Pipkin

Was delighted to watch this game come to fruition from the ground up and am very excited to play through the entire thing. Already having a great time and can tell how much love and effort went into making it!

I'm enjoying this game so far! The creature designs are fun and unique, and the overall autumn/Halloween theme throughout the game give it a charming atmosphere, the music and sound design are lovely and there's some cool ideas in the battle system that make it feel fresh and challenging. I just defeated the first boss, which provided quite a challenge. I like how the boss battle was slightly altered depending on a choice you have to make beforehand - I wonder if later bosses also have a fun gimmick like that.

Pipkin is an indie role-playing game that immediately stands out through its celebration of all things autumn. Developed and published by Gregdude, it transports players to the quaint settlement of New Haven, a place filled with magic, mysterious forests, and an abundance of seasonal charm. The game wears its inspirations proudly, combining monster collection mechanics with a cozy atmosphere that feels like stepping into a Halloween-themed storybook. Rather than aiming for a sprawling adventure that demands dozens of hours, Pipkin offers a more focused experience that values consistency and personality over sheer scale. Exploration plays a major role in the game's appeal. Every area is packed with colorful pixel-art environments, hidden secrets, and an assortment of whimsical characters that help bring the world to life. Whether players are wandering through moonlit paths, visiting peculiar residents, or discovering new creatures, the game maintains a sense of wonder throughout its journey. The visual presentation is particularly effective because it remains cohesive from beginning to end, embracing pumpkins, witches, and festive imagery without feeling repetitive. It is a world that feels handcrafted, and that attention to detail makes New Haven memorable long after the adventure is over. At the center of Pipkin are its collectible creatures, with more than sixty companions available to find and train. Each Pipkin has its own appearance and combat potential, encouraging players to experiment with different team combinations. The battle system adds additional depth through a large selection of abilities, elemental types, and class options. Players can customize their protagonist by selecting a class and elemental alignment, allowing them to shape their playstyle from the outset. Combat moves quickly and remains approachable, while still offering enough tactical considerations to satisfy fans of creature-collecting RPGs. Optional difficulty settings further expand the experience, making it suitable for both newcomers and players seeking a more demanding challenge. One of the game's smartest decisions is its commitment to convenience. Pipkin avoids many of the frustrations commonly associated with the genre by reducing unnecessary grinding and giving players greater control over pacing. Encounters do not constantly interrupt exploration, and battles can be sped up significantly, helping maintain momentum during longer play sessions. This design philosophy makes the game especially inviting for players who appreciate RPG mechanics but prefer adventures that can be completed over a few evenings rather than several weeks. Its modest length works in its favor, ensuring that the experience rarely overstays its welcome. Despite its many strengths, Pipkin does reveal some limitations typical of smaller independent productions. Certain interface elements could provide more information, and some balancing decisions may leave a few creature or class combinations feeling more effective than others. Players who become attached to the world may also find themselves wishing for additional content beyond the main campaign. Fortunately, these issues do little to diminish the game's overall charm, serving more as reminders of its compact scope than significant flaws. Ultimately, Pipkin succeeds because of its sincerity. It delivers a delightful blend of exploration, creature collection, and seasonal atmosphere that feels distinct within an increasingly crowded genre. Gregdude has created an adventure that understands its audience and focuses on delivering a memorable experience instead of chasing trends. For players looking for a cozy RPG with a Halloween-inspired identity, Pipkin offers an enjoyable and heartfelt journey that leaves a lasting impression. Rating: 7/10

Game looks pretty and gameplay is neat [strike]but im getting pseudo-softlocked after every battle because the battle results fail to show up and have to wait like 30s until the game accepts my inputs again to show the results[/strike] update: they fixed the issue :)

This is a beautiful game with comfy game play. Old school pokemon vibes in the best way possible!

A real gem! Very cute aesthetic + creature designs, beautiful art, fun soundtrack, and engaging gameplay! Really recommend if you like creature collectors and halloween :]

Cozy and adorable Pokemon x Undertale. I'm trying not to play through it too fast so that I can enjoy it longer.

I grew up with Pokemon and am hugely attached to Gen I-IV. In my eyes the franchise lost something since the transition to 3D. Pipkin is a monster catcher that gave me some of the feeling I miss in modern Pokemon games. The beautiful sprite work for each monster has so much character and charm. Not knowing the strengths and weaknesses of the monsters as well as the feature to give them a weapon with skills attached, leads to a lot of room for team composition and strategies. The monsters have their elemental types but also sub-type like Tank or Support. I loved catching mons, putting them in my team and trying out various formations. The designs are also vastly different, ranging from cool over cute to silly. The fights play out with four characters on your team; yourself and three mons. The skills can do physical or magical damage, give out status change like poison, create weather conditions to boost your attacks, heal and so on. The ending was pretty abrupt, but it’s a fun and cosy game you will beat in roughly 15 hours. Curious about more indie games? Check out my website: https://freakingindie.com

I liked this game. As a monster collecting game, Pipkin has a few things that make it stand out (aside from just the New England Autumn vibe). The biggest in my mind is actually the game's length. It took me about 7 hours to see credits. It's real uncommon to find a monster collecting game under 10 hours, so it's cool to have a fairly short one to play through. Following that idea of breezy game, Pipkin (the monsters of the game) don't actually evolve. What you catch is what you get. Thankfully, none of the pipkin (that I used) really fell behind as the game went one. My starter stayed by my side the whole time. And thankfully I think the Pipkin have over all very strong designs, so i'm okay they didn't change every few levels. One thing that did actually change a lot was equipment. Throughout the game you will get equipment you or your Pipkin can wear. The equipment will both alter stats and give your Pipkin moves they couldn't normally learn. It's honestly a real cool idea, basically bringing something like Pokemon items to a logical extreme. Outside of the mechanics, the world and characters are actually really fun. I'm not a big Halloween guy, but I liked the vibes. I also found myself chuckling at an NPC or just pausing to take in the vibes of a town. And while that is all fine, their isn't really a plot to this game. You mostly just have an in game check list about what to do, but their isn't really a lock to connect anything. Your millage will very about how much that bothers you. I was over all fine with it (I liked the rest of the game enough to look past it), but it did feel weird as I was playing it. I do have to mention one major complaint about the game. Pipkin's UI is kind of bad. Menu's both don't really let you do everything you would want them to do, nor do they give you all the information you would want. For example, at time of writing, you cannot remove equipment without giving a Pipkin new equipment, you cannot check what moves your Pipkin have accept in battle, you cannot see HP while using healing items, some status or effects aren't really viewable in battle (I'm specifically thinking about increases to passive regen). Now I say at the time because sense I started the game, their have already been some edits to the menus to make them a bit more workable. So by the time you are reading this, it might already be out of date. And too be clear, it it never made the game unplayable. It was just kind of annoying. Despite those hick-ups, I do think Pipkin is a game worth your time. A short little adventure about exploring the season of Autumn with monsters. Good time all around I think.