[h3]If your definition of fun is to perform a daily chore for the entirety of a year, then look no further than Pinecone Game. Exiled to a floating island with little more than a few pebbles to toss, it'll occupy about a minute of your attention before finding out there's nothing to do. It does hold a secret series of puzzles, but in my opinion, isn't worth the effort to get there.[/h3]
Born of a meme or standup routine? Whichever the case, a pinecone a day doesn't do much to keep boredom away, as you quickly discover there's little to interact with. You have a radio (which plays royalty-free tunes), a few throwables, and... nothing much else.
The neighboring island does hold a secret: A small passcode puzzle. To get there, you'll have to clip around the fence via the park bench and trace out an invisible path that zigzags across. It's an exercise in tedium, using loose stones to tap out the edges lest you fall off and have to start from the beginning. Fun times, let me tell you. The item it enshrines is a blue pinecone... a magical item that awards you with 30(!) days progress towards your annual prison sentence. Rejoice!
At the conclusion of this journey, a new pinecone appears... across another invisible path... but should you traverse it, are greeted by a series of rather entertaining puzzles. I won't spoil this part, but it seems to serve as an advertisement for the developer's next project. Certainly better than anything else in the game so far. Sadly it's locked behind a year's worth of manual labor... a prize not worth the cost to acquire.
Undoubtedly this pet project was good coding practice for a fledgling dev, and as far as meme games go, there are far worse ones on Steam. Still, a couple of cosmetics (reskins of the well, bench, radio etc) hardly justify your time or financial support, for something you'll probably uninstall and easily forget.
I almost forgot... the most important detail in all of this: The pinecone spawn is based on a remote server. That's right, this is a live-service pinecone game. I have experienced days, even a full week, of no pinecone spawn due to server disruptions. Be warned that should this support end in the future, you might not even get to finish your epic quest, unless the dev codes an offline version.
I wish I could choose a neutral option and provide an informational summary, but since Steam forces me to take a side, my vote is not to bother - your time is better spent elsewhere.
[quote][u]Achievement Hunters[/u]: Toss the pinecone into the well, 365 (or 335 if you get the blue cone) times. No need to complete the ending sequence, the achievement pops immediately. Have fun.[/quote]
