The Unintentional Horror of Viva Pinata

Viva Pinata is one of the cutest, most innocent games I've ever played. I think the only game to out cute it would be that of Kirby's Epic Yarn

But to be honest there's been something bothering me about the world of Viva Pinata. And it's not just one part f it....but the whole thing. Pinata Island is a whole lot of craziness it seems.




The Residents


At first coming to Pinata Island, you are greeted by Leafos. Leafos gently nudges you into the world you now inhabit. Sadly, there is no way at all to gently show off the rest of the human souls trapped on the island. You are slowly introduced to them one by one, and they get gradually more and more disturbing. It ranges from a cat girl to a man with a hammer for a head (I'll let you soak that one in). But eventually you will run into this...

What the hell?!

The truly morbid part though, is that these are not monsters, they are normal people inside those masks and outfits. Why do they wear these outfits? Why do they relegate themselves to doing meager tasks for you? My only though is that they are slaves that you are in total control of, that every gardener has placed dominion over until the end of their days. Pinata Island is more in line with a prison island at this point, and these poor souls are stuck with a sentient shovel for a ruler.

The Pinatas

When was the last time you had an eventful interaction with a pinata? You were 5 years old? 10? Honestly, the age doesn't matter. What was the sole thing you did to it? Most likely, you took turns beating it with a stick, kind of like a twisted school play of Children of the Corn.

Presumably while screaming "OUTLANDER"

Now considering one of the main things you do with your pinatas (after you kidnap and trap them against their will) is send them off to parties to bring joy to Evil Little Monsters I mean children. Afterwards the pinata is sent back to you, to inevitably repeat the whole process over. So in other words, you are sending your "favorite" pinata to be beaten near death multiple times, you sick monster.

Of course there is the other side of the spectrum, where you pinata is accidentally killed, and they explode, showering candy everywhere. Eventually your other pinatas will unwittingly eat their old friend (or worse, cannibalism). Or you happen to have done what I have done, which is raise a proxy farm to breed high value pinata just to sell off for chocolate coin, like some kind of twisted slave ring. On Pinata Island, being a Pinata means eventually meeting your untimely end or being enslaved and forced to be beaten for the enjoyment of middle class suburban families.

In a game that was sold as being cute and family friendly, what ended up being revealed was not only how barbaric Viva Pinata is. But also how dark and manipulative we the gamers are. Forcing chocodiles to cry on plants to make them grow? That's sick! Giving a Fizzlybear a huge overbite, a football helmet, and calling him Doodle Farts? Just plain demented! Viva Pinata took family friendly fun, and twisted it into some fun house mirror version that you would see in Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2...

Actually....this might be a saner alternative...

Worst of all,  Viva Pinata can serve as a direct reflection of who you really are. Enslaving the indigenous life...abusing and capturing the local wildlife, only to subjugate it to tortures so awful it makes me sick. Making a garden full of torches so the pinatas can light themselves on fire.

Hmm, I think I'm figuring something out. Maybe it's not the game that is sick, twisted and frightening. Maybe it's really just us.....or just me.....*gulp*

Humor Tumor is currently rethinking his gardening adventures. You may be able to find him living in a concrete bunker far away from any form of pinata animal.