Line #119 VideoGame/PocketGod


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/_To_Do_6960.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:[[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness In Ep 1, all you could do was pick the Pygmies up and throw them.]] [[SincerityMode Seriously.]]]]
3
4	->''What kind of god would you be? [[VideoGameCaringPotential Benevolent]] or [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential vengeful]]? Play Pocket God and discover the answer within yourself.''
5	->--'''Bolt Creative'''
6
7	Pocket God is a [[KillerApp smash-hit]] app and [[GodGame god game]] for the iPod Touch/iPhone. The app was created by Dave Castelnuovo and Allan Dye, of Bolt Creative, a San Francisco-based developer. In Pocket God, you play as a god who has control over a race of islanders called "Pygmies". You can [[VideoGameCaringPotential reward them with gifts]] or [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential kill them]]. There can be up to six pygmies at a time and if killed, you can [[DeathIsCheap bring them back]]. You also have control over other things as well, such as animals and the weather. The app is constantly updating and has had forty-seven episodes released so far. Plenty more are to come.
8
9	The app has received a [[ComicBook/PocketGod comic book adaptation]], which has been well received.
10
11	It has received a sequel/spin-off known as "[[RecycledINSPACE Pocket God: Journey To Uranus]]".
12
13	----
14	!!This game provides examples of:
15
16	* AllAnimalsAreDogs:
17	** The [[PunnyName Barking Spider]] barks and whines like a dog.
18	** The turtle in the Moron Pests minigame growls like a dog when the Pygmy first disturbs it.
19	* AllJustADream: Anything that takes place on the Island of Misfit Crossovers happens in a Pygmy's dream. [[YourMindMakesItReal If he gets killed there, it still acts like he got killed like in the real world.]]
20	* ApocalypseHow: The SeriesFauxnale, where the God of Death is awakened using [[PoweredByAForsakenChild a baby]] and the Pygmies must [[GottaCatchEmAll collect gems to defeat him]].
21	* ArtisticLicensePaleontology:
22	** The Tyrannosaurus Rex didn't exist in the time of Pangaea. Neither did human ancestors or even primates for that matter.
23	** There are hominoids and dinosaurs existing together in the same time/place.
24	* BigCreepyCrawlies: The Barking Spider, Beetles and the Locust Queen are more than twice as large as the Pygmies..
25	* BiggerOnTheInside: [[WombLevel Inside the snake in the Island of Misfit Crossovers]]. Its stomach is infinitely long as the Pygmy runs inside trying to escape. Justified in that this is in a [[DreamLand dream world]].
26	* BlowYouAway: One of your many god powers is the ability to create hurricanes.
27	* BloodlessCarnage: The things you can do to the Pygmies and yet they don't spill a drop.
28	* {{Bowdlerize}}: Pygmies were renamed "Oogs", but only temporarily.
29	* ButtMonkey: The Pygmies never catch a break since their god is always torturing them through many ways.
30	* TheCameo: [[VideoGame/DoodleJump Doodle the Doodler]] appears as an enemy in the Ooga Jump minigame.
31	* {{Crossover}}: With [[VideoGame/TheCreeps The Creeps!]], VideoGame/HarbourMaster, VideoGame/{{Trenches}} and VideoGame/TheMoronTest.
32	* CerebusSyndrome: The updates towards the end of the original game's lifespan gradually slip towards more and more nightmarish concepts, eventually climaxing in a MayanDoomsday StoryArc with a [[FinalBattle fate-deciding battle with]] [[spoiler: [[BigBad Lord]] [[AliensAreBastards Xenu]]]].
33	* {{Cloudcuckoolander}} : Charlie constantly spouts out random phrases that appear to be nonsense (ex. "I'm a total freakin' rock star from Mars.") and is unaffected by some things that would normally harm Pygmies; it's somewhat donwplayed with the sayings, however, since Charlie is based on Creator/CharlieSheen and the phrases are based on things his characters have said.
34	* TheComputerIsACheatingBastard: In the Battle of the Gods mini-game, there are situations where if you kill the AI but they would get a healing power-up at the end of the turn, they'll survive despite technically having 0 HP. Word of advice: don't assume that strategy will work for you.
35	* CruelPlayerCharacterGod: There are twelve gifts and ninety-nine sacrifices. The game encourages you to torture the Pygmies for your own amusement.
36	* DarkerAndEdgier: Later updates seem to make the sacrifices more violent and nightmarish.
37	* DeathMountain: Ape Mountain. Fitting, considering the location's features are all about sacrificing Pygmies to a giant ape. It is also the first area to not feature any water.
