“Piglet’s Big Game” unexpectedly went viral
Doki Denki Studio
Piglet’s Big Game, an obscure title for the PlayStation 2, has suddenly gone viral after netizens posted gameplay footage simulating survival horror games.
Blending adorable children’s cartoons with disturbing horror aesthetics has been a major trend on YouTube for several years, but Piglet’s Big Game seems to be at the forefront – with some even describing the game as “the first Silent Hill game for kids.”
Why did the “big game Piglet” become so popular?
A handful of posts on
One user shared a disturbing sound from the game’s soundtrack, titled “Foreboding 1,” which sounds exactly as one would expect from the title; Some even suspected that the audio was sampled for the Silent Hill 2 remake of the track “Chthonic Symphony”.
Gameplay footage shows Piglet wandering through a mysterious library that looks more like a Resident Evil location, far from the joy of the Hundred Acre Wood.
Some pointed out that the game’s developers made real efforts to create a scary experience, using techniques taken from a typical horror game.
Piglet’s Big Game quickly sparked numerous memes and lots of adorable fan art.
While many commenters found the sight of Piglet wandering through a nightmarish space funny, others were impressed by how the game turned out.
What is the “Big Piglet”?
Piglet’s Big Game was a tie-in to the Disney film Piglet’s Big Adventure, and sees Piglet entering the dreams of his friends, Eeyore, Tigger, Pooh and Owl, the latter of whom is responsible for the creepy library footage.
Piglet’s friends’ dreams were infested with Heffalumps and Woozles, which have been part of Winnie the Pooh stories since the beginning.
Although the Owl Library didn’t set the tone for the entire game, it was scarier than expected from a children’s title. Internet users enjoyed the contrast between Piglet’s cute loading screen and the dark, foreboding library.
Many commentators were concerned with the tonal shift away from the typical Winnie-the-Pooh franchise titles, noting that the era of PS2 games was, in many ways, more experimental.
Piglet’s Big Game isn’t the only retro video game to draw attention for being surprisingly weird – the 1998 Rugrats Playstation game looks (and plays) like something out of a nightmare, bringing to mind recent digital trends like liminal spaces, analogue horror, or otherworldly worlds like back rooms.
Before Piglet’s Big Game gained attention on the
While many signs point to a decline in
Now, it seems likely that there will be true indie horror titles inspired by Piglet’s Big Game in the near future.
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