Pine
A downloadable game for Windows, macOS, and Linux
** Pine was released in three fully playable acts which make up the entire game. Act One was released on December 1, 2024, Act Two was released on January 1, 2025, with Act Three released on April 4, 2025. Purchase price includes all three acts.**
"People come to this island to end their suffering. But how that suffering ends... depends completely on them." - The Old Man
Pine is a psychological thriller-adventure... best experienced rather than talked about.
Approximate game length:
Act 1: 2-3 hours
Act 2: 1.5-2 hours
Act 3: 3.5-4.5 hours
If you enjoy Pine and want to see more games like it, please leave a comment below! Feedback from players is a major inspiration for future work.
Design, Story, & Coding by intellikat
Sound by BeepsNBoops
NOTE: This game is fully playable with or without a Playdate handheld. You can download the Playdate Desktop Simulator bundled with the SDK for free here.
Purchase
In order to download this game you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $3 USD. You will get access to the following files:
Development log
- Act 2 v3.8 Released7 hours ago
- Act 3 Bug Fix26 days ago
- Re-Reuploaded Act One31 days ago
- Act 1 Reuploaded32 days ago
- Act 3 Released34 days ago
- Final Trailer Released75 days ago
- Slight Delay on Act Three83 days ago
- Act Two v.1.3 releasedJan 03, 2025
Comments
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I love the game so far. But I‘m stuck in Act 1 during the second night. I keep getting shot and I don‘t know what to do with the knife or the small box.
Is there a walkthrough online somewhere?
Glad you are enjoying the game, including the struggles!
There is no online walkthrough I am aware of at present.
However, I can tell you this... There is a way to get the box open. Within the box is an item that will help you repay violence for violence (if indeed, Jake, that is what you choose). To get the box open, you may need to reach "new heights" in your thinking, so to speak. How might you open a locked box without a key or any other item that could open it? Is there a way to break the box open?
After this, you will need the knife to reach even "higher heights" than before.
Good luck!
Thanks for the quick response. I found the solution this morning and now I am somewhere at the beginning of Act 2 dodging the guards.
I really love the art style, story and minimalistic interface.
My only downside is that sometimes it‘s really hard to find the right solution (missing hints, needing to face a certain direction to trigger an event etc.)
But on the other hand I really think it‘s my problem not having the time to spend hours trying to find a solution (like I had back in the 90s when I was a kid).
And as long as you respond as quickly as you just did, there‘s no need for an online walkthrough 😃
I just found out out that you‘re working on a sequel to Quest for the X. I loved the first part! Keep up the good work!
I'm really glad you're having a good time.
That's an interesting insight regarding how much time we may have to play games, or wrestle with rather old-school puzzles such as opening that doggone box. What were your favorite games from the 90s? I think Another World/Out of this World was one of the most influential to me from the early part of that decade.
BTW, did you see there's an easter egg in Pine, which when discovered will grant you access to an early demo of QFTX2?
Another World really is a fantastic game. One of the few games I BOUGHT on day one for my Amiga. Even though I finished it in just 2-3 hours I replayed it so often.
A few years later I was pleasantly surprised, when I found out, that the PC version included a section that was cut from the Amiga version for disk space reasons.
And also that Genesis sequel Heart of the Alien wasn‘t too bad. I just really loved going back to that world from one of my finest childhood memories.
Apart from that I was/am a real Lucasarts nerd. Those beautiful Loom EGA screens and that simplistitic interface is just perfect.
But when I played the recent adventure games Thimbleweed Park or Return to Monkey Island I really appreciated the hint systems they offer. Three kids, a full time job and other things cut my time short. That‘s sad in a way. Because my brother and I just loved to be stumped in a game and then getting a new idea for a solution or just finding that one-pixel hotspot to open the gate to the giant monkey head in monkey island.
Those moments are just so great and I‘ve had a few of those with Pine and Quest for the X already.
I haven‘t found the easter egg, but I will keep looking.
Thanks
It’s me again and this time I really need help:
I‘ve got the ID card but the guards at the gate below the lake keep spotting me. The radio told me to distract them somehow. I found the hubcap but I should think things through. After being stumped for quite some time I found the crate that can be opened with the crowbar. But inside is just the Goose Chase book and I don‘t know how that can help.
