teslagrad, Nihilumbra, Outland, Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams, Trine Enchanted Edition and others.