Last updated on November 22nd, 2025 at 02:57 am
Paul Pixel – The Awakening – Puzzle Game Review
Paul Pixel – The Awakening is a Puzzle/Adventure game from Xoron GmbH, first launched in 15th September 2016.
It’s rated 9+ and currently has 77+ ratings on the App Store.
What Makes Paul Pixel – The Awakening Stand Out
An ordinary guy forced to defend the world from an alien invasion of infectious zombies. A point-and-click adventure with beautiful pixel art and bombastic retro sound.
"It looks great, it controls wonderfully, and it's got a cheeky sense of humor" – Pocket Gamer: 8/10
"Without a doubt a graveyard smash" – Keen Gamer: 8/10
Featured in App Store section "New Games We Love".
Top 100 of App Store games in 15 countries!
The Gameplay
Gameplay is similar to old games like Maniac Mansion, Zac McKraken, Beneath A Steel Sky and Monkey Island, but the game has a unique interface that is optimized for touch. Unlike most other point-and-click adventures the player actually holds the current item in his hand.
The Graphics
All handcrafted pixel art.
The Music
All game music only uses original Commodore C64 SID chip sounds, but polyphonic and with professional effects. The main theme of the Paul Pixel game was composed by the Pixel Lover Orchestra and is called "They Want To Get Us". Other chiptune highlights are "The Awakening" by the underground duo Retro Arcade Boys and "The Giant Meteor" by 8-Bit Factory.
The Story
An average guy called Paul Pixel discovers that the part of the city where he lives was put in quarantine. Apparently there has been a zombie outbreak. He needs to get out…
Of course, a short time later he needs to save the whole earth from this zombie apocalypse.
Playtime: 2.5 – 3 hours
Supported Languages
English, German, French, Russian, Italian, Spanish (Spain), Spanish (Latin America).
This Puzzle game offers engaging gameplay and regular updates for mobile players.
Player Feedback
As a newer release, Paul Pixel – The Awakening is building its player community. Early feedback suggests .
Recent Updates & Development
Latest Update: 29th September 2021
Recent improvements include:
Minor improvements.
Download & Availability
Paul Pixel – The Awakening is available through the official App Store for iOS devices.
Get Paul Pixel – The Awakening on App Store
Requirements: Requires iPhone 5s / iPad Air / iPad Air (Cellular) / iPad Mini 2 (Retina) / iPad Mini 2 (Retina, Cellular) / iPhone 6 / iPhone 6 Plus / iPad Air 2 / iPad Air 2 (Cellular) / iPad Mini 3 or later.
Compatible with iPhone and iPad devices.
Player Experience Highlights
Community Insight:
We enjoyed this game, puzzles were solid and we enjoyed the humor. It had a cool retro feel to it. We recommend this game.
When we first played the game, it was great. Plus we loved the puzzles and what not, especially the end (no spoilers). All we wish is that this game get a sequel somehow.
The cons: -the dialogue is SLOW and repeats itself when you come back to the character later. God help you if you accidentally press in a character and have to repeat a whole dialogue again. -the sound effects HURT YOUR EARS. The walking sound will drive you crazy, and the button pressing and elevator ding sound is like driving a nail into your brain. The music is shrill. Pros: -acceptable pixel art -good story So yeah, okay at your own risk. Is it worth $2? We mean, we guess.
Great short click and point game. Definitely worth spending a dollar. But, not very long, so not worth splurging 1.99. Overall, as a click and point player; we really enjoyed it. Always looking for new adventure games and this one fits.
Not very difficult (a big plus for us), and it made us smile and even laugh out loud. Nice job.
We liked the pixel style but didnt care for the game that much. The puzzles need to be sharper and more realistic in nature. We understand its not meant to be too serious and were talking zombies here but a skateboard to fix a flat tire? Really? Who would think of that? Its also just too much zombie for us so it feels repetitive. More people gave it a better score so its obvious that this game just isnt for us.
A few tweaks would make it perfect. We often talk to the Sam person until they repeat. If you could move or tap to cancel a repeat conversation. Also if tapping the edge of the screen it would be nice that you can change direction instead going to the next screen and coming back if you change your mind half way across the screen. Wonderful old school adventure a little short but worth the price of admission. We really enjoyed it. Keep up the great work.
This game was so good it is such a good adventure game every one who buys it will love it.
The title says it all. The game has promise but achieves none of it.
Very funny and just challenging enough without needing to consult a walk through. A great little adventure game similar to Hugo and Penelope. Amazing how expressive such blocky graphics can be.
Don't let the massive pixels fool you! This is a clever, well thought-out game that not only brings back nostalgic memories, but impresses you with its own style. Logical, funny, and lots of witty meta references. Absolutely worth a play.
The story, the gameplay, the graphics and the music all joyfully bring back to life a simpler computer gaming time. The best moments are when you get stuck and think of something new to try; you quickly go back to the game that is in your pocket and get rewarded with a little bit more of the story when you are successful.
Would be good to have a button to skip dialogues.
The game is very fun and full of great humor. We would have loved for it to be a little longer and maybe slightly more in depth game mechanics or function. Love the game, hope for a sequel or expansion.
