| Kill the Plumber | |
| Developer: | Keybol |
| Series: | Mario (unofficial) |
| Platforms: | Microsoft Windows, iOS, Android, Adobe Flash |
| Genre: | Platform game |
| Modes: | Single-player |
Kill the Plumber is a platform game developed by Filipino independent game developer Keybol. The game is a parody of Super Mario Bros. Players control the inhabitants of a kingdom invaded by a plumber and must stop him before he can reach a princess. It was released in 2016 for Windows and Android, but Apple rejected it for violating Nintendo's copyright. After the graphics were changed, Apple accepted it.
The game is a parody of Super Mario Bros. in which players, as Mario enemy parodies, attempt to stop a hostile plumber (a parody of Mario). He has invaded their kingdom to stalk a princess (a parody of Princess Peach).[1]
The initial design pitch was to control various enemies from platform games, becoming stronger as the game progressed.[2] The game was initially developed as a browser game. After it proved popular on YouTube, Keybol ported it to mobile platforms. Development for both platforms took a month. However, Apple rejected it from their App Store for potentially violating Nintendo's copyright. While negotiating with Apple, Keybol ported the game to Windows, which took another six weeks of development time.[1]
Kill the Plumber was released on Steam on January 1, 2016.[3] As Kill the Plumber World, it was released on iOS and Android on February 2, 2016.[4] This version of the game features different artwork and is less reminiscent of Nintendo's games.[5]
Though he criticized the controls and music, Victor Barreiro Jr. of Rappler wrote that the Windows version of Kill the Plumber has a variety of challenging puzzles.[6] Reviewing the iPad version, Harry Slater of Pocket Gamer rated it 6/10 and wrote that it does not live up to the game's intriguing promise of a deconstruction of platform games.[7] At 148apps.com, Campbell Bird rated the iOS version 2.5/5 stars and wrote, "Even though Kill the Plumber has a clever premise, I'm afraid it has little going for it beyond that."[8]