LOOOOONG week reader and I played a game this week and it took me forever to actually write stuff down. I still hold dear the idea that Devolver Digital is a great publisher. Last week I played Children of the Sun and this week’s game is another gem. A drill-based platformer/arcade game that is pure fun to play. This week is Pepper Grinder.

Pepper Grinder is an arcade adventure platformer from Ahr  Ech and MP2 games. The game was released in March 2024 for the PC, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch and it retails for $15.

You play as Pepper. A not-so-mild-mannered woman hell-bent on acquiring lots of treasure, but an infinite army of green, burrowing type of creatures and a single human stand in her way. Pepper and she will have to find a way through four unique areas and a handful of bosses.

Gameplay is really the focus of Pepper Grinder and though it is fun a lot of the time there are some moments and mechanics that fall short in action. For the level design, it is a choice. You enter an area, Pepper starts her drill and you are off to the races. I was playing on a controller so holding down the trigger kept the drill going and when you enter any soft area Pepper will just dig through it. You can make Pepper go any direction while drilling but it is taught that pressing A when launching out gives the player a little boost. In no time you are charting where to go immediately when you enter a soft spot in the ground and developer Ahr Ech has thought of everything when it comes to the traversal. Pepper can grapple, dig, climb, and pretty much do everything which makes every level so much fun to play through. There were times when I was replaying a level just because I thought the traversal was dope.

Pepper Grinder’s platforming is fun when drilling and when you have to just jump on a few platforms, in a castle or a truck roof.

There are a bunch of different terrains to navigate and a lot of the time it is incredibly exciting how fast you will be moving through a level to then play it again to collect any missing collectibles. There are five skull coins hidden in each level that are used to buy secret-level keys and collectibles while the jewel currency is used to up Pepper’s health from four hits to eight, cosmetics, and fun little collectible stickers. The secret levels are fun if not more fun than the regular levels. I think that the snow secret level is by far the best.

Each of the worlds contains an end boss that really tests the mechanic that was introduced to the player at the beginning of that section. The bosses are really kind of difficult. I had to really each boss at least 5-10 times before I was able to complete it. Drill combat is fun but it is really difficult.

I don’t know if it was me but the controls felt kind of misplaced. There were moments where the player had to grapple, drill, grapple, and then drill. There was a time when I had to put down the game and come back to it again because certain areas were a little too frustrating.

I love the way that Pepper Grinder looks. It’s super colorful, and each area is distinct and beautiful, especially the snow mountain levels. Somehow Ahr Ech managed to make such a beautiful game when standing still and while you are on the move. There is an action sequence that gave me Uncharted vibes when Pepper is following Mint while platforming on the tops of trucks going up a mountain. In 3D or 2D that sequence is always really good.

I LOVE PIXEL GRAPHICS.

This game has the music. There are some really good tracks, especially the boss music, but the mountain jazz trumpet song really takes the freaking cake. My head was bopping the whole time I was playing this game. I recommend listening to the OST if you have a spare moment.

Pepper Grinder is a great video game and the only issues I have is that the controls are pretty finicky. I think the default mapping could have been done better because by the end of a session my finger was HURTING from how much I was drilling and platforming. The gameplay is great, the level design is great, and the music is great. I had loads of fun platforming, collecting money, spending the money, and experiencing the world that Ahr Ech created in Pepper Grinder.

I still don’t really understand why there is a whole civilized town for these little green unicorn freaks but whatever.

8/10 that’s a prime Switch game