Developed By: Pocket Trap
Published by: PM Studios
Categories: Action, Adventure
Release Date: 05.28.2025
Price: $19.99
*Game Download Code graciously provided for the purpose of review

Don’t you just love it when a good game comes out of nowhere and surprises you? That’s what happened to me when I played Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo. Granted, I hadn’t heard of the game until release week, but I was hooked within ten minutes of playing.

The game is simply a rush of nostalgia. It plays like the older SNES style adventure games such as classic Zelda games and is about yoyos. You remember what a yoyo is, right? You probably had one when you were younger.

Back in 2021, I bought a yoyo from Yomega because I was suddenly in the mood. While it was simple to use, I couldn’t figure out how to do any real tricks. But I still had lots of fun, so when I learned that they put yoyos and RPG’s together, I knew I had to try it.

You play as Pippit Pipistrello. He aspires to be a yoyo master and his family operates the largest energy company in the city. His aunt develops a method for infinite energy but the owners of rival businesses steal the source and defeat his aunt. But she’s not really defeated, she gets absorbed into Pippits yoyo.

The two begin a grand adventure across the bustling city as they try to defeat the thieving business owners. I really enjoyed the writing during the first hour because it initially paints Pipistrello Industries as some wild monopoly but then we learn so much more about the characters, businesses, and city.

While the writing is great and the humor is top notch, the real draw of the game is the combat. It’s entirely yoyo based and as you progress, you learn new tricks and abilities.

At first, all you do is throw your yoyo and hit enemies. You can do things like bounce off walls, run across water, and do charged attacks. I never thought using a yoyo as a weapon would be so fun, fast paced, or engaging. You only get three hearts at first, so you need to be careful, but fighting a bunch of enemies at once is such a rush.

There’s also an abundance of puzzles and mini games. Puzzles aren’t my strong suit, so there were a bunch of optional ones that were too smart for me that I skipped over. Puzzle lovers and most gamers won’t find these to be an issue at all.

I loved every second of running around the city, beating up bad guys, and doing sick yoyo tricks. Every aspect of the game is full of charm, and it doesn’t sacrifice anything to be that way.

Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo is a phenomenal love letter to a bygone era of video games and toys that many people played and loved. I genuinely think this has a shot at being the best indie game of 2025 and in five years could be in the same category as recent indies like Turnip Boy Robs a Bank. This is one game that everyone needs to play.

10/10