History VideoGame / ShowdownBandit

!Showdown Bandit contains examples of:

* CombatPragmatist: Since Bandit can only use the cork gun in certain places, he also uses bear traps to get rid of enemies.

* AdvertisingByAssociation: All marketing for the game contains "From the creators of [[VideoGame/BendyAndTheInkMachine Bendy]]".

** The first episode offers very little information on what's going on overall. By the game's present the Showdown Bandit Show has been cancelled, yet not only are the set-pieces still up and about, the puppets are being moved by some unseen force, everyone acts like they're merely playing out another episode and the show was never cancelled in the first place, and those who don't (the Stringless, who are [[NotUsingTheZWord basically walking corpses]], and the beast in the Mines) are clearly malevolent. [[spoiler: Add to that the episode's ending, in which Bandit steps out onto the main stage where the audience is revealed to be a cult-like gathering of people (or puppets) in red cloaks and white masks and a giant hand reaches out to grab him right before the screen goes black and an unknown voice expresses his contempt for Bandit.]]

* ApocalypticLog: Many of the notes from the Showdown Valley citizens come across as this. [[spoiler: Especially those of the missing puppets Davy and Betty, who can be found behind a BookcasePassage in The Wild. Davy describes their escape from the Araknits, and how he hopes someone will find them before they starve to death.[[note]] Creepily enough, if you choose to return to the area both of their bodies will be gone. [[/note]]]].

** [[spoiler: Penny Hemsworth. She gouged out her eyes in order to follow the rules better.]]

* {{Cliffhanger}}: [[VideoGame/BendyAndTheInkMachine They're at it again]]. Episode 1 ends with [[spoiler: Showdown Bandit walking through a door plastered in warnings and into an open spotlight. The camera then swings around to reveal the audience is made up of slightly larger puppets with creepy white masks. And just before the screen goes black, a giant ''photo-realistic'' hand comes into the frame to grab at the Bandit]].
* CreepyDoll: All over the place but especially [[spoiler: the audience from Chapter 1's end]].

* EasterEgg: Episode 1 has a neat one of ''VideoGame/BendyAndTheInkMachine'', Kindly Beast's previous and first game. [[spoiler: If you bring the headless puppet his head back, he'll open a secret room for you, which contains a giant Bendy-hand and a Bendy-outfit for Bandit!]]

** [[spoiler: The audience. You can't even see what they really look like underneath their cloaks and masks, but they're pretty unsettling either way.]]

* EmptyRoomPsych: [[spoiler: When Bandit enters the main stage, all there is to see is an empty room with a single spotlight shining down in the middle. As soon as you enter the spotlight, the room is revealed to be a direct connection to the audience, who have been watching you the whole time.]]

* FetchQuest: In episode 1, Miss Undertaker sends Bandit to get her skeleton key from the graveyard. [[spoiler: She is mysteriously absent by the time he returns, leaving the player with no choice but to use it to enter the main stage.]]

** The room where you first encounter a Stringless. You walk past what seems to be a heap of lifeless puppet bodies when all of a sudden [[spoiler: one of them gets up and starts to come after you]].
** The corridor leading to the Mines. After Bandit takes a few steps forward, [[spoiler: the beast suddenly crawls through, shredding a poor Stringless in the process]].

* MacguffinDeliveryService: Miss Undertaker sends Bandit on a FetchQuest to retrieve her lost skeleton key in episode 1. [[spoiler: It is later revealed that not only are there actually ''two'' keys, but that she hid the one she sends Bandit to get ''on purpose''. It remains to be seen if and why she deliberately lied to Bandit.]]

** [[spoiler: The audience. At this point in time it's not clear what their motives for watching Bandit and friends are, but if the poster room is any indication, they have been doing so since the beginning of the game.]]
** It's a blink and you'll miss it moment, but during the mine cart ride, [[spoiler: Miss Undertaker]] can be seen watching you from behind the boards. She makes no mention of this later on.

* SubvertedKidsShow: While the actual Showdown Bandit Show looks harmless enough (at least until you factor in Miss ''Undertaker''), the game takes place after the show was cancelled. And now, the studio is overrun with evil puppets, there's some unseen force commanding the Bandit's movements and [[spoiler: the audience is a collection of terrifying hooded figures in white masks]].

