‘Ninja Pizza Girl’ Deals with Important Themes While Delivering Exhilarating Platforming Action

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Gemma was just your typical teenager going to high school, or at least she would be assuming most other typical teenage girls were also ninjas delivering pizza for their father’s restaurant. Oh — wait — actually most of Gemma’s fellow class mates actually are other ninjas, except — instead of performing minimum wage work their fathers — they all are currently employed by a big name mega-corporation. Unfortunately for Gemma there is nothing her classmates would love more than to see her fail, and they will always be there — with cameras in hand — ready to record each and every time she falls on her face.

In Ninja Pizza Girl — by Disparity Games — the player’s objective is to run as fast as they can through a massive citywide obstacle course, all in order to deliver their pizza while it’s still piping hot and fresh. Taking a page from Sonic the Hedgehog — and also to ensure that the game is accessible to players of multiple skill levels — there will be multiple pathways through each stage, with players falling to easier paths when they miss jumps. Although these lesser paths will help newer players get a handle on the game’s mechanics, the upper paths will be much faster — and offer far more scoring opportunities — to ensure that skilled players always have an incentive to eternally strive for the gold.

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However — far more dangerous to Gemma than the obstacles she might stumble over — are the rival ninjas she’ll find all over the place, all of them seeking to make fun of her for not having the big-ticket job that they do. Attempting to trip her — mock her — and even throw garbage at her, they’ll begin laughing — and even posting pictures and videos to the internet — the precise moment that she manages to slip up and utterly embarrass herself. When this happens the world for Gemma will begin to fade out to shades of oppressive grays — with shadows getting longer — and her performance going forward will begin to start lagging, yet the world’s vibrancy can be returned after a lengthy period of success.

It is through this game mechanic that Disparity Games hopes to convey an important lesson on just how damaging peer ridicule can be to teenagers, by making the price of failure in Ninja Pizza Girl be ridicule and harassment. Already many whom have tested an early PC demo — which you can find here for free — have commented that this ridicule factor affected them very quickly, far more than death and injury in other games ever did. The game’s makers give credit for the inspiration to this play mechanic — and the general over all concept — on the time their own daughter was a pizza delivery girl in high school, and the many misadventures that led to, all while also studying martial arts on the side.

npgGDCdemo 2014-03-14 11-28-21-24Although mamy resources and development time has already been put forth towards creating Ninja Pizza Girl — which is currently aimed to be released on PC, Mac, iOS, and Wii U — Disparity Games has finally run into a greatly troubling dilemma: their funds. Without additional capital they would be forced to either rush the game’s release — cutting out many planned features in the process — or, worse yet, simply have to cancel the game’s development entirely. It was to this end that they recently approached Kickstarter seeking an additional $35,000 (AUD) in development capital, of which over $21,000 has been successfully secured so far (all with over fifteen days still remaining).

Currently for a donation of just $15 — assuming you liked Disparity Games’ pitch so far — a launch copy of Ninja Pizza Girl can be secured for either the PC, Mac, or Wii U (unfortunately — due to iTunes’ annoying rules — the iOS version is not included here). Meanwhile – for those willing to even further fund the cause of Ninja pizza delivery specialists everywhere — expanded backer rewards include: stickers, badges, official art books, exclusive T-Shirts, and more! However, those interested in backing Disparity Games — and ensuring that Ninja Pizza Girl becomes a reality — must be sure to chip in their donations before August 13th (when the Kickstarter itself will vanish into the mist).