A delightful and charming indie platformer/puzzle game that is undeniably fun and worthwhile.
Gameplay: 4/5
+ Fun and innovative--something that many games claim to have but fail to deliver. You control P.B. Winterbottom and throughout different levels you are challenged with collecting pies. You also have the ability to clone yourself performing different actions (like just standing there, jumping, moving around, or swatting which can hit switches or Winterbottom or a clone). Each level you have a restricted number of clones you can make which causes you to carefully plan out how to make use of every clone. The levels progress with a new feature in each one. For example, in one level only your clones can collect the pies, in another level you have to collect pies in a certain order and within a limited time frame, in another level you have evil clones which you aren't allowed to touch. Again, this reminds me of Braid where you have one key gameplay element (time manipulation in Braid, cloning in Winterbottom) and each new level expands upon that element and makes you interact with it in a new way. Altogether the puzzles are brilliant and really cause you to think. I completely disagree with Gamespot's review that it had uneven difficulty. Perhaps because I was used to the cloning elements in Braid and I really enjoy puzzle games like these, but I never felt that the puzzles were too challenging or impossible to figure out. As long as you spend some time and play around you'll soon stumble upon a solution and realize how fun it was discovering it on your own.
Story/Presentation: 4/5
+ Such a silly and unique story that you can't help but smile while playing it. You control P.B. Winterbottom who is in love with pies and can't help but run around and eat/steal them. His lust for pastries accidentally causes him to enter a time warp and he realizes that he can clone himself and suddenly past and present become intertwined. This doesn't stop him from his quest for pies, though, and now with the help of his clones he can chase the magical pie that lured him into this mess in the first place. Each new sub-level you play has a little storybook rhyme sequence that explains what's going on, which is also a nice touch.
Graphics: 4/5
+ Again, a very distinctive art style that fits the game perfectly. You play in a 1920s black and white silent movie scene with Victorian surroundings and mismatched proportions. The animations are very fluid and watching Winterbottom run for the first time was actually pretty hilarious (he runs with his tiny arms flailing in front of him...you have to check it out). Altogether the graphical presentation is very well done and unique in its own right.
Value: 4/5
+ Although this game is really short (it's possibly to beat it in 2-3 hours unless you get stuck on a level. Then it can be considerably longer) you have to take into consideration that this game is only $5. For that price, this game has a lot to offer. Not only would I want to play through the story again but there are bonus levels you can unlock where you try to beat the map in the fastest time or using the fewest clones (similar to Portal's bonus maps for fastest time and fewest portals). These bonus maps have their own leaderboards on Steam so not only do you try to get the medal in-game but you can also try to climb up the leaderboards. Overall, this game is very inexpensive but has lots to offer and is definitely worth the price.