Equestria Gaming: Review - Derpy’s Fun House

Review - Derpy’s Fun House

Cute little Point and Click derp-venture.

It sure has been a while since we last did a proper review, hasn’t it? And look what just struck our mailbox, and have been doing rounds around in the fandom. A cute looking adventure game with everypony’s favourite derped background pony. This ought to be a cozy little experience.

Derpy’s Fun House is the first endeavour by the Raztudio team, with the game available on Itch.io and somehow a release, albeit as a free download, on Steam somehow. I suppose, if you stay quiet enough, copyright isn’t a factor, even on the biggest game distribution platform.

First impressions are charming. Doesn’t look like a massive experience that is gonna devour hours, something like 20 minutes, but hey, looks can be deceiving. 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 30, it looks like a cute time regardless of the length, that would put a smile on most anyone who plays it. But enough hypothesizing about the game, from just screenshots and trailer footage, how about letting the game speak for itself.

You play as Derpy, in this little Point and Click adventure, with the goal of getting out of the house, so you can get to work. Simple enough. The front door is locked for whatever reason, so you have to seek help from a certain green friend in the house that can open up a path for you. Oh and you have 10 minutes in real time to figure it out, before you are late for work and get fired, lose the house and have to sleep in a cardboard box, oh no! That is the premise of it, and hey it works. The game is, boiled down, a little fetch quest around the house, exploring and finding an assortment of items, randomly assigned at each run. Nothing more to it, but for what it is, it’s cute and charming in its own right.

The art style has a kooky askew look to it, reminding me of the old Humongous kids games, á la Pajama Sam on a budget. It’s harmless in that way, clicking around, exploring the house, getting small fun quips from Derpy herself, as you rummage through each of the 7 screens the game involves. The single background tune is subtle and serviceable enough to keep a comfy, very inoffensive and light atmosphere throughout.

It is although hard to avoid that one lingering feeling that this can’t actually be Derpy’s house. Room after room there are drawers and cupboards far above and out of reach of our little bubbly mare. She admits she can’t reach most of the top cabinet drawers on multiple occasions! Alongside that, every door are more than twice her height, and she needs help to reach to attic trap door. Wait.. She’s a pegasus, she can fly. Why does she need help reaching that? Oh, the mysteries you can draw out of even the smallest games. How do you get into Dinky’s room? Is it Derpy’s fun house or Derpy’s funhouse?

Sure I could nitpick, a bit of anti-aliasing could be nice, as Derps is very jagged, the dialogue presentation is inconsistent, some scenes seems a little low res grainy, the gallery is a tad unintuitive as nothing signified you could flip though the items, and there is no escape out of the credits, making it a little of a pain to get back to replaying for the achievements. However all in all, did I have fun for 10 minutes? Sure! Is it the first output by a new team, just getting their footing with their first free release? Also yes, so let nitpicks be nitpicks and enjoy the game for the little free 10 minute time killer it is.

It’s not gonna rock your socks off, but it functions as a charming little experience and a good first endeavour for the Raztudio team. You can find it on Itch.io, where you can play it in the browser, or on Steam where you can enjoy getting a few achievements too while you play.

Definitely gonna be looking forward to see what is next in the works with Raztudio! The format shows plenty of promise, with more ideas and development put into it. Derpy’s Fun House functions like a decent foundation for a future of more games along the same line, a simple start, but all starts are simple before they take off. Pony Point and Click games are far and few in between and if it is not just used as a stepping stone into exploring greater ambitions, it is a ripe niche to be filled. Keep it up, guys!

And here comes the ratings!