BA6 | Advanced Game Studies #11

Papo & Yo Study

Papo & Yo is a fantasy platform/puzzle adventure game released on August 14, 2012 for the PlayStation 3’s PSN platform. It has since been released for Steam. It was developed by Minority and designed by Vander Caballero using the Unreal Engine 3.

The game is set in Brazil, however the exact location is unknown, the environments of the game are fantasy. The player assumes the role of Quico who has run away from home to escape his alcoholic, abusive Father.

Wait…what?! An alcoholic abusive Father is the theme behind this game? Yes. The key thing to remember; this game doesn’t have an adult age rating to match the adult narrative themes. No. The game was given an “E10” age rating which means that the game is suitable for those who are aged 10 and over. The steam version of the game has been given a “12” rating which isn’t a drastic difference when you consider the actual story behind this game. 

It is this point which makes Papo & Yo perfect for my topic research. Papo & Yo is a fantasy adventure game where the main element of gameplay is to solve puzzles and progress through the level via basic procedural rhetoric in terms of level design. The game isn’t full of dense cut scenes trying to animate the relationship between Quico and his Father, instead it focuses on the play and how the player can subtly understand (or not) the themes behind the metaphorical game.

Play is used in Papo & Yo to convey the metaphorical aspect of Quico’s relationship with his father who is represented as a large, obese monster with the same title.

 image reference

 

Most of the time Monster is meandering around in the same general direction as Quico. This is where their relationship in terms of play and the metaphors that are supposed to reflect the story and meaning behind Papo & Yo can be studied to question meaning. Monster doesn’t always set out to help Quico, nor will he go out of his way to be useful. There will be areas where Monster actually lays down and falls asleep. This could easily be a metaphor of the deeper back story where Quico’s father would presumably pass out from alcohol abuse or just be generally neglectful of Quico. 

 image reference

 image reference 

Referring back to the core point here which is that Papo & Yo is an indie game developed and designed in order to convey the troubling messages, sub textural narrative and down right personal experiences of Vander Callabero. He lived this abusive and destructive life and Papo & Yo was his way of documenting and communicating his experiences which is incredibly special in a video game.

Bearing this in mind, it is crucial to remember that the game is widely available to those of all age ranges. Children as young as 10 can pick up this game and play. That’s when you must consider the gameplay. Papo and Yo isn’t focused around communicating these adult themes to the player. Most of the time the player is concentrating on solving puzzles, not looking for and discovering the deeper meaning. Any elements of the gameplay that are suggesting the sub textural elements of the back story are often masqueraded in  metaphor. There are very few elements of the game that thrust the subject matter in the players face. 

The few elements seen in game which obviously relate to the darker nature of what Papo and Yo is really about still don’t overly suggest or inform the player to the meanings of the sub text. Callabero has left this down to clever direction of cut scenes which inadvertadly inform the play about the genuine story behind Papo & Yo. Having said this, if the player didn’t previously gain knowledge of the deeper meaning behind Papo & Yo they may just view these cut scenes as quirky additives to the game. This is something I myself did, whilst I had suspicions that Monster was a parental figure based on the title name “Papo” I never truly understood the story behind the game until I read about it post completion. 

   video reference, credit goes to "xVideoGamesSourcex"  

I’m a 22 year old games design student with an open mind and I didn’t immediately understand the connotations of the game or read its back-story so how would a child merely aged 10? This I am unsure of. That’s not to say that I don’t completely agree with games being used as  medium to communicate subject matter such as that of which Papo & Yo tries to tackle. Once I knew the back-story the game made more sense to me and metaphors were popping out everywhere, even during play.

