Bread & Fred

Bread & Fred is a pixelated platformer about two mountain-climbing penguins. It was developed by the Barcelona-based Sand Castles studio. The three-person team was inspired by streams and YouTube videos, during which players would get frustrated while playing often difficult games. Their work, in turn, is both challenging and humorous.

Mechanics

Bread & Fred was created with co-op in mind, both players constantly connected with a short rope. While it partially limits the penguins' mobility, it also gives them new means of exploring the levels. For example, one player can swing on the rope and pull their friend with them once they reach their destination.

Thanks to the rope we can also save a falling friend by pulling them back to solid ground. The penguins can also grab onto walls to stop themselves from falling. Due to their weight, however, they can only hold on for a few seconds. Bread and Fred must face numerous dangers, including steep climbs, as well as slippery and crumbling platforms. The game constantly displays an altitude meter which measures our progress.

Though the game was created with co-op in mind, it supports singleplayer as well. In solo play, one of the penguins is replaced by Jeff - a rock tied to the rope which we can swing and use manually.