As a new parent, you enter this new road in your life that becomes almost painful to endure especially when it comes to kids’ TV shows. You’ll be walking down that path and Peppa Pig will stand in your way and consume your life and ears for a good few years. Like or loathe Peppa, she has become a global phenomenon from a concept designed by three animator friends who had very little money. 18 years and 368 episodes later the brand is worth billions of pounds across the globe with merchandise and even theme parks dedicated to the cartoon pig. Developed by Petoons Studio Ltd and published by Outright Games Ltd, My Friend Peppa Pig arrived on Xbox in October 2021 and has recently joined Xbox Game Pass. Is it worth your time and investment even for introducing the little ones to video games? Time to join Peppa, George, Mummy and Daddy pig and the rest of these adorably annoying-to-adults but cute-to-kids characters for a short-lived but interactive adventure.

Introduction

If there is one thing the gaming space is lacking in recent years, its titles that cater to children. Even Phil Spencer of Xbox has acknowledged that it is a huge gap which has been left vacant for too long. What is absolutely fantastic about Xbox Game Pass is that it offers a diverse and versatile range of games that scratches the itch of not just adults, but kids and families too. There is no better way to fill the empty hole than to integrate these child-friendly games into the subscription-based catalogue. Whilst most were joking about My Friend Peppa Pig in the Twitter community, I was secretly excited to surprise my four-year-old son with it when it dropped. Whilst Xbox studios work to plug those gaps in future, what better way than to piggyback (excuse the pun) other teams and bring those games to the Xbox Game Pass roster.

Gameplay

Now I’m not going to go through any of the storyline in My Friend Peppa Pig simply because it is a really short experience and I don’t want to ruin what little gameplay is available. Firstly you’ll be customising your character with clothing, hats, glasses and more. Whilst the options here are basic and limited, it’s enough to please a child wanting to dress up and run with their very own creation. Once you enter Peppaland you’ll be walking through the world almost like plodding along a virtual storybook. There will be some simple tasks to go off and do like finding George’s lost dinosaur or looking through rockpools on the beach. There are no sinister puzzle-solving elements or anything of that nature, just simple one-button presses with some light and interesting discovery. Sadly there isn’t much content and you’ll have the entire story done and dusted within an hour or two depending on the pace of play.

Graphics & Audio

The visuals and audio are superb in the fact that the entire game mirrors exactly what you’d see when watching an episode albeit in a more vivid and higher resolution. You’ll be able to interact with certain objects throughout the areas you can navigate and these are all wonderfully crafted and animated identically to how you’d expect them. All the characters appeared to be voiced by the original cast and do speak within the cutscenes along with clear and well-illustrated subtitles. They have done an incredible job at getting the content that is there spot on so that fans can really resonate and connect with the characters on screen. It was cute to hear my son chuckling as he repeatedly pressed a button to splash in muddy puddles. There was one frustration and this was triggering the same cutscenes or snippets of dialogue you’d already been through without a way to skip, so you’d have to sit through it all again. Whilst this wasn’t game-breaking, it was a minor annoyance.

In Conclusion

My Friend Peppa Pig is obviously aimed at children of a certain age. Whilst my son is quite advanced in his gaming ability at his age, he really enjoyed this despite it being a little too simplistic for him. This is an absolutely ideal stress-free experience for Peppa Pig fans and parents needn’t worry about it being the first introduction to gaming. You’re basically playing through an enhanced episode of the TV show with easy-to-follow controls with single button presses to perform actions here and there. Whilst parents will watch from over the shoulder and find the story and interactions a little mundane, you have to take a step back and realise this creation is for a target audience. Watching a child’s eyes light up whilst they control their favourite cartoon characters and bring Peppaland to life is what makes this one a little special. It almost reminded me of playing the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles games at a similar age and remembering how mesmerized I was. The only criticism I’d have for this experience is how short and limited it is. Replayability is there for the hardcore youngsters who live for Peppa Pig, as parents we know that kids will watch or play the same thing over and over again in an endless loop. For the amount of content, £34.99 is quite expensive, but I’d imagine due to licensing logistics the game would demand that kind of price cap. But for those on Xbox who want easy achievements that can be unlocked in an hour or want to make their little one’s day with a new game, then Game Pass is your friend.