Line #4 VideoGame/Maize


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maize.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:This is the least ridiculous screenshot of the game.]]
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4	''[[http://store.steampowered.com/app/284240/ Maize]]'' is a comedic FirstPersonPerspective AdventureGame developed and published by Finish Line Games. It was released on [[Platform/IBMPersonalComputer PC]] through Platform/{{Steam}} on December 1st, 2016, before getting ported to Platform/PlayStation4 and Platform/XboxOne on September 12th, 2017.
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6	The player character awakens on an abandoned farm, with no prior knowledge about how they got there, what they're doing, or why they even came there in the first place. They quickly find that this seemingly abandoned farm is overrun by talking, sentient corn because a pair of scientists misinterpreted a government memo. To quote the creators: "That's the least ridiculous thing about this game", and they're really not kidding. What follows is a very odd little adventure as the player dives into the history of the farm, the experiments that lead to the origin of the sentient corn, all while accompanied by an angry Russian teddy bear that berates you and this situation every step of the way.
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8	Given that a good number of the game's surprises are based in BaitAndSwitch comedy, it's highly advised you play ''Maize'' before reading this article.
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10	!!Describe the STUPID tropes here.
11	%%* AbandonedLaboratory: A large portion of the game's environs.
12	* AchievementsInIgnorance: Despite wearing a chair for a hat, collecting rocks for pets/companions and mixing up an amplifier speaker on a stand for an animal, you manage to advance through the plot by solving puzzles, often by slapping together whatever random items you happen to come across.
13	%%* AmnesiacHero: You, the player character.
14	* ApocalypticLog: {{Downplayed}}. Rather than being about everyone dying or the world ending, the story of the rise and fall of Bob and Ted's research creating the corn people, is told through post-it notes and research logs.
15	* BrickJoke: You can find a note of Bob regarding him having made investments in a power ballad. [[spoiler: It's the credits song.]]
16	* ChekhovsGun: The very first item you get in the game is a seemingly useless English Muffin, which stays in your inventory for most of the game, never being used for anything [[spoiler: until you use it at the very end of the game to defeat the Cornacabra.]]
17	* TheDitz:
18	** Notable in that the entire species of corn people seem to be stupid; from not knowing a bear from a helicopter, to forgetting messages they're supposed to deliver, and attempting to order pizza on a military radio. [[FridgeLogic Not even accounting for if sentient corn COULD eat pizza.]]
19	** Bob was also this in spades. In one example, he spent a lot of money on developing visitor tours and coming up with brochures for a classified research and development facility.
20	* {{Eagleland}}: Type 2-ish. The most we hear from the Americans are from the Military who come to bomb the farm and facility, who are treated as dumb, boorish, and trigger-happy.
21	* {{Foreshadowing}}: Throughout the game, the player character is called an idiot and is capable of doing strange acts nonchalantly, such as drinking fuel without getting sick. This makes sense (in the context of the game, anyway) once you find out that [[spoiler:the player character is a scarecrow with no brain]].
22	%%* IdiotHero: You, if the item descriptions and Vladdy are any indication.
23	* JigsawPuzzlePlot: The player uncovers the entire story slowly through reading all the post-its and going through the item descriptions.
24	* LostInTheMaize: A more lighthearted take on the trope. You begin the game inside of a large cornfield.
25	* NoOSHACompliance: Invoked and poked fun at. According to the post-it notes and logs, the odd design of the labs are entirely Bob's fault.
26	* PoorCommunicationKills: Bob and Ted don't actually talk to each other face to face, preferring to talk to one another through passive aggressive post-it notes. This is further evidenced by time logs found in the lab, showing they're almost never around one another physically.
27	* PunBasedTitle: You're stuck in a maze of maize.
28	* RapidFireNo: The Cornacabra's reaction to seeing a picture of Professor Poppycorn (a popcorn mascot that he calls "the Devourer") as he flees in terror.
29	* RunningGag: There are various rocks you can put in your folio, each given an overly detailed description and a name despite all just being plain rocks.
30	* ShaggyDogStory: [[spoiler: After everything you've gone through to help the corn, including [[HeroicSacrifice losing Vladdy]], the corn blow themselves up out of sheer idiocy. Basically, nothing you did mattered, unless you count learning you're a scarecrow.]]
31	* SilentProtagonist: The player character never speaks. This is lampshaded frequently by everyone you encounter.
32	* SingleGenderSpecies: The corn people are all male. [[spoiler: The Ruby Queen is an exception for a reason]].
33	* SurroundedByIdiots: Ted, Vladdy, [[spoiler: the Ruby Queen]]... The research facility isn't exactly a brain trust.
34	* ThoseTwoGuys:
35	** The recurring trio of corn people the player character encounters throughout the game. According to the credits, their names are Jim, Bill, and Fred.
36	** Ted and Bob also count despite you never seeing them. It becomes clear that Ted actually really deserves to be stuck with Bob as he spends countless time insulting and berating Bob instead of just getting rid of him. Ted also failed to recognize that they misinterpreted their orders and spends a large amount of time participating in useless office politics, feeding Bob's countless fish, cleaning the fish tanks, and he actually manages to lower the intelligence of the corn people to the point that Helen gets sick of both the founders and sells them out to the government.
37	* TomatoInTheMirror: [[spoiler:The player character finds out in the end that he's a scarecrow]].
38	* UnexpectedGameplayChange: Near the end of the game, the corn people accidentally call an air strike on the farm, thinking they were [[TooDumbToLive ordering a pizza.]] What manages to prevent the air strike? [[spoiler:A [[VideoGame/DanceDanceRevolution DDR-style]] dance number, of course!]]
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40	[-What are you still doing on this STUPID page?! What? You want Vladdy to enter another vent? ''(sigh)'' Why does Vladdy put up with you?-]

Context VideoGame / Maize