** Penny turning around to reveal [[spoiler: she removed her eyes]].
** [[spoiler: The camera changing perspective to reveal the audience and the hand swooping down to grab Bandit right after at the end of episode 1]].

''[[https://www.showdownbandit.com/ Showdown Bandit]]'' is an episodic "top-down, [[StealthBasedGame stealth-action]] horror game" developed by Kindly Beast, with episode one released on September 17, 2019 for [[UsefulNotes/IBMPersonalComputer PC]] through UsefulNotes/{{Steam}}. Sadly, due to poor sales, [[CutShort they stopped working on future chapters and the game was pulled]].

''[[https://www.showdownbandit.com/ Showdown Bandit]]'' is an episodic "top-down, [[StealthBasedGame stealth-action]] horror game" developed by Kindly Beast, with episode one released on September 17, 2019 for [[UsefulNotes/IBMPersonalComputer PC]] through UsefulNotes/{{Steam}}. Sadly, due to poor sales, [[CutShort they stopped working on future chapters]].

* {{Expy}}: The Showdown Bandit Show itself is one of ''Series/HowdyDoody'', a popular PuppetShow from the 1950s, with Bandit clearly meant to emulate Howdy Doody himself.

!! Showdown Bandit contains examples of:

''[[https://www.showdownbandit.com/ Showdown Bandit]]'' is an episodic "top-down, [[StealthBasedGame stealth-action]] horror game" developed by Kindly Beast, with episode one released on September 17, 2019 for [[UsefulNotes/IBMPersonalComputer PC]] through UsefulNotes/{{Steam}}.

** The first episode offers very little information on what's going on overall. By the game's present the Showdown Bandit Show has been cancelled, yet not only are the set-pieces still up and about, the puppets are being moved by some unseen force, everyone acts like they're merely playing out another episode and the show was never cancelled in the first place, and those who don't (the Stringless, who are [[NotUsingTheZWord basically walking corpses]] and the beast in the Mines are clearly malevolent. [[spoiler: Add to that the episode's ending, in which Bandit steps out onto the main stage where the audience is revealed to be a cult-like gathering of people (or puppets) in red cloaks and white masks and a giant hand reaches out to grab him right before the screen goes black and an unknown voice expresses his contempt for Bandit.]]
* AmbiguousTimePeriod: Judging from the TV-set shown in the release date trailer, as well as the shows general aesthetic, the game seems to take place somewhere in the 1950's.

* AsYouKnow: The games description states that the Showdown Bandit Show was massively popular, but was cancelled under mysterious circumstances.

* EasterEgg: Episode 1 has a neat one of ''VideoGame/BendyAndTheInkMachine'', Kindly Beasts' previous and first game. [[spoiler: If you bring the headless puppet his head back, he'll open a secret room for you, which contains a giant Bendy-hand and a Bendy-outfit for Bandit!]]

* IronicNurseryTune: Penny sings the Showdown Bandit Show theme song constantly as she wanders around the set.

** The first episode offers very little information on what's going on overall. By the game's present the Showdown Bandit Show has been cancelled, yet not only are the set-pieces still up and about, the puppets are being moved by some unseen force, everyone acts like they're merely playing out another episode and the show was never cancelled in the first place, and those who don't (the Stringless, who are [[NotUsingTheZWord basically walking corpses]], the beast in the Mines and [[spoiler: Penny who has removed her own eyes]]) are clearly malevolent. [[spoiler: Add to that the episode's ending, in which Bandit steps out onto the main stage where the audience is revealed to be a cult-like gathering of people (or puppets) in red cloaks and white masks and a giant hand reaches out to grab the Bandit right before the screen goes black and an unknown voice expresses his contempt for Bandit.]]

* ApocalypticLog: Many of the notes from the Showdown Valley citizens come across as this. [[spoiler: Especially those of the missing puppets Davy and Betty, who can be found behind a bookcase in The Wild. Davy describes their escape from the Araknits, and how he hopes someone will find them before they starve to death.[[note]] Creepily enough, if you choose to return to the area, both of their bodies are gone. [[/note]]]].

* CombatPragmatist: Since Bandit can only use the cork gun in specific spots, he also uses bear traps to get rid of enemies.

* EasterEgg: Episode 1 has a neat one of ''VideoGame/BendyAndTheInkMachine'', Kindly Beasts previous and first game. [[spoiler: If you bring the headless puppet his head back, he'll open a secret room for you, which contains a giant Bendy-hand and a Bendy-outfit for Bandit!]]

