Rain on Your Parade Review

Rain on your wedding day:

1. It figures.
2. Who would have thought?
3. Isn’t it ironic, don’t ‘cha think?
4. All of the above

What Alanis Morissette failed to mention in her 1996 single Ironic is that some clouds just like to make mischief. Thus, rather than simply being an unfortunate case of situational irony, rain on one’s wedding day can now officially be chalked up to a mischief-making cloud.

Rain on Your Parade is brought to us by publisher Unbound Creations. Gamers can now experience the true joy of ruining everyone’s day by becoming Cloudy, a cardboard cutout of a cloud, hanging from a pair of strings in the sky. Players will take Cloudy on a journey, from a humble beginning ruining a rural wedding, to soaking diners at a fancy urban restaurant. So get your maniacal laughter ready, because soaking hoomans isn’t the only prank a wayward cloud can inflict.

A tale within a tale, our initial foray into the game features a grandfather telling his grandchild a bedtime story. Clouds don’t sound very exciting at first, but grandpa keeps things interesting for his audience by giving Cloudy one heck of a personality. After story time, the gameplay begins on an overworld map. You can move Cloudy freely around said map, pressing A to make it rain. There are only one or two levels available at any given time with more opening up as you complete them.

The overworld map is also full of hidden secrets and surprises just waiting to be discovered. Watering an inconspicuous sunflower might just unlock a bonus! The game is full of silly NPCs that really show off the developers’ sense of humour and dedication to it. There’s Buggy, a helpful little worm who politely asks — on behalf of the devs — that should players find any bugs, that they send that info on so that the creators can help make the game better. 

Or perhaps, while floating over the ocean you might run into Nessie. She may not be beautifully drawn, but an artist loved her enough to give her a few lines of dialogue for players to enjoy. It is these small, considerate touches in a game that really give it personality and make it worth playing.

Once players enter into a level, a note will appear showing the particular tasks that are required in order to complete it. Some things are mandatory, some are optional, and some are hidden. These assignments start simple with things like “soak all hoomans” but, in standard puzzle game fashion, progressively get harder and harder.

The levels are always changing it up. Sometimes you will have to help a little old lady get her sheep into their pen, other times you will be sneaking up behind unsuspecting humans in order to scare them. There is a good amount of variety to keep players interested and entertained. 

As players progress Cloudy will gain more powers. Things like thunder, lightning, and tornadoes all have their own specific uses that gradually build upon one another. For example, you need to soak a hooman, but the pesky person has the audacity to be walking around with an umbrella. Well, Cloudy can use their thunder ability to spook that person into dropping the umbrella, and thus become a prime candidate for a good soaking.

The game has awesome level design that tickles gamer nostalgia in all the right ways. For example, one might know what to expect when loading up an early level entitled Cardboard Gear Cloud: a gray headband, sneaking into a military base, and destroying an anti-cloud weapon. That isn’t the only level inspired by games of yore, and a smile is almost guaranteed.

Some levels are about completing specific tasks, while others are about causing as much mayhem and destruction as possible in order to rack up as many points as you can. However, there are also relaxing levels to be had. One level simply said “Paint”, and Cloudy was able to absorb different colours that allowed for the creation of a personal piece of art: soothing music and no time limit can be a lovely change of pace. 

Graphically, the game is cute, colourful, and slightly geometric. Musically, it is a bit more intricate: you’ve got your happy elevator music that plays on the overworld map, and then different melodies for various levels. The more thematic levels (such as Cardboard Gear) feature more intense music, but most levels have a general upbeat melody.

Rain on Your Parade features Cloudy customisation. In Cloudy’s room, you can choose to decorate them with accessories you have collected by clearing levels: hats, glasses, etc. You can also literally design Cloudy’s face! Using the controller — or, much easier, touch screen — players can draw their own personality right onto Cloudy’s cardboard.

All in all, Rain on Your Parade is a fun premise wrapped in a cute story tied with bows of interesting level design and amusing mechanics. It satisfies that need in our human hearts for a bit of chaos. Like the child who gets joy out of kicking over the sandcastle, Rain on Your Parade will bring gamers the joy of ruining everyone’s day.