If the humor of Psychonauts, the mechanics of Paper Mario, and the wacky, noodly designs of Dr. Seuss had a love child, I think it’d look a lot like Flipping Death. A platformer, puzzle, and adventure game all in one (to various success), the developers have been so inspired by Tim Schafer’s work over the years that Double Fine Productions are thanked in its credits. Flipping Death shares a lot of the same comedic style as Double Fine games, but Zoink Games carve a name for themselves in their commitment to Flipping Death’s aesthetic (one established in 2013’s Stick It To The Man).
In Flipping Death’s first few moments, its narrator sets the tone for its macabre brand of comedy when, sure enough, the protagonist’s demise acts as one of the game’s first gags. “Thank you for playing. There is no moral,” the narrator of Flipping Death informed me after I accidentally led Flatwood Peaks’ resident goth, Penny, to her doom. After she wakes up on the spirit-laden and incredibly literal “Otherside,” Penny gets mistaken for the Grim Reaper’s temporary replacement, and soon finds herself armed with his infamous scythe. As she helps the spirits with their unsolved mysteries, reconnecting star-crossed lovers and uncovering murder plots, she searches for ways to return to her body, which has started showing some concerning signs of life – and not her own.
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