I’m sorry, but there is something about games that have anthropomorphic characters that lures me in hook, line and sinker. For me, nothing is better than cute and cuddly creatures that can talk, which is wild if you know me in person because I don’t ooze the typical persona of someone who would.

It’s just my guilty pleasure in gaming, you know. Anyway, ‘KIYO – Bunny Tyranny’, developed by Pixel Rats and published by CobraTekku Games, is a platform adventure title that flips the concept of what cute and cuddly animals should be like on its head.

The bunnies; it’s always the cute and ‘innocent’ bunnies. Residing in Rabbithole City, the Rabbits in this world have outgrown their ambition to succeed and now rule over the city with fear, corruption and tyranny.

Using technology as the ultimate distraction of the population (sound familiar), in a very 4th wall-breaking experience, the wise and optimistic character, The Owl, charges you, a human behind a computer screen, to control Kiyo. You must help move this sentient feline and eventually his posse through this cyberpunk dystopian city, discovering its secrets the whole while being pushed back by the fact that you are an ‘ex-predator’.

The story is actually surprisingly well developed for an indie platformer. There are some decent storytelling plot points through scrolled dialogue, which would be amplified even more if there were more backstory for the characters, fleshing them out a bit more to make them even more likable. If you are diving into a meaty story, you might as well go the whole hog.

The game is littered too with adult humour, such as an ambiguous nightclub called ‘Club69’ with stripteasing Skunks or topical posters advertising ‘Bo-tail’ to boost your tail size or future games such as ‘Call Of Bunnies 6’. This game is certainly not for the younger audience despite its cute and cuddly exterior.

Gameplay is driven by the story to areas throughout the city, accessed via a subway route with various buildings that need platforming to get to objective items such as keys, passcards or even NPCs. This platforming is mainly stealth, which I don’t mind in small doses, but I did find it got dull quickly, as it is the main mechanic, but it is fun and challenging enough in the story-to-story moment.

To add some muchly needed spice, though, are tools that help you to get past these dastardly patrolling bunnies. You can use a rope suspension to climb platforms, bones to distract patrolling Dobermans, carrots and beers to distract different types of guards or arrows to straight-up merc them.

If you are quick or stealthy enough, you can even maul them to death, sending a fluffy little head rolling across the level, tying back nicely to the adult themes.

Overall, it’s a pretty simplistic loop of gameplay, and as I have already pointed out, the story keeps it interesting enough, though. What is more disappointing is the fact that there is a general gankiness of the controls themselves.

This could be intentional since the 4th wall element means the character is self-aware, a human is controlling him, but it still feels quite off. Playing with a controller does make it feel less noticeable, but there is still a sluggish feel to responsiveness.

The pixel graphics are what I would consider interesting. They are neither super impressive nor disappointing; an odd blur in between. The mixed combination of 32-bit graphics with some slight 3D elements of foreground and background texturing makes for very interesting neon environments to look at, especially as it is all a very synth/cyber futuristic landscape on a dark and grim skyline. Likewise, the music that runs through the background of each scene, while repetitive, is upbeat and enjoyable, adding to the holistic atmosphere of a grungy, albeit rabbit-infested, underbelly of the city.

With a heavy emphasis on stealthy and strategic platforming, Kiyo – Bunny Tyranny is a solid platforming title and an even more enjoyable story. This is one little game that has charisma and charm and just enough adult spice to be entertaining even if the stealth gameplay becomes a little excessive.

Written by: Stacey