Few things feel cozier than curling up with a funny game on a wet, dreary day. South Australia is going through an uncharacteristically cold winter, with gray skies and heavy rain forbidding any ventures outside. After weeks of rushing outside to save the washing from another downpour, it was nice to change places in Unbound Creations’ Rain on Your Parade: Prologue, playing as a rain cloud who revels in ruining people’s day. Combining light puzzle-solving with wanton destruction, this elemental role-play is a joy to explore.
The events of Rain on Your Parade: Prologue are told as a fairy tale, complete with pop-up storybook visuals and a kindly grandfather narrating. Once upon a time, there was a small cloud with a big dream. It was tired of following weather patterns and wished to be able to rain wherever and whenever it wanted. The cloud heard whispers told of an old, secret land where clouds roamed free, a mythical land named Seattle. Determined to find this marvelous place, the cloud traveled across the world, spreading water and mayhem in its wake.
Players familiar with Donut County or Untitled Goose Game will feel right at home in Rain on Your Parade: Prologue, with the simple satisfaction of movement playing a big part in the game’s appeal. The cloud feels appropriately floaty, and pouring water over unsuspecting targets never ceases to amuse. While the game’s mechanics are simple, each of the eight levels uses them in a different way, offering plenty of variety for the one-hour runtime. One level has the cloud ruining a wedding, earning extra points for soaking every guest along with the bride and groom. Watering a garden while keeping the humans dry proves a tricky exercise in restraint, and blasting lighting strikes through a city block is pure destructive fun. Each level has optional objectives too, giving extra replayability to the cloud’s journey.
Landscapes in Rain on Your Parade: Prologue have a quirky crafted feel, with knitted yarn serving for grass and wooden dolls for humans. The cloud itself is a cardboard cutout, hanging from the top of the screen with two wires. The aesthetic is adorable and ties back into the storybook nature of the narrative well. Players are given a great deal of customization over their cloud, with the option to draw a new face on its billowy surface and equippable hats unlocked with every level. I would have liked the option to set the face back to default, as my drawing skills are not nearly as good as the developer’s. Bright, plinky background music sets a playful tone, perfect for a mischievous adventure.
For the most part Rain on Your Parade: Prologue is very polished, but a few small quirks could still use some attention. The beach level is occasionally very difficult to complete, as the humans can hide just off the edges of the screen. A birthday party level has a really interesting mechanic, where the cloud rains soot over a flame to draw lines of fire across the stage, but how to use this ability is not really explained. The thunder mechanic introduced a few levels later has a nice little scene showing how it works, so perhaps similar scenes could be made for other mechanics. A quick reset for those hunting 100% completion would also be appreciated, as extra objectives can be made impossible with a bad move.
Rain on Your Parade: Prologue is a delightfully silly puzzle game that never takes itself too seriously. The raining mechanic feels great and is used in so many creative ways. Developer Unbound Creations is planning to release a full version of the game some time next year, which can be wishlisted on Steam for those who wish to follow its development.
Next week we will be playing Grid Rangers, where players match tiles to hack an evil organization. The game can be downloaded from itch.io. If you would like to share your thoughts, discussions will be happening in the Discord server.
