It’s a super soaker
Playing as a rain cloud that’s out to ruin everyone’s day, is great fun for all the family
Rain on your Parade (PEGI 7) (PEGI 7) Xbox One X/S, PC, Switch
★★★★✩
RAINY days are something to be avoided at all costs. Metaphorically it heralds misfortune and misery, while literally it means you’re in for a damp, dark, dull 24 hours.
But this little cracker, from developer Unbound Creations, is the blue sky after the storm.
Rain on your Parade sees you playing as a mischievous cardboard rain cloud that’s absolutely determined to ruin everyone’s day.
The graphics are adorable, with you able to pick or draw a face on your curmudgeonly cirrus.
If white’s not your thing, then you can choose a new colour for the fluffy fiend – there’s purple (purple rain), blue (to camouflage you against the sky), red (for that sunset tinge), black (for the ominous, stormy vibe) and green – because, why not?
To top it all off, why not give your dapper little nimbostratus a hat?
Very much in the vein of other recent indie gems such as Untitled Goose Game, and Overcooked, this fabulous little puzzler refuses to take itself too seriously.
First mission out of the gates is to ruin a wedding – and in a devilishly evil twist, one of the specific targets to complete the level is to drench the bride and groom.
Now, when Mr M and I got married back in the dim and distant, it didn’t stop raining until late afternoon – when the service and all the photos were long done and dusted.
At the time I was raging. But I honestly believe that if I’d looked up and seen an adorable, sour faced little cloud donning a top hat causing the downpour, I’d have been much happier with the situation.
And it’s not just wedding guests you’ll get a chance to douse. As you progress through the levels, you’ll be presented with more and more ridiculous scenarios.
From causing absolute havoc at a school by blowing up a chemistry set, and soaking all the pupils backpacks, to ruining ga a birthday party, and creeating chaos inside a warehouse, you’d never know clouds could have so much fun.
You’ll soon discover that it’s not just water in n your arsenal, as you’ll be e asked to ‘rain’ oil down to expand fires and burn down targets.
You’ll be able to unleash thunder and lightning, which when cleverly aimed will destroy specific targets and incite mayhem amongst unwitting passersby.
You can create tornadoes to suck up everything in your path, and there’s even a level where you have to summon a meteor to wipe out the dinosaurs.
Every level you complete helps you unlock more stuff back in the Cloud Cave, giving you new hats and accessories to play with. This game isn’t rocket science, and you’ll find yourself bla blasting through the leve els quite quickly – but w with a huge grin on your face the whole time. It’s a proper game the whole fami ily can enjoy. Being an indie game m means you can pick this up for buttons, and it’s worth every penny. Even better, if you have Game Pass on the Xbox then you get this for free – which is how I stumbled upon it.
Absolutely the kind of irreverent and chucklesome entertainment we all need right now.
■ Buy it: £11.99 from xbox.com