Bob's game

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"It's a game, about a guy making a game, who is in a game, but is also making a game, and his marketing campaign is like a game, and that's about a game, in a game, but also outside the game, where he is making a game, about him making a game, which is about the game industry, and you play other games. In the game."

—Inanimate (TIGsource forum)

"What is 'bob's game?'"

Short answer: An EarthBound-style RPG developed by one man, Robert Pelloni.

Long answer: It's actually three "games":

1) The aforementioned indie RPG. 2) A competitive puzzle game inside the RPG, which is also called "bob's game," and is developed by Bob's in-game alter ego, "bob." Are you confused yet? 3) The "viral marketing" campaign for both "bob's games," which is called...you guessed it..."bob's game."

Since almost nothing is known about the video game yet, this article will focus mainly on the viral ad.

Tropes used in Bob's game include:

Tropes from "bob's game" (the RPG) include:

• Affectionate Parody: Tetrid, Ping, and Ramio.
• Author Stand In: One of the main characters is a self-taught developer named "bob." Sound familiar? Don't worry, it's not what you're thinking...
  • Mary Sue: Subverted in that "bob" is actually a delusional, egotistical maniac who also happens to be the game's Big Bad.
• Beat Them At Their Own Game: The final boss fight against "bob" involves doing this. In the most literal sense possible.
• Fetch Quest: The very first quest you get in the game.
• Incredibly Lame Pun: Bob seems to really enjoy this. The main character is called "Yuu" and his portable game system is called the "Gantendo BS", for starters.
• Nintendo Hard: Tetrid is insanely difficult.
  • Ping. DEAR LORD, Ping.
• Teen Genius: Yuu's little brother, and he's only six!
• Vaporware: Dammit, Tim.
  • Not so fast! After literally years, it looks like Bob's finally starting up the viral campaign again. (Whether or not this will result in an actual, playable game remains to be seen.)

Tropes from www.bobsgame.com include:

• Aliens Speaking English: Subverted. They use telepathy.
• Arc Words: "What is 'bob's game?'"
  • REGGIE!
• Brainwashed and Crazy: Bob ends up like this.
• Determinator: Bob. Both of them.
• Love Makes You Crazy: Love of Nintendo, no less!
• Mad Artist: "bob," although he's less homicidal than most examples.
• Mind Screw: To the point where Bob's reveal that the whole thing was a viral ad was just another plot twist in the viral ad. He was brainwashed to say it was a viral ad by aliens.
• Poe's Law: The viral ad pissed so many people off that many insist that the real Bob is just like Viral!Bob.
• Room Full of Crazy: "bob's" office TOP SECRET CLASSIFIED UNDERGROUND FORTRESS! No "writing on the wall," per se, but he does have that LED counter...
• Small Name, Big Ego: Viral!Bob is the embodiment of this. To the point that some people refuse to listen to the fact that it was Viral Marketing. Maybe it wasn't actually viral marketing...
  • Either way, Bob's behavior, including the lengths he is willing to go to in a bid for attention and his attitude toward people who don't find his "viral marketing" amusing, does not reflect terribly well on himself.
• Stealth Parody: Is Bob mocking egotistical indie game developers? Or is he one of them?
• Troll: Of the top percentile. Or so he wants us to believe.
• Viral Marketing: Or so he claims.

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Or so he- *BZZT*

Thank Yuu for playing Bob's Game.