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By Saniah Etienne

I started “A Pizza Delivery” with little background and many questions. Why am I outside a pink house in the middle of nowhere? Where am I? Why does the game have no music until I begin driving? I played as a character named B. She is simple and unassuming, with a red pizza delivery uniform. Her light freckles and short, dark, un-styled hair give her an androgynous look. 

Most of the time, you’re looking at the back of B’s head and the journey ahead. The objective seemed simple at first; I was expected to deliver a pizza. I received a call from my boss, who gave me directions. I arrived at a locked gate and found the key hidden behind a rock. Behind the gate was a desolate shack surrounded by water. I found mementos and abandoned journal pages. But from whom?

The game is full of puzzles, but they feel purposeless and disconnected from the actual storyline. In one puzzle, I had to use the directions of road signs through a camera in order to discover a sequence to open a door. Behind the door was a lever that allowed me to open another door. Then, that door led to a maze of doors. At the end of the maze was an elevator that transported me from a gloomy, abandoned city to a grass oasis. This sounds convoluted and choppy because it was. The transitions between settings did not make any sense. 

A Pizza Delivery is also slightly buggy. Considering that a significant amount of playing time is spent on a moped, it’s frustrating that it often glitches when B tries to get off of it. She sometimes begins floating over the moped, which is strange. The visuals are low-poly and lack detail. 

However, some scenes are very scenic and pleasant to look at. Perhaps the beauty is actually in the simplicity. In one scene, I remember playing a minigame where I skipped rocks across the river with a character I met while we shared pizza in the rain. It’s a beautifully captured, slow, and reflective moment of human connection. So much of the game is focused on the solitary journey, but these brief moments of sharing stories are where the real reflection happens. 

There are long stretches of driving in which the game sometimes shifts into a third person perspective, allowing the player to watch B ride her moped by a lake while the sun sets. In my favorite scene, there is a gorgeous mix of soft pink, yellow, and orange light in the sky while it rains over the grass and hills. These stretches could have felt monotonous, but the music and background made them satisfying. 

Although I was still quite confused about where I was, I expected that, naturally, my questions would be answered over the course of the game. However, the more I played and learned, the more confused I felt. 

This ambiguity seems purposeful. While I did not enjoy it, I understand why it was executed this way. “A Pizza Delivery” is supposed to be meditative, with its extended periods of driving prompting you to contemplate complex concepts like regret and wandering. However, these concepts are touched on but never fully developed; half-baked, if you will. You are expected to reflect, but there isn’t enough to reflect on. 

While moving through liminal spaces with no clear ending in mind, the game provides glimpses of B’s background. For example, B collects items like a pacifier, saying it reminds her of her niece, someone B should visit more often. She also finds a ticket that reminds her of a trip she took with a past lover. B meets other people who have similar stories of stagnation and regret. These details are interesting, but it’s never revealed why they are all stuck in this place. I thought it might be a dreamscape, or even death. Perhaps the idea of place is up to the player. Nonetheless, I believe it is possible for a game to foster reflection while still leaving players fulfilled. But this is not done here. 

At the end of the game, B finally delivers the pizza to an old woman. B asks which way home is, and the woman says it doesn’t matter. She drives away into the sunset on her moped, and the game ends. When the credits rolled, I was not happy. I again thought, “What was the point?” My questions remained unanswered. Why go through all of this to deliver one pizza? A cold pizza at that. It may have been good when it left the shop, but not anymore. Even a good recipe can be overshadowed by a poor delivery.

Saniah Etienne is an NYVGCC intern who attended The Lab School in the Bronx and is currently in her first year at Howard University.