The Perfect Pencil

The Perfect Pencil

Studio Cima · 2026 · Metroidvania, Dark, Hand-drawn, Story Rich, Psychological

PC
Mostly Positive72% · 67 📈 Making a comeback 84%
Best price 50 All-time low
$17.49-30%
$24.99⭐ lowest tracked
Steam Buy at Steam

Compare prices in Official Stores

Steam
Steam
Standard Edition · Steam
-30%
$17.49
$24.99
Buy
Fanatical
Fanatical
Standard Edition · Steam
-10%
$22.49
$24.99
Buy

Compare prices in Keyshops

Keyshops are third-party marketplaces — keys are resold and can be region-locked or a different edition. Check the listing's region & edition before buying.

Eneba
Eneba
Standard Edition · Steam
$29.16
Buy

Screenshots

About The Perfect Pencil

The Perfect Pencil is a surreal action platformer which tells the tale of personal development and the psychology of fear. Join protagonist John as he awakens in a bizarre hand-drawn kingdom and comes face-to-face with the terrors that dwell in the last place he'd have thought to look...

Embark on an emotional odyssey exploring the depths of an unfamiliar environment using protagonist John's innate ability to see things that others can’t.
Make choices that will compel you to carve your own personal route through both light and darkness, however, beware, things might not be as they seem.

Go off the beaten path and discover numerous side quests dotted throughout the world, you never know what you might find. Both dark and comforting surreal landscapes filled with secrets, surprises and peculiar personalities are waiting to be unraveled.

John’s unique analysis ability grants you the power to uncover hidden information about NPCs, peculiar objects and elements of the environment. The Perfect Pencil is filled with additional lore and secrets for players to find. Roam beyond the beaten path, scan the world around you - Who knows... behind one of these corners you might find something that will change your perspective.

John draws his strength from within, but he will also encounter tense boss battles in the form of unsettling manifestations - all symbolising unique elements of the human psyche. Some encounters may even make you question your sense of reality…but remember, in order to survive you will have to be willing to take risks.

What Steam players say

Recent verbatim reviews from Steam — separate from playze.io community reviews below.

✦ AI summary

The Perfect Pencil impresses players with its unique world, creative art direction, and engaging exploration where careful attention to dialogue and choices unlocks hidden items and meaningful story payoff. However, the game is criticized for excessive, often nonsensical dialogue that cannot be skipped, obtuse gameplay systems that are hard to understand, and control issues that feel slightly off, with some finding the pacing and story confusing until much later in the game.

Not recommended Mar 26, 2026
The perfect pencil is the most confusing metroidvania i've ever played, from a complete nonsensical story with unclear endings to gameplay systems that are obtuse, random and hard to understand. It's also the most dialogue bloated metroidvania i've ever played, and i suffered through every conversation in nine sols. At least that game had consistent writing and some really good moments but this one has at least twice as many with no quality to show for it. Every single conversation is filled with so many filler lines that are both nonsensical and meant to pad out gametime. In my roughly 15 hours of playing i must've spent at least two full hours reading lines which you can't skip over as progression is tied to SOME dialogues. Which ones you ask? God knows, because there's no rime or reason to them so you end up having to speak to everyone to not get stuck. I'm a fast reader as well so it might take some people EVEN longer to get through the game. It doesn't even form a satisfying or coherent narrative because you can't make sense of it. It deals with heavy themes and subject matter such as depression, resolve and hope but it does them a disservice by constantly shifting between se…
4 found this helpful
Recommended May 31, 2026
I really like this game. Its unique but familiar and walking around there is always something just around the corner to get interested in. There are so many little areas or puzzles that you can completely bypass but it you don't and you say the right thing you get items that are useful hours later. its just so engaging with all the little mini games and strange crazy people. - It seems like it was going to be like hollow knight or ori but its not. The fighting is almost secondary not primary its more about experiencing the strange world and all the people but with platforming mixed in so you are engaged in the exploring of it all. - I wasn't happy that you couldn't pogo off enemies or that there wasn't a sprint feature but now that I have played it longer it makes sense why they did that. You get a platform mid game as the double jump equivalent and that really changed how you can fight and maneuver in a unique way - also if there was sprint I think you would miss a lot of the random stuff you can pick up by blowing passed it ( it still would be nice to get at the very end for item gathering though ... in the game I found some playdough put it in a machine and picked traits…
2 found this helpful
Recommended May 31, 2026
I played the demo for The Perfect Pencil years ago and had been looking forward to its full release ever since. After finally playing it, I can confidently recommend it—it deserves far more attention than it's getting. It's a metroidvania packed with charm, personality, and creativity. The world feels unique and memorable, with imaginative art direction and enemy designs. The story can be a bit difficult to follow in the early and middle parts of the game, so it requires some patience before everything starts to come together. Once it does, it delivers a meaningful narrative that explores mental health themes in a way that leaves a lasting impression.
1 found this helpful
Not recommended Apr 2, 2026
كانت جيدة في البداية وتحمست بصراحة ، بس فجأة تحولت الى شي ممل وحسيت اني مو جالس استمتع ابدا فيها ، وقفت بعد 3 ساعات ونصف تقريبا حاولت ارجع لكن كل مره اكرهها اكثر ، انتهت بالنسبة لي
1 found this helpful
Recommended May 26, 2026
This game is so close to being extremely good. Artistically and narratively, the world building, the character development, it's all top shelf. Before you read further, I need to say: I absolutely recommend this game on its artistic merit alone. The time that I was able to put in, I enjoyed thoroughly. Unfortunately, it suffers from design issues that *just* miss the mark enough to make the experience (for me) not worth putting in more time: * Controls are a little loose. Attacks don't come out *quite* immediately, wall jumping sometimes will fail inexplicably. The platforming is weirdly tight horizontally, but vertically it's just off * I'm 7 hours in and still haven't found fast travel. I know it's there, but I haven't seen it. Fast travel really shouldn't be buried like that. * No in-game rebinds. You can use the Steam method for controller, and whatever keyboard software you have, but there's nothing in-game. It's supposedly coming? That last one is really important for me. I'm not a controller player, I'm KBM, and the way the controls are mapped in-game doesn't really let me use third-party options to conveniently remap everything. I'd need to spend probably an hour or t…
Recommended Apr 30, 2026
A game that definitely deserves more attention! excellent level design, truly inspired visuals, and a engaging narrative that kept me hooked to the screen all the way to the end credits.

Community reviews

0 reviews

Sign in to write a review.

No reviews yet. Be the first to review this game.

More like The Perfect Pencil