Feral Perry's Peripheral Puzzle Quest

Feral Perry’s Puzzle Quest

Teach an old NES a new trick.

Like a Dog with a Dogbone Controller

Feral Perry’s Puzzle Quest is a game about using your NES hardware and peripherals to the fullest.  To successfully complete this game, you’ll need an NES controller, a Zapper, a Power Pad, a Game Genie, and a Turbo Controller.  Do you have the smarts (and a pathological addiction to game collecting) to make it to the end? 

A Dog Day’s Work

Feral Perry needs your help to find a new home.  Guide him through thirteen puzzles to find a new place to live.  It won’t be easy though.  Things are a bit weird in Perry’s world.  It seems like everywhere he goes he (you) run into a quirky use of the NES hardware.  Some levels require ingenuity.  Some require bravery.  Some may require a week to complete because you had to buy a new Power Pad on eBay.  It’s all part of the game!

Barking Up the Wrong Tree

Alan had the idea for Feral Perry’s Puzzle Quest kicking around for awhile.  He and Brian talked on several occasions about the idea of a puzzle game that uses the quirks of the NES hardware – screen wrapping, sprite limitations, changing color palettes, etc.  It all seemed interesting, but it never turned into a game. 

Like all good projects, it got underway with a pun.  Alan came up with the idea of “Feral Perry” as a play on the word “peripheral” (Perryferal) and built a short demo.   With a name in hand, Brian got to work on the art.

The game’s levels were designed in collaboration by Brian and Alan.  They discussed the sort of gimmicks that they wanted to see and then narrowed them down to the ones that seem to be technically feasible.  Brian built proposed level layouts and Alan made them work. 

Feral Perry was initially created for the NESdev.org 2024 Dev Competition, which was put on hold.  Instead, they chose to premiere the game at the Game Developer’s Expo (GDEX) 2024 in Columbus, Ohio. 

Every Dog Has Its Day

Feral Perry’s Puzzle Quest is off the beaten path, even for us.  While we love the game, we’re not sure if anyone wants to buy it considering all of the peripherals that it requires.  Perhaps it's more of a road show game than a take home game…