Part of the reason I was interested in Pepper Grinder, if you’re familiar with my writing, is because recently I’ve been a bit more invested in the indie scene than the AAA sphere, and for good reason. Indie games have been providing so much more creatively driven, innovative new experiences than—with a few notable exceptions—any big-budget AAA game I’ve played in recent years.
I bring this up because it seems like, nowadays, only in the indie scene could a game be built around a polished central mechanic and be fun, compelling and charming as heck. To wit—Mirror’s Edge was the only AAA game I can think of that was solely focused on movement, and it sold just okay enough to justify a sequel eight years after its release and then never again. Meanwhile, the indie scene has given us a whole host of games built around movement, such as Neon White, Celeste, Pizza Tower, and now Pepper Grinder—a crunchy game about swimming through dirt.
I was excited for Pepper Grinder when I initially saw it during Nintendo’s Nov 9th, 2022 Indie Direct, due in some part to it resembling Celeste—if only on a somewhat spiritual level—but more to my love for games built around fast, fluid motion. Dating back to my first foray with Hotline Miami, it’s incredibly exhilarating to weave through a level, being met by its unique challenges, and it’s immensely satisfying to finally clear it after it had been killing you and throwing you right back in for a solid hour.
CGM was fortunate enough to get a small preview of Pepper Grinder consisting of the first three levels—more or less what you’d get in your average demo. There’s little preamble outside of what is readily available on the game’s Steam page. You play as a girl named Pepper who is shipwrecked on a strange island.
“Pepper Grinder’s real hook is its unique movement-based gameplay.”
After some no-good Narlings steal her big ol’ chest of treasure, she attempts to get it back only to be stopped by an armoured lady, who I’m guessing is the Narling leader and thrown down a hole. But before her plummet, Pepper is able to grab her Grinder—a super-powered drilling device and so she begins her quest to reclaim her stolen booty.
But much like I mentioned before, Pepper Grinder’s real hook is its unique movement-based gameplay. There really is no better way to describe it than the way the game does: it’s a unique blend of traditional platforming with the Grinder, allowing you to “dive in and out of the earth like a dolphin swims through water.” This makes for an incredibly fluid experience that prioritizes speed and grace while rewarding players for keeping a keen eye out for smooth transitions between platforms.
In a lot of ways, it actually reminds me of Rayman Origins, creating a fluidity of motion that not only works from left to right but up and down and all-around—and in the way the game usually gives you little gems to guide your jumps. It really does feel like you’re swimming through the earth, allowing for so many unique scenarios of weaving in and out of the ground as well as around obstacles.
“The big difference between Pepper Grinder and some of its similar brethren is the inclusion of a health bar.”
And while the demo didn’t give too much away, it did introduce unique concepts like using the Grinder to move through water—which, ironically, is slower and a bit less fluid than drilling through the earth—as well as navigating through landmines buried in the ground and around the surrounding walls.
The big difference between Pepper Grinder and some of its similar brethren is the inclusion of a health bar. I always felt part of the fun of games like Rayman Origins and Celeste came from how you die in one hit, and needing to really plan and learn around a level made the challenge all the more satisfying when you completed it. Pepper Grinder is a little bit more generous, allowing players to take a few hits before dying without really sacrificing the reload speed if you do end up losing all your life.
With a stylish look, a groovin’ soundtrack, and a genuinely unique mode of gameplay, Pepper Grinder really looks to be something special. It’s too bad the demo couldn’t have shown off some of the Grinder mods that were mentioned in the trailer, but even just the standard mode of play was incredibly fun and highly replayable. If for nothing else, Speed Runners are going to love this game.
