Pepper Grinder [Review]
Let’s drill into Devolver Digital’s latest masterpiece.
Image credit: Ahr Ech / Devolver Digital
Pepper Grinder, developed by Ahr Ech and published by Devolver Digital, is full of surprises at a level nearly consistent with the best Super Mario Bros. games. It put a smile on my face at every turn; the game is packed with memorable moments in its unique, cleverly designed levels. Have you ever wanted to get around by tunneling through the earth, propelled by a giant hand-held drill? Pepper Grinder lets you do that, and so much more. Also, the game has one of the best title screens I’ve seen in ages.
The game’s story is straightforward, a setup to get the action going. Pepper’s ship is wrecked and ran aground by pirates who steal her treasure. When she chases them across a rope bridge, they cut it down and she plummets into the abyss. Just when all hope is lost, Pepper finds a giant drill—Grinder—and sets off on an adventure to get her revenge.
Image credit: Ahr Ech / Devolver Digital
Pepper Grinder is a 2D side-scrolling platformer driven by a unique gameplay mechanic used in surprising, unexpected ways. Running is slow, and Pepper can’t jump very high or very far, but that’s where the drill comes in. Pepper’s drill turns earth into water. Not literally, of course, but in the sense that she can swim through dirt with the speed and ease of an agile orca. With the drill, she can use her momentum to leap out of the dirt and reach new heights or cross long gaps.
Throughout its playtime, the game constantly recontextualizes that drill. Suddenly, you can use that drill to power a gatling gun. The drill will turn a key in a lock. Then you’ll use it to power canons that shoot you through the air like the barrels in Donkey Kong Country. The drill operates elevators and lets you drive vehicles. The drill is your propellant, your weapon, and your key to using awesome machinery.
Image credit: Ahr Ech / Devolver Digital
Best of all, it’s all buttery smooth. It’s feels so good to move fluidly through levels, leaping between mounds of dirt and connecting that forward momentum with grappling hook swings or canon travel through the air. Of course, you can also miss. Some parts of the game can take a lot of tries to get right and can be a little frustrating, particularly the long grapple swinging sections. Using the grappling hook is the only bit of the game controls that I found unintuitive; you use the drill button to release from a swing and it can be tricky to time when you have to swing directly into a dirt dive. Thankfully, the checkpoints spread through ever level are usually generous.
Image credit: Ahr Ech / Devolver Digital
Pepper Grinder is full of singular levels with memorable gameplay. You’ll chase a boss down across speeding trucks. At one point, a blue giant you’ve seen in the distance will appear to lend you a helping hand. You’ll drive a snowmobile. Later you’ll pilot a mechanical kaiju. Everything always feels fresh.
Part of the game’s freshness comes from Pepper Grinder’s art, a huge contributor to the game’s charm. The game’s art is in a sharp, bright, and cartoonish pixelated style with vivid, smooth animation. Despite the small size of the sprites, everything is full of character and personality. Many levels have unique art assets, too, beyond the usual variety you’d expect when levels are divided into a series of biomes.
Image credit: Ahr Ech / Devolver Digital
The game is a relatively short 4-5 hours, made up around twenty or so levels divided up into four worlds. Its brevity could be one of the reasons it never wears out its welcome and manages to make everything feel so varied; it’s too short to be repetitive. The game spotlights each idea without driving it into the ground. For completionists, each level also has five collectible skull coins used to buy keys, cosmetics, and a collection of stickers, so you can spend more time trying to find everything.
I really enjoyed Pepper Grinder. Admittedly, I love 2D games with an attitude, but I felt this one is particularly special for how varied it is and how good it feels to play. I can see myself coming back to it again in the future. Nintendo is is the best at eliciting moments of joy and surprise from players and it’s rare that a game from another developer and publisher achieves that.
Pepper Grinder is available now on PC (Steam) and Nintendo Switch.
Overall Score: 9/10
Played on: Steam Deck
