The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom
Encyclopedia
The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom is a puzzle platform game
for Xbox Live Arcade
and Windows PC developed by The Odd Gentlemen
. Reviews of the game praised its unique puzzle mechanics, comparing them to the likes of Portal and Braid
. It was released for the Xbox 360 on February 17, 2010. It was originally a student's graduate thesis at the University of Southern California
. It was published by 2K Play
. The PC version was released exclusively via Steam on April 20, 2010.
. The player controls the titular character, P.B. Winterbottom, in an attempt to gather pies. Winterbottom has the ability to manipulate time and replicate himself into multiple clones. The player may record an action and a clone will repeat that action, serving as a platform, pie-fetcher, or other puzzle-solving device.
The game is visually presented in a manner reminiscent of a silent film
, reminiscent of art nouveau or films from the late 1800s/early 1900s. As such there is no spoken dialogue, as all speech is instead shown through title cards in between stages. The game is also shown in mostly black-and-white and features a score primarily composed of piano-centric arrangements bearing a style similar to those of silent-era films.
Destructoid.com gave the game a 9.5/10 stating "All of the art is downright beautiful to look at and levels feel like paper dioramas. Both dirty yet refined, there's a simple elegance to every detail in the levels and story frames that draws you in."
GamePro Magazine gave the game a 4.5/5 stating "Wonderfully imaginative premise and puzzles; excellent visual design and stellar original soundtrack. The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom is a quirky and utterly lovable game but its true value is this: it strengthens the idea that DLC is a viable way for smaller development houses to get their content to market. It also reinforces the idea that it isn't the size of the budget or the team but rather the ideas and concepts that serve as a game's foundation. But that's just us waxing poetic -- at the end of the day, P.B. Winterbottom is fun, and really, that's what it's all about."
Platform game
A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...
for Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade is a type of video game download distribution available primarily in a section of the Xbox Live Marketplace, Microsoft's digital distribution network for the Xbox 360, that focuses on smaller downloadable games from both major publishers and independent game developers...
and Windows PC developed by The Odd Gentlemen
The Odd Gentlemen
Matt Korba and Paul Bellezza founded the small video game studio The Odd Gentlemen in 2008. Their first video game is The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom. They have also released a game in the PlayStation 3's social gaming network, PlayStation Home, called Slap Happy Sam....
. Reviews of the game praised its unique puzzle mechanics, comparing them to the likes of Portal and Braid
Braid (video game)
Braid is a platform and puzzle video game developed by independent software developer Jonathan Blow. The game was released on August 6, 2008 for the Xbox 360's Xbox Live Arcade service. A Microsoft Windows version was released on April 10, 2009. Hothead Games ported and released the game to Mac OS...
. It was released for the Xbox 360 on February 17, 2010. It was originally a student's graduate thesis at the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
. It was published by 2K Play
2K Play
2K Play is an American video game publisher that primarily publishes family and budget-priced titles. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of 2K Games and Take-Two Interactive...
. The PC version was released exclusively via Steam on April 20, 2010.
Gameplay
The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom is a puzzle platform gamePlatform game
A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...
. The player controls the titular character, P.B. Winterbottom, in an attempt to gather pies. Winterbottom has the ability to manipulate time and replicate himself into multiple clones. The player may record an action and a clone will repeat that action, serving as a platform, pie-fetcher, or other puzzle-solving device.
The game is visually presented in a manner reminiscent of a silent film
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
, reminiscent of art nouveau or films from the late 1800s/early 1900s. As such there is no spoken dialogue, as all speech is instead shown through title cards in between stages. The game is also shown in mostly black-and-white and features a score primarily composed of piano-centric arrangements bearing a style similar to those of silent-era films.
Reception
The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom has received very positive reviews. 1UP.com gave the game an A+ stating "Without the world that The Odd Gentlemen created around their pie-collecting platformer, Winterbottom would still be an addictive adventure with playful physics. But the carefully crafted setting, the intertwining of ingenious puzzles with a portly, gluttonous protagonist, makes this a terrific game that I wholeheartedly recommend you play immediately."Destructoid.com gave the game a 9.5/10 stating "All of the art is downright beautiful to look at and levels feel like paper dioramas. Both dirty yet refined, there's a simple elegance to every detail in the levels and story frames that draws you in."
GamePro Magazine gave the game a 4.5/5 stating "Wonderfully imaginative premise and puzzles; excellent visual design and stellar original soundtrack. The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom is a quirky and utterly lovable game but its true value is this: it strengthens the idea that DLC is a viable way for smaller development houses to get their content to market. It also reinforces the idea that it isn't the size of the budget or the team but rather the ideas and concepts that serve as a game's foundation. But that's just us waxing poetic -- at the end of the day, P.B. Winterbottom is fun, and really, that's what it's all about."