Pizza Tower

, dashes towards the level's entrance during the "Pizza Time" phase. Pizza Tower is a side-scrolling platform game. Its story begins when Peppino Spaghetti, an Italian pizza chef and the owner of a struggling pizzeria, is approached by Pizzaface, a sentient floating pizza. Each level contains various secrets: pizza topping creatures (which are called Toppins) that the player rescues to unlock boss fights; The player is forced to restart the level if they fail. Pizza Tower does not feature traditional difficulty levels; rather, the difficulty depends on what the player chooses to achieve. A New Game Plus mode featuring the Noise as a playable character was added in a free update on March 12, 2024. The Noise controls similarly to Peppino, Playing as the Noise also alters the user interface elements and music. a multiplayer mode that allows two players to compete for the most points as Peppino and the Noise. The first player starts with full control while the second player follows. To switch control between players, the first player must get hit, get grabbed by the second player, or willingly allow the second player to take control. ==Development==

Conception Pizza Tower was the debut project of the indie developer Tour De Pizza, which developed it for around five years. Development was led by the pseudonymous designer and artist McPig, McPig switched to GameMaker since it was accessible and he had seen other developers use it for smaller projects. He began developing Weenie Cop, a platform game featuring a sentient hot dog who battled junk food criminals. Though he described this project as "all over the place in the gameplay department because it wasn't very well conceptualized", it got him accustomed to GameMaker. Design McPig initially designed Pizza Tower as a maze-like, puzzle-oriented platform game similar to Wario Land. During the development of the Noise campaign, McPig had the idea for the character, Mr Stick to replace Brick in the Gustavo segments. It was de Castel's first published work; composition was mostly a hobby for him and he never released any of his music out of insecurity. He learned about Pizza Tower around the time he was beginning to take composing seriously and was mesmerized by the gameplay videos he saw on Twitter. De Castel and ClascyJitto, who worked in France and the United States, respectively, each composed about half the soundtrack, while the pseudonymous Post Elvis composed the title screen theme. De Castel's video game inspirations included Sonic CD (1993) and the Wario Land series, specifically Wario Land 4. He also looked to the electronic, funk, and house music of artists such as Chick Corea, Daft Punk, Mr. Oizo, and Justice. ClascyJitto, whose prior work relied heavily on sampling and remixes, described working on Pizza Tower as "sort of like a fun little game for [them]", since it required them to put more time into each composition. ==Release==

McPig started promoting Pizza Tower in 2018 by sharing screenshots on Tumblr, before moving to Twitter to raise its profile. He also started the Discord server to get feedback. Tour De Pizza stated that post-release development was underway in September. A Halloween-themed update, released on October 23, added a secret level, collectible pumpkins, and Steam Community features. An update adding the Noise as a playable character was released on March 12, 2024. and the Discord server's membership grew from 5,000 to 20,000 before McPig and Sertif discontinued it. In 2019, McPig stated that while he was open to porting Pizza Tower to other platforms, he would not consider it until finishing the Windows version. On the same day, Fangamer announced that they would publish a physical edition sometime in 2025, alongside a collector's edition containing a Peppino-themed egg timer. On April 17, 2024, Fangamer announced pre-orders for the standard physical edition of the game containing a poster and two sticker sheets, with a set release date of September 2025. They also announced a collector's edition for the game which featured the contents of the standard edition alongside a Peppino egg timer, art cards, a custom pizza stained cloth and an art booklet containing concept art and notes by McPig for Pizza Tower. Pre-orders for the Collector's edition were made available in July 2025. The standard and collector's edition of the game released on October 10, 2025. ==Reception==

Pizza Tower received "generally favorable reviews" according to the review aggregate website Metacritic, and a "Mighty" approval rating on the aggregator OpenCritic. Critics were surprised by Pizza Tower quality and considered it a worthy substitute for Wario Land, some calling it a rare spiritual successor that is better than its inspiration. Polygon said Pizza Tower "has sharpened, tuned, evolved, and damn near perfected [Wario Land] odd niche of platforming", PC Gamer said Peppino's animations made him feel like a fleshed-out character despite never speaking. The soundtrack was acclaimed for its intensity. MeriStation said it complimented the visuals, Multiplayer.it wrote it combined funk with metal while remaining true to the style of 1990s platform games, and PC Gamer likened its "clever" blend of a retro style and samples to Jet Set Radio (2000). IGN said the soundtrack did an excellent job conveying the distinct atmosphere of each level. IGN and PC Gamer considered "It's Pizza Time!" a particular highlight. Beyond the soundtrack, Multiplayer.it praised the sound design, describing the sound effects as instantly iconic. Critics commended Pizza Tower gameplay. They enjoyed each level's distinct theme and mechanics as well as the secrets scattered throughout, and compared the sense of speed to the Sonic the Hedgehog series. Reviewers felt it improved and expanded on the Wario Land formula, with Den of Geek calling it "faster, crazier, [and] sillier". Polygon and IGN highlighted the escape sequences, Multiplayer.it said the power-ups surpassed Wario Land in terms of surrealness and fun, and PC Gamer said the final boss's spectacle rivaled that of the Bayonetta series. IGN said that while Pizza Tower would only take five to six hours to finish, the secrets and ranking system provided substantial replay value, and MeriStation said replaying levels to obtain P ranks was where the gameplay was at its best. Polygon thought allowing the player to choose what they liked to achieve instead of featuring traditional difficulty levels was an "elegant-ass approach to game difficulty". Nintendo Life only complaint was that the bosses were somewhat frustrating due to a reliance on randomness. IGN, MeriStation, PC Gamer, and Polygon found controlling Peppino satisfying, PC Gamer likening his moveset to a Swiss Army knife for its versatility. Polygon described Peppino's abilities as limited but intuitive and excellently complementing the level design. Conversely, Multiplayer.it and Rock Paper Shotgun felt it was challenging to become accustomed to controlling Peppino since he requires considerable precision, which Rock Paper Shotgun said was Pizza Tower biggest flaw. While its levels were still designed in Wario Land slow and methodical fashion, Rock Paper Shotgun wrote, Pizza Tower expects the player to move fast, leading to the repeated frustration of losing momentum. They said this meant the game would not be for everyone, though some would consider the "rough edges... an essential part of the appeal". Awards ==Notes==