Gaming in the early 2000s was a completely different world compared to the hyper-detailed AAA releases we’re used to nowadays. Old game consoles brought us bad gameplay and questionable graphics tinged with an unintentionally creepy nostalgia, and nothing illustrates that better than Piglet’s Big Game.
Made for the PS2, Piglet’s Big Game is a 2003 “adventure” game loosely based on the cinematic masterpiece Piglet’s Big Movie. Despite its wholesome Disney origins, the game was more of a Silent Hill-esque hellscape thanks to its bleak environments and creepy soundtrack, making it the latest unexpected craze in online gaming.
Getting to know the big Piglet has been an absolute journey so far pic.twitter.com/4sqgAxDCvGSeptember 28, 2023
The game follows Piglet as he traverses his friends’ dreams, encountering surprisingly frightening enemies such as sentient mirrors, talking doors, and creepy trees. Despite the game’s age rating of 3+, gameplay screenshots reveal just how terrifying the nightmarish environments really are, with horror game-style Dutch camera angles, eerie lighting and bone-chilling sound design. To add to the horror, as Piglet takes more damage, he appears increasingly disturbed during the loading screens, which only adds to the tension and emotional turmoil.
The game quickly began gaining more attention online as players shared screenshots of the terrifying gameplay. “So glad people are discovering the terrifying atmosphere of Piglet’s Big Game. I could never finish it as a kid because it was too tense for me,” one X user shared. Another added: “The more I learned about Piglet, the more it became clear that the developers “They were intent on making an atmospheric horror game and didn’t care if it was set in the world of Winnie the Poo.”
My favorite detail about the big pig game is that the more damage you take, the more scared the little pig gets in the loading screens pic.twitter.com/2CTzzA0fRuNovember 11, 2024
This game uses fixed camera settings and sound design to terrorize the cartoon designs of completely innocent children more effectively than most mascot horror games. Like how in this room you hear the Heffalumps loudly before you can see them. https://t.co/IKVw8AG6kx pic.twitter.com/qh736C28bKNovember 10, 2024
The horror game comparisons aren’t just limited to creepy visuals, as X user @jaxonloid shared a soundtrack titled “Foreboding 1,” which some players believe is similar to the “Chthonic Symphony” from the Silent Hill 2 soundtrack. The unexpected rediscovery of the game has caused a stir Online copies have been sold online, with prices rising sharply on eBay.
This makes me lose my fucking mind..!?!??,? pic.twitter.com/B0uDAC5FBENovember 8, 2024
Although the long-awaited Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble movie will be released next year, I think the producers will be hard-pressed to match the obvious horror of Piglet’s Big Game. Unintentional horror is as funny as it is terrifying and I’m so glad it’s getting the recognition it deserves (albeit for the wrong genre of gaming). For more gaming news, check out Silent Hill 2’s defog mode that fans have been calling “blasphemy.”
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