Indie Games 'P.B. Winterbottom' and 'Axel & Pixel' Coming to Xbox Live Arcade, Stealing Pies

Publisher Take-Two today announced that it is bringing two independently-developed games, one all about pie theft, to the Xbox 360 as Xbox Live...

2

Publisher Take-Two today announced that it is bringing two independently-developed games, one all about pie theft, to the Xbox 360 as Xbox Live Arcade downloads.

First up is Axel & Pixel, due this fall. Developed by the Czech-based Silver Wish Games, the point and click adventure tells of the surreal exploits of an artist and his dog.

The Odd Gentlemen's The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom will follow in early 2010 with its time-shifting, pie-stealing gameplay. Seriously. You alter time to steal pies.

"The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom and Axel & Pixel are passion projects for us" said 2K president Christoph Hartmann. "We saw the potential and the talent in these two unique and bold concepts, and are thrilled to be able to provide these developers with the support to create compelling games without altering their distinct visions."

For more on P.B. Winterbottom, let's turn to a description found on the official site:

Create Your Own Paradox for the Love of Pie!

Enter a macabre and comical silent film world filled with mischief, time travel, and delicious pie. Record yourself and harness your time bending abilities to cooperate, compete against, and disrupt your past, present, and future selves. Winterbottom's debut misadventures present whimsical spin on the notions of time, space, and play.

Mr. P.B. Winterbottom is a villainous gentleman with a predilection for pies. Swiping the mysterious Cherry Chronoberry pie changed everything for our beloved Winterbottom... one bite made him more than an ordinary pie-grabbing humbug. That first taste changed him into something quite extraordinary, granting him the ability to break the rules of time. With these newfound time recording tricks up his cufflink, and with the help of his time clones, Winterbottom can now snatch pies with the greatest of ease. But on his journey to devour every pie, Winterbottom must mind the signs... the perils of being unstuck in time.

Meanwhile, here's what the ESRB has to say about the gameplay of Axel & Pixel:

This is a "point-and-click" adventure game in which players guide an artist and his dog through surreal and abstract environments. Players must solve environmental puzzles that include redirecting a ray of light, throwing rocks at birds, and spraying water at a creature. In one scene, a rat creature jumps into a toilet, causing brown liquid to splash out.

And if you just can't wait for shenanigans involving brown liquid or pie stealing, you may be in luck, as playable builds of both titles will be on display at PAX, which runs 9/4 - 9/6.

Chris Faylor was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

From The Chatty
  • reply
    August 26, 2009 10:10 AM

    Sounds like a Braid ripoff. Not that that's a bad thing.

    • reply
      August 26, 2009 10:46 AM

      The game was actually in development as a student project as far back as 2007 (possibly earlier, but that's when it was publicly revealed), and was shown at GDC a while ago. I wouldn't be surprised if there's some Braid influence in there, but it definitely isn't a clone or something like that.

Hello, Meet Lola