Pawggle

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[quote][url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AI_slop][b]Warning: AI Slop[/b][/url] This game is partially or completely made with talentless, soulless AI generated content. The developer deliberately violated their requirement under Valve rules to disclose use of AI slop.[/quote] It's obvious "Pawggle" is a blatant, low-effort clone of Peggle (Copyright EA/PopCap Games, 2007). It seems some "amateur" developers think copyright laws are optional, choosing to ripoff games from real developers without conscience. Beyond the obvious ethical and creative bankruptcy involved stealing other people's game ideas, they failed the basic rule of game design: if you are going to rip off someone else's game, you have to at least try to improve on it. Instead, "Pawggle" is much worse than the original Peggle (and I guess we should acknowledge that Peggle itself is a ripoff of the old Japanese gambling "Pachinko" games). A copy of a copy... and it's all AI slop. While I couldn't find this on the mobile app stores, everything about it looks and feels like it's a mobile app designed for mobile phones... for PC gaming enthusiasts, it's not going to give you a cutting edge PC gaming experience. That alone is enough to disqualify this from any recommendation. We don't spend thousands building gaming rigs so that we can pretend they're iPhones and play iPhone games and mobile apps. As mentioned, this features really godawful, "wrong" looking AI slop instead of genuinely and sincerely created game assets. It's hard to say if this was because the developer didn't have the skill to do the job of creating real game assets or couldn't afford to hire someone who does, but it also doesn't matter. What matters is that this looks bad because of that decision. AI slop sticks out like a sore thumb... and it comes across as insulting. There's also the old adage that those who lack the budget and talent to make their own game assets usually lack the budget and talent to do the rest of the job of game development properly, too, and that's glaringly obvious here. Now on to pricing and value for gamers. This is "free" enough (not every "free" game in the "free" section is truly free, there's usually some hidden price tag), at least you won't be expected to spend any more money after you download this, but just because something is free doesn't mean it's good, and the cost of a game is more than just financial, your time is valuable too. Even as a free game, this couldn't find an audience. With a peak of [b]only 10 players[/b], it's clear the Steam community took one look and walked away. They literally couldn't pay people to spend time playing this. Bearing in mind that free games don't add +1 to your game collector count, should you bother adding this to your library and downloading it? What's the verdict? Nope. I didn't have to pay for this, but I still feel like I got scammed. The use of AI slop is a direct insult to gamers and real, ethical content creators and artists everywhere. The developer breached Valve rules by failing to disclose their use of AI slop. This is completely unacceptable.