POD is a wonderful third person adventure with Pixar-esque animation and a powerful narrative that sees you venturing out of your own little bubble and experiencing life, friendship and the beauty of the world.
Note: The next three paragraphs contain some minor spoilers. It’s a fantastic game that takes around 45 minutes to play through and is best experienced first hand so we highly recommend playing POD before reading on (or just skip the next three paragraphs).
You start POD sat in a little pod that seems to have everything you need – video games, a cheery personal assistant and soda, candy and pizza that’s delivered to you at the push of a button. You have a happy existence, sat there, eating junk food and playing video games all day, but then something happens – the power goes out and you have to venture outside to try and fix it…
You’re a pudgy little guy who struggles to even stand up once he leaves the pod initially, but once you’re on your feet you can explore the world around your little pod and discover more about it. There are billboards littered around the place that give you hints about the society you live in – a place where energy is free and you really can just sit in a pod and play games for your entire life. But the more you explore, the more apparent it becomes that maybe there’s more to life.
The world is a beautiful place, the only thing that’s missing is someone to experience it with – and then you find a cute little goat that’s trapped in some mud. You and that adorable little goat form a real bond over the course of the adventure, helping each other through obstacles on your way to the power source and towards an ending that’s certain to leave a lump in your throat
It’s very rare that you come across a perfect game, but POD really does have it all – Pixar quality visuals, fun gameplay, an interesting game world, a powerful narrative, a meaningful message and characters that steal your heart. The closest thing you could compare it to is Journey, but you feel a whole lot more invested in your character and the bond he forms with his little companion, making that ending so much more effective. Very highly recommended.
Pod was created by Maximilian Lund, Tobias Larson, Roberto Costas, Sigurd Maltha, Thomas Sørensen and Kjartan Tysdal
Check Out a Gameplay Video Here
Download POD Here (Windows)