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"It's a game, about a guy making a game, who is in a game, but is also making a game, and his marketing campaign is like a game, and that's about a game, in a game, but also outside the game, where he is making a game, about him making a game, which is about the game industry, and you play other games. In the game."
— Inanimate (TIGsource forum)

"What is 'bob's game?'"

Short answer: An EarthBound (1994)-style RPG developed by one man, Robert Pelloni.

Long answer: It's actually three "games":

  1. The aforementioned indie RPG.
  2. A competitive puzzle game inside the RPG, which is also called "bob's game," and is developed by Bob's in-game alter ego, "bob." Are you confused yet?
  3. The "Viral Marketing" campaign for both "bob's games," which is called...you guessed it..." bob's game."

Since almost nothing is known about the video game yet, this article will focus mainly on the viral ad.


Tropes from "bob's game" (the RPG) include:

  • Affectionate Parody: Tetrid, Ping, and Ramio.
  • all lowercase letters: The title of the game.
  • Author Avatar: One of the main characters is a self-taught developer named "bob", a delusional, egotistical maniac who also happens to be the game's Big Bad.
  • Beat Them at Their Own Game: The final boss fight against "bob" involves doing this. In the most literal sense possible.
  • Child Prodigy:
    • Yuu's little brother is studying Advanced Mechanical Engineering, and he's only six!
    • Yuu is a video game prodigy, easily beating Tetrid when he was very young (which not even the developer could do) and beating the world record on Ping supposedly on the first try.
  • Fake Longevity: The In-Universe Game Clock really serves no purpose other than forcing you to wait for things to happen.
  • Fetch Quest: The very first quest you get in the game is to get some batteries for Yuu's mother.
  • A Minor Kidroduction: The game starts with Yuu's family moving in when he was a young child, making a friend, and playing Tetrid before fast-forwarding to when he is 12 years old.
  • Nintendo Hard:
    • Tetrid is insanely difficult.
    • Ping.
  • Pun: Bob seems to really enjoy this. The main character is called "Yuu" and his portable game system is called the "Gantendo BS", for starters.
  • Overly Long Gag: "bob"'s Laughing Mad at the end of the demo lasts over a minute.
  • Sanity Slippage: Flashbacks show "bob"'s descent into madness over five years in his room making his game.

Tropes from www.bobsgame.com include:

  • Aliens Speaking English: Subverted. They use telepathy.
  • Arc Words:
    • "What is 'bob's game?'"
    • REGGIE!
  • Brainwashed and Crazy: Bob ends up like this.
  • Determinator: Bob. Both of them.
  • Love Makes You Crazy: Love of Nintendo, no less!
  • Mad Artist: "bob," although he's less homicidal than most examples.
  • Mind Screw: To the point where Bob's reveal that the whole thing was a viral ad was just another plot twist in the viral ad. He was brainwashed to say it was a viral ad by aliens.
  • Poe's Law: The viral ad pissed so many people off that many insist that the real Bob is just like Viral!Bob.
  • Room Full of Crazy: "bob's" office TOP SECRET CLASSIFIED UNDERGROUND FORTRESS! No "writing on the wall," per se, but he does have that LED counter...
  • Small Name, Big Ego: Viral!Bob is the embodiment of this. To the point that some people refuse to listen to the fact that it was viral marketing.
  • Stealth Parody: Is Bob mocking egotistical indie game developers? Or is he one of them?
  • Viral Marketing: Or so he claims.


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