38	* DeathIsCheap: There are only six Pygmies (eight if you count Charlie and [[spoiler: Tom]]), and you can bring them back once they've died.
39	* DownloadableContent: The game has a DLC store, which has various customisation packs. Most of them are skin packs.
40	* DreamLand: The Island of Misfit Crossovers. To access it for the first time, you have to tap the dream bubble above a sleeping Pygmy.
41	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: To reiterate, when this app was first released, all you could do was pick the Pygmies up and throw them around, and that's it.
42	* EasterEgg: Three of them:
43	** [[spoiler: Hold a meteor in front of the sun to cause an eclipse. This can protect the vampire Pygmy when the sun is out.]]
44	** [[spoiler: Tapping the Sand Island statue threes times in succession cause it to vapourise all Pygmies and says: [[LampshadeHanging "You know you like Pocket God."]]]]
45	** [[spoiler: After cooking a Pygmy over the fire on Rock Island, drop it in the ice hole on Ice Island to create a geyser which sends icicles [[DeathFromAbove showering down on Pygmies below.]]]]
46	* EldritchAbomination: The giant demon in the background of the Lava Tube. It doesn't do anything to the Pygmies since it lurks in the background, but is still a menacing demonic figure.
47	* ElectricJellyfish: Found in the Coral Reef, they can electrocute Pygmies and also suffocate them when worn as helmets.
48	* EndlessGame: The Ooga Jump, Pain Drain, The Runs, Konkey Dong, Moron Pests and Dance Dance Execution minigames all keep going until you die.
49	* EverythingsBetterWithRainbows: You can create [[MemeticMutation double rainbows]]. See [[ShoutOut Shout Out]].
50	* EverythingsDeaderWithZombies: You can bury Pygmies in a grave which turns them into zombies on Graveyard Island. They then walk about and bite other Pygmies, turning them to zombies as well.
51	* EverythingTryingToKillYou: Invoked since you are playing God and can kill Pygmies with pretty much anything, including drowning, being eaten alive by ants, burnt by a volcano, the sun, or a magnifying glass, and much more.
52	* FaceFullOfAlienWingWong: Facehugger jellyfish reproduce like this in "Call of Booty."
53	* {{Gasshole}}: One of the idle animations has the Pygmy fart. And then there's the "Fart Dance"...
54	* GiantSpider: The [[AllAnimalsAreDogs Barking]] Spider is much larger than the Pygmies. [[RuleOfThree Also a boss battle.]]
55	* AGodIsYou: You are free to do as you will with the Pygmies and the environment surrounding them, and they won't do that much besides idle animations unless you interact with something; this includes sacrificing them or giving them stuff to do.
56	* GottaCatchEmAll: The God Idols are collected by doing tasks related to them, mainly by discovering all the possible ways to kill a Pygmy. There are 48 in all, each representing an update/"episode", and they can be used in the Battle of the Gods.
57	* AnIcePerson: The Ice Monster that sleeps off the coast of Ice Island. The top of his head looks like an iceberg, and flicking Pygmy at him will wake him up and start his boss battle.
58	* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice:
59	** If you tap the statue in the Underwater Area, it will shoot out a spear at high-speed. Naturally, the game allows you to make "Pygmy Kebobs". There's even a microgame where you try to see how many Pygmies you can spear at once.
60	** [[spoiler: Activating the geyser on Ice Island will send icicles showering down, stabbing Pygmies in the head or back.]]
61	* JustEatHim: Most the wildlife in the game (except for dodo birds, monkeys, fish, and swordfish) kill the Pygmies by eating them. The boss monsters do this to gain health.
62	** [[AnIcePerson The Ice Monster]], [[SubvertedTrope on the other hand]], can accidentally eat Pygmies if they are flicked at it when its mouth is open, and this actually does damage instead (according to Bolt Creative, this is because of indigestion).
63	* LiterallyShatteredLives: Frozen Pygmies can be shattered by tapping them, and the Ice Monster breaks into a million pieces when defeated.
64	* MakingASplash: Another one of your god powers is the ability to create a tsunami. Surprisingly, it's not used to kill Pygmies. Instead, you use it to take them to [[UnderTheSea the Underwater Area and Coral Reef]].
65	* MamaBear: [[AllThereInTheManual According to the help menu]], the Tyrannosaurus Rex and Barking Spider are female, and are only attacking to protect their babies.
66	* MonochromaticEyes: Zombie Pygmies have them as they're undead.
67	* NighInvulnerability: No death that these pygmies suffer can keep em down forever: they can be respawned on command.
68	** When killed on Graveyard Island, they become ghosts and can't spawn until you somehow get rid of their souls(such as having them drag a living pygmy away). When killed by [[TheVirus plague]], they can't spawn until their infected bodies are burned in a fire.