** The first episode offers very little information on what's going on overall. By the game's present the Showdown Bandit Show has been cancelled, yet not only are the set-pieces still up and about, the puppets are still being moved by some unseen force, everyone acts like they're merely playing out another episode, as if the show was never cancelled in the first place, and those who don't (the Stringless, who are [[NotUsingTheZWord basically walking corpses]], the beast in the Mines and [[spoiler: Penny who has removed her own eyes]]) are clearly malevolent. [[spoiler: Add to that the episode's ending, in which Bandit steps out onto the main stage where the audience is revealed to be a cult-like gathering of people (or puppets) in red cloaks and white masks and a giant hand reaches out to grab the Bandit right before the screen goes black and an unknown voice expresses his contempt for Bandit.]]

* AwesomeButImpractical: The cork gun can down any Stringless in just one shot, but can only be used by having Bandit stand in a specific spot, from which he won't be able to move away from while shooting.

* {{Expy}}: The Showdown Bandit Show itself is one of [[Series/HowdyDoody ''The Howdy Doody Show'']], a popular PuppetShow from the 1950s, with Bandit clearly meant to emulate Howdy Doody himself.

* FetchQuest: In episode 1, Miss Undertaker send Bandit to get her skeleton key from the graveyard. [[spoiler: She is mysteriously absent by the time he returns, leaving the player with no choice but to use it to enter the main stage.]]

* MacguffinDeliveryService: Miss Undertaker sends Bandit on a FetchQuest to retrieve her lost skeleton key. [[spoiler: It is laer revealed that not only are there actually ''two'' keys, but that she hid the one she sends Bandit to get ''on puprpose''. It remains to be seen if and why she deliberately lied to Bandit.]]

''[[https://www.showdownbandit.com/ Showdown Bandit]]'' is an episodic "top-down, [[StealthBasedGamestealth-action]] horror game" developed by Kindly Beast, with episode one released on September 17, 2019 for [[UsefulNotes/IBMPersonalComputer PC]] through UsefulNotes/{{Steam}}.

For years, ''[[Main/PuppetShows The Showdown Bandit Show]]'' delighted kids of all ages. But that was a long time ago. The show was canceled and its puppets and sets were left to rot. Sometime later, Showdown Bandit awakens in the abandoned film studio to find his co-stars have become [[PerversePuppet nightmarish monsters]]. The Bandit sets out to uncover the answer to the biggest question of all... ''who is really pulling the strings?''

''[[https://www.showdownbandit.com/ Showdown Bandit]]'' is an episodic "top-down, stealth-action horror game" developed by Kindly Beast, with episode one released on September 17, 2019.

** The Araknits in the old Carver place are many and aggressive.

* EasterEgg: Episode 1 has a neat one of [[VideoGame/BendyAndTheInkMachine Bendy and the Ink Machine]], Kindly Beasts previous and first game. [[spoiler: If you bring the headless puppet his head back, he'll open a secret room for you, which contains a giant Bendy-hand and a Bendy-outfit for Bandit!]]

* ApocalypticLog: Many of the notes from the Showdown Valley citizens come across as this. [[spoiler: Especially those of the missing puppets Davy and Betty, who can be found behind a bookcase in The Wild. Davy describes their escape from the Araknits, and how he hopes someone will find them before they starve to death.[[note]] Creepily enough, if you choose to return to the area, both of their bodies are gone. [[/note]]]].

* EasterEgg: Episode 1 has a neat one of Bendy and the Ink Machine, Kindly Beasts previous and first game. [[spoiler: If you bring the headless puppet his head back, he'll open a secret room for you, which contains a giant Bendy-hand and a Bendy-outfit for Bandit!]]

* TheWildWest: The general aesthetic of ''The Showdown Bandit Show''.

* {{Cliffhanger}}: Episode 1 ends with [[spoiler: Showdown Bandit walking through a door plastered in warnings and into an open spotlight. The camera then swings around to reveal the audience is made up of slightly larger puppets with creepy white masks. And just before the screen goes black, a giant ''photo-realistic'' hand comes into the frame to grab at the Bandit]]. You can definitely tell the people behind this worked on ''VideoGame/BendyAndTheInkMachine''.