A great way to get the attention of bored game designers is to make your game trailer so absurd that they can't help but share it. That was the case with Pull Stay, the game I called the “source of Japanese slapstick” in 2020, when the trailer was probably the most ridiculous game trailer you'd seen that week. After a successful one Kickstarter and subsequent development, Pull Stay has now brought its antics to Steam in Early Access.
A mix of beat 'em up and tower defense, Pull Stay puts you in the role of an autonomous robot, Robo, whose job is to stop humans from harassing his secretive master, Susumu. You do this by building silly defenses and engaging in classic beat 'em up combat along the way.
Defenses I've seen include: a spring-loaded cake launcher, a punch robot, a giant tube of toothpaste, a watermelon bazooka, and something very nefarious involving a rubber duck. How do you build these traps? Apparently by tearing down neighbors' houses to loot them.
By defeating new types of enemies in Pull Stay, you gain their abilities that allow you to deal damage to the bad guys even more successfully. Robo's initial punches and kicks quickly turn into lightsaber strikes, flying uppercuts, fiery attacks, and transform into a terrifying one-eyed Pac-Man thing with human teeth that feeds on flesh.
You can find Stay on Steamwhere it costs $17, although there is a 10% discount until March 4th.
