Pinna – Unicycle for your nerves, is a free IOS and Android game created by Riku Tamminen. Going off of the name only, one could assume that this game is designed as a stress reliever; however, that is far from the truth. For it is Pinna that is the provider of stress. The game should be called Pinna – Unicycle that gets on your nerves. The jist of the game consists of balancing a unicycle as it travels as far as possible, earning a higher score being your ultimate goal each play through. Simple concept, frustratingly difficult execution.

The mechanics of the game consist of pressing the left side of the screen to move the unicycle wheel in that direction and vice versa by pressing the right side of the screen. To keep the unicycle balanced as it travels along the screen, typically entails me furiously tapping opposite sides of the screen as my eyes remain unmoved from the unicycle, as I attempt to detect when the unicycle teeters too far to one side.

The aspect of Pinna that gives the game such an infuriating play through, is its use of color and sound. The visual aspect of the game is simple. There is merely a beige background with a red and blue unicycle, resembling that of a child’s toy. Then there is the sound aspect. As you move the tricycle down the path, the lullaby “Go to Sleep” plays agonizingly slow in the background. Of course, that is until the unicycle plummets to the ground with a sickening crack, the seat of the unicycle shattering across the ground. Both the color theme and the background music give Pinna the feeling of infancy, as though this is a child’s game. As their unicycle consistently plunges to its demise, a player’s frustration grows as the childlike atmosphere of the game mocks and teases the fact that a player cannot accomplish something seemingly so juvenile. This mockery and ridicule can most definitely be felt when the player reads their stats after each and every fall. Personally, I know exactly how belittling this feels. My last run through the game told me that after 282 rounds of the game, I had only reached a high score of 37.04 meters.

However trivializing it may be, one cannot disregard how clever this combination is on the creator’s part. Although, after each shattering of the unicycle, my irritation doubled, I continue to play. Because the plummet of the unicycle not only serves to frustrate, but also motivate.  A player wants to continue playing, if only to defeat the mocking entity of Pinna. As with most solely score ranking games, there must be some motivator to push the players to want to reach a higher score. Within Pinna that is found in the youthful atmosphere that the game is set in.

I will most definitely continue to play this game, because my pride needs me to get past 37.04 meters, especially after looking at the highest scores of the game. Plus, apparently there is a Wheelie Level that can be unlocked that I have yet to reach. If you would like to challenge yourself, definitely download the game from the app store.

Pinna – Unicycle for your nerves, the game where failure is the only option. “Have a safe ride. You won’t get far.”

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