69	** The comic reveals that [[spoiler: the reason they don't die forever is that their Jewel of Life keeps them from suffering permanent deaths]].
70	* NinjaPirateZombieRobot: Charlie can turn into a High Priest Vatican Assassin Warlock.
71	* NoSell:
72	** Charlie is immune to a couple of the things that can kill regular pygmies.
73	** The Barking Spider is apparently unaffected by the plague, since it won't throw up and die after eating an infected pygmy.
74	* OffWithHisHead: If you try to pull a Pygmy too hard when its in the ice squid's grip, it gets decapitated.
75	* OurVampiresAreDifferent: The Vampire Pygmy. It doesn't bite Pygmies or suck their blood. It just knocks them into the ocean.
76	* OurZombiesAreDifferent: The Zombie Pygmies sport blue skin, [[MonochromaticEyes pupil-less white eyes]] and have the classic [[ZombieGait zombie gait]]. They also perform the [[Music/MichaelJackson Thriller and Smooth Criminal dances]].
77	* OxygenMeter: Appears after a Pygmy retrieves the first treasure in "Call of Booty." He'll die if he runs out of oxygen.
78	* ThePlague: The fountain in the Plague Chamber. Pygmies can play in the fountain, which infects them, and can then spread the disease to most of the items that Pygmies interact with.
79	* PottyEmergency: If a Pygmy takes too long in the outhouse, a nearby Pygmy will start waiting, and if you [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential let them keep waiting]], they will eventually burst.
80	* PunBasedTitle: Some of the episode names:
81	** Ep 3: You Always Hurt the Ones You Lava
82	** Ep 29: The Pyg Chill
83	** [[Music/{{Oasis}} Ep 31: What's the Story, Morning Gory?]]. See [[ShoutOut Shout Out]].
84	** Ep 34: Monkey See, Monkey Chew
85	** Ep 46: Germs of Endearment
86	* SchizoTech: Despite being set in the time of Pangaea, the outhouse on Rock Island has a flushing toilet, the underwater area has a shark with a laser gun strapped to its head and a sunken pirate ship in the background, there is a jetpack in the "Ooga Jump" minigame, the Pygmies get electric guitars in "The Pocket God Update Song", and the Dance Chamber in the Apocalypse Temple ''has a disco''.
87	* ShockAndAwe:
88	** One of your god powers is lightning, which can be used for striking Pygmies (and dodo birds and monkeys), [[MundaneUtility or starting a bonfire]].
89	** And then there's the [[ElectricJellyfish jellyfish]] that electrocute Pygmies.
90	* ShoutOut:
91	** When a Pygmy is possessed by a Ghost Pygmy, [[Film/TheExorcist their head rotates 360 degrees, then they throw up]].
92	** [[Film/CrouchingTigerHiddenDragon "Ep 28: Barking Spider, Crouching Pygmy"]]
93	** "Ep 31: What's the Story, Morning Gory", which is a reference to the album "Music/WhatsTheStoryMorningGlory" by Music/{{Oasis}}.
94	** The [[EverythingsDeaderWithZombies zombie Pygmies]] can do the [[Music/MichaelJackson Thriller dance and Smooth Criminal dance]], while the Vampire Pygmy can perform "[[Music/TheBeeGees Staying]] [[Film/SaturdayNightFever Alive]]", with ordinary Pygmies serving as back-up dancers!
95	*** Ordinary Pygmies can do the Film/NapoleonDynamite dance.
96	** In the alien world skin pack, you can change the meteor into a [[Franchise/StarWars interrogation Droid and the spear into a lightsaber]], the t-rex egg into an [[Franchise/{{Alien}} alien egg]], and can turn the Sand Island statue into the monolith from ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey''.
97	** The retro gamer skin pack, which contains references to [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mario]], Franchise/DonkeyKong, Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda, Franchise/{{Pokemon}}, Franchise/{{Sonic\|TheHedgehog}}, VideoGame/PacMan, VideoGame/SpaceInvaders, VideoGame/{{Tetris}}, VideoGame/{{Centipede}}, VideoGame/{{Galaga}}, VideoGame/DigDug, and VideoGame/{{Qbert}}.
98	** The demon that appears in the [[LethalLavaLand lava tube]] is a tribute to Music/RonnieJamesDio.
99	** "Ep 35: Double Rainbow All the Way Across the Sky" is a reference to the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQSNhk5ICTI Double Rainbow Meme]]. The Pygmies even shout quotes from the video when they see them. In fact, their voices for those quotes are actually Paul "Yosemite Bear" Vasquez's voice (the guy from the video), except digitally doctored.