Of course, lets not get side tracked. The points I am trying to put across and research are how games can be used as mediums to communicate serious ideas and narratives through play. This is why Papo & Yo is perfect. One thing I would like to cover, which relates back to the brief and how audiences receive the game via marketing, is how the game was advertised. I don’t ever recall Papo & Yo being advertised as a game expressing the emotions, story and perspective of a man who grew up with an alcoholic abusive Father. I recall Papo & Yo being advertised as a quirky platform adventure game with unique visuals and gameplay. Infact, if you see this advert, the trailer makes the game look child friendly.

  video reference, credit goes to "IGN"   

In this trailer Monster is even referred to as Quico’s “best friend”. Which is fine, there’s no real reason why you wouldn’t assume they are friends (other than when Monster eats bad fruit or frogs but I will get to that later) but what is really interesting is the way in which the trailer is presented. 
 

  video reference, credit goes to "IGN"   

The first half of the trailer is advertised and presented in an incredibly child friendly way. Using cute quirky cartoon animations to communicate the what the game is about. And it really does. Using metaphors, this adorable, child friendly animated short depicts that this young boys “best friend”, which is often the way a Father Son relationship is described, is tainted when Quico’s favorite toy, Lula, acknowledges the fact that it doesn’t like or trust Monster. This plays on the fact that children often befriend their toys when they are young, suggesting that the real sub text, the emotional documentation of Callabero’s childhood saw him take refuge in a toy, a personal safety blanket which has become manifested in the game as a friend. 

The trailer is almost “making light” of addiction in an almost comical fashion. Monster becomes angry because he is addicted to…frogs? Yes, frogs. In game, if Monster gets a hold of a frog (or bad fruit) he will consume it. This is a direct metaphor for the addiction Monster/Father has to substances like alcohol and how, when consumed, he transforms into Quico’s “deadly enemy” whom he must “survive” and “cure”.

Using the words deadly, enemy, survive and cure in what is seemingly a child friendly trailer has some very serious connotations. The trailer suggests that Quico must simply “cure” his Father of the alcoholism and abusive behaviour; as if it’s as simple as completing the game through play.  These terms really do reinforce the serious nature of the real story behind the game. 

 

The Escapist and Papo & Yo

The >> Escapist article << reviewing Papo & Yo written by Susan Arendt contains some helpful quotes when trying to understand how uncomfortable Papo & Yo truly is when we consider the real story behind it and what it is trying to communicate. 

“The world of Papo & Yo isn't comfortable, but within it lies a reality that we don't often see in games. As a game, it stands up as a whimsically creative puzzler, but its impact goes beyond its strict entertainment value.”

Arendt is saying that, whilst some of the puzzles cause you to feel uncomfortable in terms of solving them, it is actually the theme behind it that should impact you more. She says that this goes deeper than sheer entertainment which is exactly how I am approaching this project; can games go further and communicate realistic ideas and narrative through play. Papo & Yo certainly does. 

“Monster is an oddly bland companion. He can activate special switches when you lead him to the right spot, and if he's snoozing you can jump on his belly to reach high ledges, but mostly he just lumbers around looking for coconuts. He's the entire point of your mission, but he's just sort of there in the background while you do all the work.”

I think this point is really interesting because it relates back to Terrell and how games use metaphors to communicate their ideals and narrative. Arednt is saying that Monster is fairly useless as far as companions go and that he is unable to do most basic tasks for Quico to help progress through the game. This could be  a metaphor for how the alcoholism and addictive behaviour affected the Father figure and that he would often be left useless or unhelpful when drinking; to the point that even mundane tasks would be a chore. 

“Even if you ignore the subtext it's clearly referencing, it's hard to watch a child screaming in pain as Monster flings him across the screen.”

Lack of help also insinuates that in real life, the Father was neglectful and ignorant of the Sons feelings and refusal to help would often lead to abusive or more alcohol. These are just observations of possible metaphors. 

“Even with its difficult subject matter and occasionally malicious controls, Papo & Yo still manages to be endearing. It's wonderful to spend time with a kid in a game that actually acts like a kid - no emo whining, no amnesia, and no overwhelming destiny. Just his favourite toy, his neighbourhood, and his imagination. The game is a testament to a child's ability to weather the darkness of the real world, but its subject matter may resonate a bit too strongly for some players.”

 

Arednt’s conclusion is incredibly relevant when remembering that this game is suitable or children, the sub text isn't thrown in the audiences face and therefore, when it is stripped back, you do just get the joy of feeling like a child exploring an imaginative world with your slightly odd companion monster. The sub text is metaphoric and communicated through play; which is the point I am trying to make.