Game Review: PumPum

By Manuel

Players: 1-2 (Local)
Platforms: Nintendo Switch

We've reviewed a lot of NSFW/ecchi titles in the past here at A-to-J, but I never would've imagined in a million years that we'd one day be reviewing a game titled "PumPum". That sounds like slang that I don't want to have in my search history, and it most definitely is something that I won't ever be saying out loud. What I will say about it though is that it's a NSFW puzzle game that's coming soon to the Nintendo Switch, following an earlier release on Steam. We're going to be taking a look at it today and see if it's worth adding to your collection. This is going to be a wild one, so let's ditch the intros and dive right in!

It probably goes without saying that PumPum has no story, so we're going to start by discussing gameplay. PumPum uses a simple match-two puzzle mechanic that has a few quirks to it. Puzzle icons/pieces are all sorts of random objects, and none of them seem at all related to the scene being depicted in the background of the puzzle. Something can be said about the randomness of using candy, cakes, jewels, Christmas presents, tentacles, water guns, and so on as your pieces, but I think that's a topic best left for the screenshots. No matter what random nonsense you're matching, the goal in each puzzle is to clear the board of all pieces. Pieces have to either be touching, or have to be reachable by no more than two straight lines in order to be cleared. Each pair is matched individually, and there are no chain reactions or anything complex beyond simply finding one pair at a time. The two straight line mechanic can be a bit misleading though, as you can actually technically use a third line if the piece is just off the second line's path. None of that really matters in the long run though, as the entire line part of the equation is done automatically by the game. If there are no pieces on the board that can be matched (a surprisingly frequent occurrence) then the board is shuffled. Each win takes away clothing from the character in the background of the puzzle, and at least two extra wins once the current character is fully nude are needed to unlock the next character and board. Simple enough, but there is a surprising amount of nuance to the gameplay.

Trying to find the next piece to match can take a while, and you have two abilities at your disposal to help you in the process. One of them shows you a pair of icons that can be linked, and the other shuffles the board no matter if there are still links to be made. These abilities are limited of course, and their uses are cut in half in the later puzzles. Speaking of which, the puzzles themselves do get progressively harder as the game goes on. Early puzzles are laid out on a 6x6 grid, but puzzles can go all the way up to a 12x12 one by the game's end. These can be quite time consuming, but I'd be lying if I didn't say that they weren't also somewhat addicting. Don't get me wrong, this is a very simple puzzle game, but something about it kept me playing all the way to 100% completion in spite of its limitations. And no, that "something" wasn't the NSFW images on display. Actually, let me talk about those next.

The game features over a dozen women in various stages of undress, and they're all slightly animated too. PumPum's credits state that the art is done by Korean artist named Yam Spectrum. They have a social media presence that goes far back, and it seems that they're pretty well-known in the online art sphere. I go out of my way to mention the artist as I spent much of my time with the game debating whether or not AI art was used in its creation. I've since come to conclusion that I don't think it was, but it was something that bothered me to the point where I went on a rather deep dive into Yam Spectrum's art, and even consulted other A-to-J members to get their opinions. I'm pretty sure this art just favors a very slick art style that can give off AI art vibes, but I wouldn't be surprised if others picking up the game have the same concerns I did. Part of the uncanny valley feelings might be due to the animations, but I'm not really sure. I don't really want to dwell on that point any longer, since I really don't want to accuse anyone of using AI art if they haven't, but I felt that it was something that had to be addressed before moving on. Anyway, that's pretty much all I have to say about that.