100	** [[Franchise/DonkeyKong Ep 36: Konkey Dong]]. The character's name is a pun on DK's name, and the minigame is in the style of the first ''Donkey Kong'' game, including Konkey Dong throwing boulders like DK throws barrels, and the Pygmy being able to wield a hammer like Mario/Jumpman.
101	** The sacrifice for being hit by a beetle in the Konkey Dong minigame is called "[[Film/{{Beetlejuice}} Beetlejuiced!]]".
102	** Creator/{{Charlie\|Sheen}}, [[SixthRanger a 7th Pygmy]] [[Creator/CharlieSheen who talks about winning, and shouts Charlie Sheen quotes. He also can turn into a tiger (because he has tiger blood and Adonis DNA) and a High Priest Vatican Assassin Warlock.]] The episode was called [[Series/TwoAndAHalfMen "Two and a Half Pygmies"]] to drive the point home.
103	** And now there's Creator/{{Tom\|Cruise}}, who's basically another Charlie, only this time he says Tom Cruise quotes and is [[spoiler: a catalyst of the Apocalypse]].
104	* SixthRanger: Charlie, a seventh Pygmy. See ShoutOut.
105	* SolarPoweredMagnifyingGlass: You can use a large magnifying glass to incinerate ants and Pygmies.
106	* SoundtrackDissonance: The music for the Coral Reef is a soothing choir, yet the area features a lot of the more disturbing sacrifices.
107	* SpikesOfDoom: In the Pain Drain, and the Pygmy dies if he slides down too fast and hits them.
108	* StrippedToTheBone:
109	** You can make fire ants and locusts swarm Pygmies, which reduces them to skeletons.
110	** If a Pygmy falls in lava in 'The Runs' minigame, they will burst into flames, leaving only a skeleton.
111	* SuperDrowningSkills: Pygmies will drown when they fall in the water.
112	* SuperNotDrowningSkills: In [[UnderTheSea the Underwater Area and Coral Reef]], the Pygmies never run out of air, which causes a [[FridgeLogic logic problem]] with the before mentioned SuperDrowningSkills.
113	* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: On the Pocket Blog, about the [[DownloadableContent Underwater Skin Pack]]:
114	-->'''Allan Dye:''' You can make your island an underwater paradise, with flying dodo fish and sponge [[VideoGame/DoodleJump doodlers]] who in no way resemble WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarePants. Okay, maybe a little.
115	* TakeThat:
116	** A comment on the Pocket God Update song:
117	--->'''Allan Dye:''' And yes, the pygmies do what any good boy band would do...lip-sync!
118	** The Pocket God Update Song itself is a TakeThat at fans who constantly expect weekly updates.
119	* TearOffYourFace: One of the more nightmarish sacrifices, with one way to trigger it being a monkey chewing a Pygmy's face off.
120	* TentacledTerror: The ice squid can eat Pygmies. [[OffWithHisHead Or pull their head off!]]
121	* TerrifiedOfGerms: A side-effect of letting a Pygmy play in the purification fountain. They look around nervously, and try to disinfect everything. [[spoiler:It eventually kills them.]]
122	* ThreateningShark: The shark. You can feed Pygmies to it, drop it on their head, [[ShamuFu knock them into the water with it]], or let them (attempt) to catch it...
123	* TooDumbToLive: The Pygmies. They'll eat burnt food (which they choke on) and swordfish (which stabs them), and no matter how many times they are brought back, they will continue to eat them.
124	* VideoGameCaringPotential: You can reward the Pygmies with gifts such as food, fishing rods, bonfires and dancing...
125	* VideoGameCrueltyPotential:
126	** ... or you can kill them in a load of different ways: Drowning, flicking, [[ShockAndAwe striking with lightning]], volcanic eruption, feeding to [[ThreateningShark sharks]], feeding to tyrannosaurus rex, feeding the [[GiantSpider barking spider]], [[RunningGag feeding to squid]], incinerating with magnifying glass, cooking over fire, impaling on [[SpikesOfDoom spikes]], choking on food, thrown off a cliff... [[LongList the list goes on!]]
127	** You can also use a few things on the dodo bird and monkeys such as zapping them with lightning.
128	* VomitIndiscretionShot: One of the things that happens to a possessed Pygmy is that they throw up (see ShoutOut), and vomiting is one of the symptoms suffered by those infected with ThePlague [[spoiler:(including certain animals that eat them)]].
129	* WeakenedByTheLight: Vampire Pygmies are killed by sunlight.
130	* ZombieGait: The Zombie Pygmies walk this way when brought back from the dead.

Context VideoGame / PocketGod