In this universe there is one universal truth: pizza is great. Although debates still rage on about the presence of pineapple or the best type of base, it’s easy for anyone to see that pizza brings us together – but what if you needed to drive through an esoteric dreamscape with only your scooter by your side to enjoy that slice of cheesy goodness?
In truth, nothing about A Pizza Delivery is simply about delivering pizza – it would be rude to call it a misnomer on the level of The Neverending Story, as the game does indeed feature both a pizza and the need for delivery, but centres instead on a journey of transformation akin to Nietzsche’s metamorphoses.
Before you panic and stop reading, rest assured I won’t be reading passages from Thus Spoke Zarathustra and waxing lyrical about the Übermensch – partly because it’s not entirely relevant and partly because of all the anti-semitism – but it definitely warrants mentioning that it is a game about the need for change and the difficulties we face when we don’t know where to go next.
Outside of philosophising about a game devoted to pizza, it’s worth talking about how the game actually plays. On its face, the game is a walking simulator: you begin at one side of an area and make your way gradually to the other, learning more about the world and gathering elements as you progress which shape the story and your own interpretation of main character “B”. There are a number of other characters along the path who you can speak to, even choosing to share pizza with in the hopes of learning more about the space you inhabit – character is central to the gameplay, but these interactions only mark half of the game and the way you explore its world – a world also filled with puzzles and challenges to keep you on your toes.
For a short runtime of only an hour or two, depending on how rigorous you are with exploration, A Pizza Delivery does well to cram in more than its fair share of puzzles and hidden details – some are more difficult than others to find, but exploring each area provides much-needed context to the world as well as offering a variety of collectible items for completionists. The puzzles themselves don’t tend to be difficult, usually as simplistic as “find the clue in one place, use it in another place”, but they can prove frustrating at times – one of which involved conveyors which were needlessly annoying despite being fairly simple, whereas another involving a starfish had its solution obscured by the fact that it simply didn’t work the first two times I tried it.
This isn’t the only bug present in the game, and where it would be easy to forgive some of the minor issues in a longer experience, the condensed runtime really concentrates these issues – at times the interaction button simply wouldn’t work, there were points where shelter from the rain (an element which can be difficult to avoid if sharing pizza with the others you encounter) didn’t stop my “wet pizza” meter from increasing, some animations such as dismounting the scooter continued to play even after walking away, and there were even a number of textural issues such as mountains popping into existence unexpectedly or floors briefly ceasing to exist.
What the game loses in these issues is still more than made up for by its wonderful design and characterisation; there is a stunning use and understanding of liminal space to represent the transition from one state to another, giving you that feeling of being caught between two versions of yourself. This, combined with the varied characters, all of whom feel truly flawed and human rather than the facsimile of perfect people we have come to expect in some games and even in the wider media, ensures that the only feeling of stiff or stale design invoked is the one the game intends for you to feel.
Without giving any spoilers, A Pizza Delivery offers a succinct but emotional story – it only says what needs to be said and nothing more, while taking you along for the ride – even if that ride only has two wheels and runs out of fuel fairly quickly.
