Dead Pets: A Punk Rock Slice of Life Sim

“Punk rock should mean freedom, liking and accepting anything that you like. Playing whatever you want. As sloppy as you want. As long as it’s good and it has passion.” – Kurt Cobain

Overview

Dead Pets (originally Dead Pets Unleashed) was first developed by Triple Topping. The studio sadly announced its closure in December 2023 due to industry challenges and personal health issues of the leadership. Thankfully, the game’s development was revived by Akupara Games after they acquired two of the studio’s previous games, Welcome to Elk and Ynglet, in 2024. Triple Topping also created Spitkiss. Our 2020 interview with Triple Topping is available to read here.

Dead Pets follows a punk rock band of the same name, who have been in the music scene for a decade. Set in the world of Ether, Gordy and the band live in New Void City. An entirely new world, the planet is inhabited by different species of demons. Players will decide if Gordy, the band’s lead singer, will follow her big plans to get the band’s big break or decide to put away childish things after turning 30. While the game does deal with some heavy topics, Dead Pets runs players through several fun slice-of-life mini-games, lets them listen to a real punk rock EP played live during the game, and engage in Gordy’s daily schedule to determine the future of the band.

Narrative

Dead Pets follows Gordy, who, at 30 years old, is a resident of New Void City, works at a diner serving burgers, is chronically skint, and has met none of the stereotypical milestones so often expected of a woman at that age, such as a stable relationship or children. She is also, and perhaps most importantly, the bassist for a struggling punk band, Dead Pets, playing alongside her friends. As the band make one last push for success, the game sees Gordy battle with her priorities and face some big changes as she tries to balance what is best for the band with the mental and physical health of herself and her bandmates.

Dead Pets touches on some difficult subject matter, containing a major storyline that relates to sexual assault and harassment. This is handled sensitively and with tact, and despite the incident being represented quite minimally, there is a content warning on the game’s storepage as well as in the game itself, and players can choose to skip the specific scene if they prefer. The exploration of this storyline focuses mostly on the aftermath of the primary event and the effect it has on Gordy and different aspects of the life. The game also contains a lot of feminist themes and imagery and depicts several other issues faced by women, such as a lack of respect and being patronised in the workplace, periods, dating, female reproductive health, sexuality, societal pressures, and expectations.

“Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do something. Make your own victories. Make your own mistakes.” – Joan Jett

Dead Pets boasts a large number of NPCs with whom Gordy can interact. They all have unique looks and personalities, and often have intriguing personal backstories as well as some sort of history with Gordy herself. The characters are believable, and the dialogue has a natural feel, exploring many themes and further immersing the player in Gordy’s world.

Inspired by cartoons such as Bojack Horseman and Tuca and Bertie, the game honours them with its colourful, surreal worlds, complicated adult friendships, and zany, offbeat humour. At its core, Dead Pets is a game about friendship. The band have all known each other for a very long time, and the game explores how to manage old friendships that are taking different paths.

Gameplay

Dead Pets is primarily a piece of interactive fiction; within that, it offers a good amount of player choice and a host of different minigames, amongst light life-sim type management elements. In making choices, Gordy must balance (or not) three aspects of her life: herself, social, and the band, which are all scored out of 10 at any given time. The impact a certain decision will have on these metrics is shown before the choice is made. Gordy must also manage her money, which is mostly obtained through work at the diner, as well as loans from the bank of mum and dad, and friends. If a choice will lower any of these metrics too far, usually below zero, the choice will be unavailable to the player. It is sometimes possible to go into financial debt, though this tends to be for more urgent purchases such as healthcare-related expenditure.

Each day, after checking messages, watering her plant, and choosing from an expanding wardrobe full of outfits, players can drag a little Gordy, kicking and screaming, from her home, over a map of Void City, to choose from a selection of locations to visit. Some of these will progress time and possibly make visiting other locations impossible, so it is best to visit these places last. Amongst the many locations available, Gordy can visit her workplace, the studio, the local bar, a café, a record shop, the community centre, and her parents’ house. If a location is available to visit, there will be something for the player to do, even if it is just a short dialogue with an NPC. Each location serves a different purpose, and some NPCs will frequent certain places more than others.

“Embrace the honesty of imperfection, and you will be unstoppable.” – Alice Bag

The most prominent minigames are when Gordy goes to work and when she is at the studio with the band. The diner minigame has Gordy running around frantically, seating customers, taking orders, serving burgers, cake, and beer, collecting payment, and clearing dishes. The level of success will depend on the player’s speed and efficiency, and a better performance will earn a higher wage. In the studio, players will encounter a rhythm game, played to various Dead Pets songs and available in a range of difficulty modes. As with the diner minigame, this will be scored out of 5, this time based on accuracy, note streaks, and the number of missed notes. Other mingames are somewhat more casual and include activities such as making hot dogs, managing a period pinball style, flossing Gordy’s teeth, and exploring a dating app.

Styling

Dead Pets has a uniquely stylised aesthetic using primarily dark or extremely vibrant colours. The colour palette is mostly cool, featuring lots of pinks and purples, but warmer lighting helps bring the various scenes to life. The hand-drawn artwork is of a clean, cartoon-like style, with precise linework and a lot of detail. There are brief cutscenes that diverge from this style; they consist of short animations in a simpler, more sketchy style, and they also use a very limited colour palette of around 3 colours. The visuals perfectly suit the game’s themes and narrative, and help create a cohesive experience. Even the UI is consistent with the overall look, with fonts and small images matching the style of the cutscenes and information often appearing as though it is on ripped pieces of black paper.

The game includes a plethora of references to Triple Toppings previous games, such as SpitKiss, Welcome to Elk, Gelk Stack, and Nifflas’ Ynglet. It also contains a number of other nods to other media and pop culture, such as Stilstand, Notting Hill, and Jimi Hendrix.

“I don’t have to try to be outrageous. I am outrageous.” – Nina Hagen

Being about a band, music is incredibly important to the game. However, the punk rock music of the game isn’t too heavy and is intended to be enjoyed by everyone, with other music genres also intertwined in the game. You can listen to one of Dead Pet’s full singles featured in an early trailer from 2022, I Own My Smile. Inspired by female-fronted punk bands like Bikini Kill and Bratmobile, I Own My Smile is Gordy’s ode to catcallers. The game’s full soundtrack, an album by Dead Pets, is also available on Steam. It was produced by Andreas Busk, who also wrote the lyrics along with Astrid Refstrup and Ida Hartmann, and it was performed by Emma Louise Ottsen Knudsen.

Summary

Dead Pets: A Punk Rock Slice of Life Sim is a fantastic game. Casual but impactful, it will take around 8 hours to complete. It offers players a meaningful narrative experience, choices that matter, a fun, vibrant art style, eclectic characters, enjoyable and varied minigames, and an outstanding, original punk rock soundtrack. Gordy is a complex and interesting character; stepping into her shoes is compelling, thought-provoking, and above all, entertaining. Dead Pets handles challenging subject matter in a mindful way and explores the challenges women face without isolating the game’s male audience. It is a cleverly constructed, providing an experience that is both relaxing and provocative, not to mention very enjoyable.

I have personally been looking forward to playing Dead Pets since I was lucky enough to play a concept demo in 2021, having previously fallen in love with Welcome to Elk, and it was worth the wait. I highly recommend this game, and without caveats, it will appeal to fans of a range of genres and play styles and will not disappoint.

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