It's simplistic in style but fun to explore and solve the zombie dilemma. A few challenges are sprinkled in there to keep you thinking. The interface can be clunky and it's hard to tell (or remember) what the inventory items are but that will only slightly slow you down. To the developers: was that a Carol Burnett reference towards the end? We sure hope so.
Paul pixel is very basic and short, with low replay value. And don't expect a challenge. The dialogue wants to be clever, but it ends up being very trite. Also, some of the items you pick up will be hard to identify in your inventory because the shapes aren't always clear. But, the game is called Paul Pixel for a reason. If you have time to spare, you could probably knock this out in a hour or so. This game definitely has that old school pixel vibe, but nostalgia isn't enough to make it great.
Nice game, well worth the price, not too complicated puzzles but entertaining enough.
So,this game for us is very addicting and fun and we like exploring and that's what this game is about.
It harkens back to adventure games in the days of old. Classic point and click performance mixed with a retro style makes for a wonderful gameplay! We hope there's more Paul Pixel in our future.
Reminiscent of old classics like Secret of Monkey Island and even a little bit Leisure Suit Larry, this game is a delight from start to finish. Not too challenging for the player, each puzzle has its own logic that makes complete sense once you figure it out. We were instantly hockey and couldn't put it down until we had completed the game, which sadly happened within just a few hours. We wish the game were longer, but we can only hope the studio makes more of these soon. Our only criticism is that the sound effects play at very different strengths. We often found ourselves reaching for the volume control to turn them down. The C64 soundtrack is killer. Buy this game.
Lots of fun and gave us all sorts of nostalgia from the 90s.
We loved everything about this game. If you like "Monkey Island" or "Silent Age" you'll love this beautiful point and click adventure.
What an amazing game. Love the music, story, and characters. We hope they make more games like this.
Classic feeling puzzle game with some good humor. Playing casually the game took about 3 or 4 hours to complete.
This game took us back to the Sierra days of kings quest and others. Super simple game play and clever puzzles. Worth it.
This game was awesome! Please make more.
Love games like this – you adventure through a world, pick up stuff and figure out how to solve the problems the character runs into. Just like old Sierra games in the 90s.
Really enjoy the game, puzzles are not overbearing. Reminds us of Space Quest, Maniac Mansion. Classic retro game feel fun and a time warp.
Pretty challenging, but quick. The only real critique we have is that some of the objects aren't immediately recognizable when you look in your pocket, and it would have been nice for there to be a way where you could look at the objects… Just to remind yourself what you have. Also one puzzle…. Underground… Felt almost impossible to solve. It should be so hard if you have all the right pieces, and are trying to do something, and it only works if you try it over and over barely changing how you do it. Just… Slightly too clunky. But still. We loved it. Want MORE.
We enjoyed this game a lot and wished there were more. It reminded us of the good old days of playing as guybrush threepwood in monkey island for the PC. Hopefully they make more games like this. You can tell a lot of care went into the game. It's great. Play it. Support the devs so they make more.
What a great game based on an old school concept. Reminded us of Maniac Mansion with point and click actions. There are even some references to classic video game characters which make it all the more entertaining. Great storyline- we hope this is just "the awakening" and they come back with a sequel.
Awesome SID music, good sense of humor, nicely dramatized story, good controls. Puzzles so far are of moderate difficulty, meaning that you don't have to work out some twisted logic to figure out how to progress. Highly recommend for fans of the classic point and click genre.
We want more games like this! We feel like we're playing space quest again in the early 90s.
We love the games simple gameplay, yet it's entertaining concept and gameplay. Become Paul Pixel, hero of his world, saving people and Mario alike, this game is really fun. 11/10 recommend.
Thank you to the Developers for a beautiful, fun and immersive game. As an addict of pixelated point and click games this has been a real treat.
Easy, silly and fun, everything you need in a point and click.
We grew up playing Sierra's point and click adventures, and this is a fun game in the same style. We didn't find the game overly challenging, but not all the puzzles were super obvious to solve either. It was absolutely worth the few dollars to have a afternoon of pixel-y fun! Well done.
We don't recall another PaC adventure game where we never once encountered a puzzle that we needed assistance from an FAQ to solve. Great experience but two hours of gameplay at most and far too simple.
We like this style of quirky game and it's worth the $2 but it is frustrating having to wait through the slow text-only dialog of the characters, which you cant skip. We did like the fact that the solutions are obvious enough that you dont need to use a walkthrough. We agree with the reviewer who was turned off by the sexism though: it was out of place and stupid in an otherwise humorous game.
Entertaining, with a few laughs. The touch controls are a bit clunky at times, making it difficult to progress. But thumbs up overall.
Good game… Wish it wasn't so short though. A little too easy and not long enough.
Short game, far too easy, loose ends in the story, awful writing, unfunny, bad translation from German. Don't waste your time and money.
User feedback from Apple App Store
App Details
- Version: 2.8
- Size: 88.34 MB
- iOS: 14.0 or later
- Languages: EN, FR, DE, IT, RU, ES
- Content Advisory: Infrequent/Mild Mature/Suggestive Themes, Infrequent/Mild Cartoon or Fantasy Violence, Infrequent/Mild Horror/Fear Themes
- Developer: Xoron GmbH
Last updated: 29th September 2021 | Genre: Puzzle, Adventure | Developer: Xoron GmbH