Actually that's not all I have to say about that, since I guess I should at least cover the NSFW aspect of said art at least a little. I actually specifically jumped into this game because it had a high level of NSFW content, and having that sort of thing on a Nintendo console just feels wild to me. That said it's all fairly tame, just some T&A for each of the girls, though they all do eventually go fully nude. It's all what you'd expect to see in a game like this, even though you won't see any of the spicier content in this review. Each girl has a style to her that's just as random as the puzzle icons. There's a cowgirl, a fantasy heroine, a vampire, a bee-girl, a steampunk girl, and so on. There's even a gallery if you just want to check out their art without the silly puzzle game blocking the best parts. I definitely had some favorites among the characters, but the NSFW content always felt like an afterthought to me. I'm not kidding when I say that it was the puzzle gameplay that kept me around, even though I did get to have my dream of seeing full nudity on the Nintendo Switch realized.

I thought that this was going to be a rather quick review, but here I am going on and on about my love for a game called "PumPum" of all things. I guess I'll give some rapid fire bits on the stuff I haven't covered yet. First off the music all sounds like it came from a royalty-free library, and sounds downright cartoon-y at times. It's not bad, even though it can sometimes be distracting. Also, everything I've mentioned so far gameplay-wise only covers the standard mode of the game, there are actually two other ways to play that are unlocked as you complete the main puzzles. There's a multiplayer versus mode where two players race to clear their boards first, and this mode actually doesn't feature any of the girls at all. That's interesting enough for me to wonder why there wasn't a "no girl" option in the main mode as well. Though I guess that would negate half the reason why most people would pick up this game. There's also an Endless Mode that's exactly what the name implies, endless. Since PumPum has no fail state, this is truly an endless mode that only stops when you wish it too. A true battle of wills, even if it's a bit too much for even a fan like me.

Before closing this review, there's one very important issue I have to get at when discussing the game. It's actually the only true negative I have to say, and that is PumPum's current price. I was shocked when I learned that it's set at $19.99 on the Switch, since the same game goes for $3.99 on Steam. I have to point out that the Steam version has a lot of DLC, and I think that most of that DLC is in this version of the game, but that still feels like a stretch to me as far as value goes. There's a lot of game here, and I definitely had fun, but it's hard to justify spending that much on a game when something like Stardew Valley costs only $14.99. Then again Stardew Valley doesn't have NSFW content, but I'm getting off topic here. I guess we all have to ask ourselves if twenty dollars is worth picking up a just-okay puzzle game filled with NSFW art.

If PumPum were priced at half of what it is now, I'd say that it's worth picking up for the novelty alone. At the time of this writing, it's actually on sale for $14.99, so I guess it's halfway there. It may not be the best puzzle game out there, but it's enjoyable enough, and the novelty of having game with this much nudity on a Nintendo console is just too crazy to pass up. If you can look beyond its rather high price point, than pick it up now and get to playing. If you do end up playing it, let me know if you too find the puzzle aspect of the game as surprisingly addicting as I did. See you in the next one!

Check Out PumPum on Nintendo Switch:
https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/pumpum-switch/

---

Story: N/A
Gameplay: B
Graphics: B+
Music/Sound: C
Value: C

Overall: B-

Pros:
+ Surprisingly entertaining for those simply playing it for its puzzle game aspect.
+ There's a lot of variety in the art used in the game, and everything is animated.
+ A two-player mode, as well as an endless mode, keep the gameplay from getting stale.
+ Progressively difficult stages are a nice touch, and they'll keep players on their toes.
+ The novelty of having a game with this much nudity on the Nintendo Switch is just off the charts.

+/- While I can't say with certainty that the game doesn't use AI art, I don't think it does. I'm sure a lot of people will say it does though.

Cons:
- Besides the issues with the art I mentioned above, the randomness of the puzzle icons makes the game feel lazy and cheap.
- What ISN'T cheap is the game's price, as it feels a bit high at $19.99.
- The music isn't bad, but it leaves a lot to be desired.
- At the end of the day this is another NSFW game that offers a fairly shallow gameplay experience.

A copy of this game was provided to us free-of-charge by the publisher for the purpose of this review. This did not affect our review in any way.

---

Strangely, you never get more art of the girl on the title screen.

#PumPum_NS