Bad Pad

About

Bad Pad is a quirky metroidvania platformer where every action and conflict revolves around animated gamepad buttons. You play as Square, navigating shifting levels filled with traps, enemies, and puzzles while battling Evil Pen’s chaotic schemes. Combat mixes timed button-mashing with platforming precision, and progression relies on collecting power-ups and revisiting areas with new abilities. The story unfolds through goofy rock songs that narrate the buttons’ rivalries and apocalyptic stakes. Time loops and mind-control gadgets add twists to the exploration, though the lack of a map can make backtracking frustrating. The game’s stand-out charm lies in its absurd humor and musical storytelling. Each level’s theme song parodies rock tropes with lyrics about digital warfare and existential button crises. While the art style and voice acting lean intentionally low-budget, the creativity in level design earned it a cult following on indie forums. Released in 2018, it remains a niche pick for fans of offbeat platformers. Available on PC and Linux, Bad Pad’s runtime clocks in at around six hours, with optional challenges for completionists.

Storyline

The wacky premise of Bad Pad is told in songs and is set around a gamepad's buttons who came to life, their endless battles, tons of jumping, mind controlling machines and a little bit of time traveling. Join Square in his adventures, survive Evil Pen's hellish castles, help save Hexa and TrapeZoid and probably the rest of the world!