"This is going to be a long day. Glad I packed lunch! Coffee can't hold you forever."

The Pedestrian is a side scrolling puzzle-platform game developed and published by Skookum Arts LLC.

Story
You play as male (or female) stick figure that goes out and ventures through various parts of New York City thanks to many street and building signs, along the way collecting mysterious sources of energy to power up even more mysterious device!

Gameplay
The Pedestrian is a 2D side scroller with 3D environment focused on you navigating through sets of signs to progress.

Puzzles take place inside multiple types of signs, reach the exit to move towards next challenge and be on a lookout for additional task of collecting an item to use it somewhere else. Create paths between signs to connect them with one another, allowing you to travel using doors or ladders. Interact with items inside: move crates, use levers, maneuver through layouts, pick up items, avoid deadly hazards and most importantly, discover a correct connection so your stick figure can reach the exit. Catch in all of this is straight forward- paths you create cannot be changed after you utilized them, otherwise your progress in the set gets removed and you start from scratch. You also get reset if you die to hazard, while game also provides option to reset set progress manually if you get stuck.
The Pedestrian will spice things up by providing you with few extra gameplay mechanics later on to up the difficulty, by limiting their possible movement or just locking them in spot but don't worry, it is worth mentioning game is very friendly with difficulty and introduces everything one at a time to not overwhelm you. Simple? Simple.

Lastly, during your New York tour you should be on a lookout for secret areas where you can obtain hats for your stick figure! Purely cosmetic, but style points are style points.

Playtime, replayablity
It took me 4 hours to complete the game and while normally I'm on the fence about possible reasons to replay puzzle games where you already know all solutions, in this case you can give it another go in order to attempt finding secret areas!

Impressions
A rather short and simple game so to match it, I will share my short and quick opinion! Easy to do so because Pedestrian knows what it wants to do and nails it from the start- main part being puzzles! Engaging, well designed, providing enough of variety to keep you entertained and with very friendly difficulty curve that allows any player- whether you are new to the genre or a veteran- to enjoy it! Smooth jazz soundtrack accompaines you throughout the playthrough, although sometimes if you spend a bit too much time in one place (when you solve a puzzle for example) it can abruptly end resulting in...awkward silence. Entire idea around signs as main environment, watching as world around them goes by, transitions from one set to another and their clean look make for a very unique and great design choice that makes this title stand out. Additional seeking of secret areas is a nice reason to replay the game.

Probably only aspect that is "so-so" is actual story, cryptic and almost non-existent. Just a hefty enviromental lore dump at the end to create something, but that won't stop you from enjoying Pedestrian nonetheless! Its just not the game for those who seek satisfying, deep story is all. Had great even if not a long time with this one and I can recommend it highly for the puzzles it contains that are simply fun.

Final words and conclusion
Be sure to purchase Soundtrack and/or Digital Artbook to further support developers!

Who knew signs can be so interesting? The Pedestrian with its enjoyable puzzle design, smooth soundtrack and friendly difficulty provide great, even if short, experience. Highly recommended!

Feel free to check out my curator page for more reviews!