If Letters Had Pants is a confusing but joyful word puzzle roguelite with a touch of archaeology
Off the grid
If Letters Had Pants appears to be the product of three different elevator pitches that took place in the same elevator, and somehow resolved amicably rather than eating each other alive.
The first pitch was for a verbal puzzler in which you combine letters into words on a randomised grid against the clock, with the twist that words vanish when scored to create blank spaces that can be bridged by other letter combinations for higher scores. The second pitch was for a bizarrely prudish roguelite that is all about ensuring that letters are properly dressed. And the third pitch was for an archaeological excavation sim in which you exhibit things like lost floppy discs, or sell them to expand your museum. The result, against the odds, is a single and cohesive video game rather than a claustrophobic clownfight. Witness the below trailer.
Here’s how the moving parts join together. The word puzzle grid is also a patch of dirt, beneath which lurk the aforesaid archaeological relics. When you combine and remove letters, you’re also lifting away the soil to expose these priceless finds.
Putting pants on letters, meanwhile, gives them modifiers, for use in both the archaelogical excavation and grid puzzler sides of the game. For example, you can whack some gardening trousers on the letter “W” to plant a turnip when it's removed, which grows as you combine words and can eventually be harvested for bonus score. Similarly, you’ll unlock new modifiers as you expand your museum collection.
Ah, wait a minute. This is sort of Balatro again, isn’t it? A roguish perma-progressioner with a touch of deckbuilding. Still, the mix of influences is quite distinctive. I like the idea that I might have to choose between a high-scoring word and a low-scoring word that’ll earn me another relic.
You can find If Letters Had Pants on Itch.io. It’s all the fine work of PUNKCAKE Délicieux, who do indeed consist of three people: “Benjamin Soulé and Rémy Devaux, accompanied by chiptune extraordinaire Pentadrangle.” Together, they operate a subscription biz that releases one bite-sized and breezily presented game a month. They’re the creators of Shotgun King and Build The Sun.