When I dropped the book to try something different it didn‘t respawn in the crate. Do I need it? In the screen with the lake there are also some crates at the bottom left that don‘t do anything special but sometimes you can move through them and sometimes you can‘t (Bug?). And there are some boxes or something just above those crates behind a tree. But no interaction is possible.
Apart from that rock teleportation bug that pixelsurfer reported there is possibly another one in the screen with the truck. Left to the truck in the woods there seems to be a guard and you can move to this tile and stand on the guard. Later in the game (when the truck is opened?) the guard disappeared and you can‘t move to the tile. After restarting the game it says that the truck door is open. But you can‘t enter anymore.
Help😃
I have found I quickly devolved into searching every tile (step, press a) as this was the only way to find things (e.g. the flashlight in act 1).
I am now stuck in the cave after struggling to find a key and then use it to get through a door - I thought the struggle was over but it just keeps going. Without any visual hints the maze is quite a pain to get through.
Yes, the cave maze brings pains... But pain gives way to pleasure eventually...
Once you've entered the storage room with the key, there's a visible object you will need there. Did you collect it?
You shouldn't need to check every tile to find objects except for when searching WITH the flashlight for a lost items in the trees at one point in the game. The rest of the time objects will either be visible themselves or within other visible objects (i.e. a crate).
Hard stuck at the "craft in the moonlight" scene in act 1. Got stuck a few times so far and eventually found a way but not sure what I can do here at all with no items and no way to go back either. Any tips?
The only way past is to be dressed in such way as to not arouse suspicion. Uniforms aren't just lying around though. Figure out a way to get one using the items you have. Good luck!
Thanks, that told me the item I couldn't find a use for and needed to leave behind actually could be used in the previous area.
You'll need to juggle items at times at that section, as you can only carry two items at a time. But you can always go back and get items you've dropped from their original location. Later in the game, you'll be able to find an object that has helped you carry more than two items in the past...
Act one is awesome, one of my favorite games on the playdate so far.
Act two is pretty tough, has anyone beaten it (v2. 7)? I'm stuck trying to sneak past the scientist star gazing at the north beach. Doesn't seem to be anywhere to go?
Thanks for the high praise!
Yes, at least one here on the thread is already into Act Three as of its release last weekend.
The stargazing scientist has an item you need, but you may need to get a bit... violent with him to get it...
Happy hunting!
I made the camp, drank the whiskey, and fired the gun. Now I am stuck, I assume I am missing something stupid simple to keep going. How do I continue once I wake up and see my rucksack missing?
Just start exploring the island— left or right off the campsite screen.
me either
Ah-ha! You are both onto something. I went back in and found the pine tree tiles on the screen were blocked. Not sure how I managed to do that on the latest update... I'll fix and re-upload. Thanks for catching that... stupid simple on my side :D
now game starts in random town. Not the same beginning as before
I don’t have an earlier build
got it to work. Reloaded a few times then it relaunched the original beginning
Just read your latest dev log. I've gotta say - what an awesome way to handle a giveaway! It gives people already playing along a head start by hiding the easter egg in act 3 :)
Hiyo Silver! Buena suerte!
Any ETA on act 3?
It is really... right there :D A few last scenes and the end title credits. Illness and some other excuses have delayed things, but rest assured this last act is bigger and better than what has come before! (I think). Did you complete the first two acts already? I haven't heard much feedback from players here.
I've completed act 1, currently part way through act 2, just got the hubcap and trying to work out what to do next 😀
Also I have spotted a bug, near where I mentioned below where the lake is, if you move to the right into the biggest rock to the left of the lake you teleport to another place on the screen
Ah, thanks! Sounds like a stray sprite with some goto code in it... will go hunting.
Released!
the sense of setting you are able to get with minimal 1bit is really masterful. very impressive.
Thanks for the comment! I really appreciate it. 1-bit is a challenging and in ways freeing style to work in. I think it allows for an engagement of the player’s imagination in ways that doesn’t happen if all the visual details were otherwise clearly defined. Thanks for being that imagination.
Any movement on this at all? This looks super cool!!
Yes, steady work among other games at the same time :) At 80% completed with some play testing after that scheduled before launch.
Thanks for asking!
Released!
Hell ya just purchased!!
Thanks for the early days purchase! And let me know your experience of Act One...
Will do, I plan on diving into this over the weekend
Same!
Cheers! Curious to hear first responses :D
Released!