They Bleed Pixels
A high-difficulty beat'em up platformer with Lovecraftian themes.
They Bleed Pixels is a platforming beat'em up from the Canadian indie studio Spooky Squid Games. It launched on Steam for Windows in August 2012. The game's visuals are dark and gothic, drawing on Lovecraftian themes.
The gameplay combines platforming and combat with a very high difficulty level, similar to titles like N+ and Super Meat Boy. Dying is frequent, and progress comes through trial and error. Checkpoints appear when the player collects enough blood—either from defeated enemies or pickups found in the level—and then moves a safe distance away from nearby hazards.
The story follows an unnamed young girl who arrives at the Lafcadio Academy for Troubled Young Ladies. She suffers from nightmares in which she becomes a clawed monster, fighting through hostile dream worlds. Each time she wakes, a grimoire sits on her bedside table. Over time, she begins to take on physical traits of her dream-self in the real world. She tries to get rid of the book—burying it, throwing it in a river, burning it in a furnace—but each attempt leads to a nightmare themed around that element (earth, water, or fire). After the fire nightmare, she wakes fully transformed, witnessing the academy's Headmaster performing a dark ritual with other transformed girls. She stabs the book, fights through a final nightmare, and tears out the book's "heart." She then wakes as a human and leaves the academy. However, in the library where she first found the grimoire, the remaining books continue to glow ominously.
They Bleed Pixels was the second game from the two-person team at Spooky Squid Games. Originally planned for Xbox Live Arcade, the team chose to release it on Steam to reach a wider audience. It came out on August 29, 2012. A Nintendo Switch port followed in October 2020.
The game received generally positive reviews, earning a Metacritic score of 74 out of 100. Destructoid's Tony Ponce called it "a solid game that definitely has an audience." Critics did note its high difficulty and awkward controls as drawbacks.
Quick Facts
- Title
- They Bleed Pixels
- Developer
- Spooky Squid Games
- Designer
- Miguel Sternberg / Andrij Pilkiw
- Composer
- Shaun Hatton
- Released
- Steam · August 29, 2012 Nintendo Switch · October 22, 2020
- Genre
- Platform
- Modes
- Single-player
- Platforms
- Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, Switch
- Engine
- Microsoft XNA
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
They Bleed Pixels was the second game developed by the two-man team of Spooky Squid Games Inc. Originally slated for release on XBLA, the team decided to release it on Steam to reach a wider audience. It was released on August 29, 2012, on the Steam store. A port for the Nintendo Switch was released on the eShop in October 2020.
Gameplay focuses on platforming and combat of notably high difficulty, comparable to N+ and Super Meat Boy, where death is common and overcoming obstacles is mostly accomplished through trial and error. Respawn points are created when the player accumulates enough blood collected from slain enemies or in-level blood pickups, and idles a certain distance away from immediate level hazards.
The plot follows an unnamed young girl's arrival at the Lafcadio Academy Troubled Young Ladies. She is affected by subsequent nightmares, where she transforms into a clawed creature and traverses hostile dreamscapes full of monsters, always waking with a grimoire on her bedside table. As the game progresses, she wakes from these nightmares sporting more aspects of her dream-self's monstrous form in reality, and repeatedly attempts to rid herself of the book. Her nightmares are representative of her attempts—burying it, tossing it in a river, and trying to burn it in a furnace lead to nightmares revolving around earth, water, and fire respectively. After her fire nightmare, she awakens fully transformed to a dark ritual being performed by the Headmaster, surrounded by similarly transformed girls. After plunging her claws through the book and fighting through a final nightmare where she shreds the 'heart' of the book, she awakens fully human and departs. However, back in the academy's library, the remaining books continue to glow ominously.
Reader's Guide
They Bleed Pixels has been generally well-received, with an averaged review score of 74/100 from Metacritic. Tony Ponce of Destructoid concluded that it was 'a solid game that definitely has an audience.' The game has been criticized for its difficulty and awkward controls. Its significance lies in its combination of beat'em up combat with precision platforming, drawing comparisons to notoriously difficult games like N+ and Super Meat Boy. The unique respawn mechanic—based on collecting blood and idling away from hazards—distinguishes it from other hardcore platformers. The dark Lovecraftian art style and narrative about a girl transforming through nightmares add a distinctive thematic layer. The game's release on Steam after originally being planned for XBLA reflects a shift in indie game distribution during the early 2010s. Its later port to Nintendo Switch in 2020 extended its reach to a new audience. The critical reception, while mixed on difficulty and controls, acknowledges the game's solid design and niche appeal.
Did You Know?
- They Bleed Pixels was originally slated for release on XBLA before the team decided to release it on Steam.
- The game's respawn points are created by collecting blood and idling away from immediate level hazards.
- The plot involves an unnamed girl at the Lafcadio Academy Troubled Young Ladies who transforms into a clawed creature in her nightmares.
- A Nintendo Switch port was released on the eShop in October 2020.
More in Platform Games of the 2010s, Part 2 1-24
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