| “ | This advanced obstacle course is designed to test your physical endurance and strength. | ” |
| — Game Station Tutorial Narrator, Statues Tutorial | ||
Statues is a location seen in Chapter 2: Fly in a Web of Poppy Playtime.
This location is the last of the three minigames that The Player must face to obtain the three Train Code fragments. The game is very similar to Red Light, Green Light and Musical Chairs.
Appearance[]
The Statues have a wide and long corridor, as well as several pipes and lamps attached to them. Upon entering the place, on the right side it's possible to see a gap, where PJ Pug-a-Pillar comes out. The floor of this place is basically a tatami mat where the colors red, yellow, and blue form a diagonal path. In the first part, there is a gate with metal bars and several walls with mostly gray bricks, with a few bricks in different colors, namely red, yellow, and blue.
In the second part, after the zigzagging walls, there is an open space with a staircase in the shape of a rainbow. After that, there is a long red bar that forms a curve connecting several shiny rings, with a pool of blue styrofoam cubes below them. At the end of the red bar, there is a red slide surrounded by a thin blue bar that has a wider vertical rainbow shape, with four thin yellow bars at the bottom.
In the third part, there are three red tube paths, named Easy, Medium, and Hard. The Easy path is short, with only one uphill and downhill slope. The Medium path is a little longer, with a zigzag route. Hard is the longest of all, with features of both Easy and Medium; after climbing the slope and zigzagging, it's possible to see two paths, one on the left and one on the right, with only the right one accessible, while the left one has the PJ Pug-a-Pillar trophy. All paths end at the same entry point.
In the fourth part, there is another styrofoam pool, but with several yellow cubes, ranging from small to giant sizes. At the end of the path, there is what would normally be the exit from the mini-game, but which has been reduced to rubble, blocking the exit. On the right side of this part, there is an observation room with a big window, where scientists originally evaluated the orphans as the minigame progressed, as well as other minigames.
Purpose[]
Just like the other Game Station minigames, Statues was designed to test and improve the orphans’ abilities as preparation for their eventual transformation into their assigned toy. This specific game was designed to determine the child’s strength, speed, and agility skills.
Gameplay[]
Upon restoring power to the entrance gate of the Statues, The Player enters the location and automatically plays a tutorial tape for the minigame; while the tutorial was playing, they encounter PJ Pug-a-Pillar emerging from its breach. At the end of the tape, Mommy Long Legs, as in the other minigames, delivers her monologue. After that, the minigame begins.
In the first part, the lights take a while to turn on while the music takes a while to stop, allowing The Player to proceed more instantly. Upon opening the metal gate, they pass through the zigzagging walls, stopping if the light turns on and off, as occurs throughout the course.
In the second part, The Player must pass through the golden rings and avoid falling into the styrofoam pool, which would slow them down and make it difficult to return to the rings. At the end of this course, if they choose the rings, they go through the slide to reach the next part, while in the pool they arrive directly at it.
In the third part, The Player encounters three tunnels: Easy, Medium, and Hard. If they choose Easy, they will quickly reach the next course. Medium is a little longer. Finally, Hard is the longest of all, being the path that the PJ takes, making it difficult for The Player to reach the next course.
In the fourth and final part, The Player once again faces a styrofoam pool, but this time with several cubes, where they need to jump on them and, just like in the second part, avoid falling into the pool in order to avoid slowness and reach the end. In this part, the lights flash faster while the music stops instantly. Upon reaching the end, The Player encounters several pieces of debris blocking the exit. The only solution is to aim one of their GrabPack hands at the observation room on the right, avoiding being caught by PJ Pug-a-Pillar.
Trivia[]
- The Player was intended to die in the last game, as the end of the room was caved in resulting in them eventually being caught and eaten by PJ. It was a setup, revealing Mommy Long Legs' true plan to trick The Player and have them die to the toys or herself.
- This is supported by Mommy’s lines to The Player as they escape Statues: “Mommy doesn't like cheaters! The rules are so simple! You die, Mommy gets to watch!”
- This bears some similarity to Portal when Chell escapes the incinerator, right down to GLaDOS begging for Chell to come back.
- The fact that Mommy Long Legs knows The Player worked there hints that they were either one of the scientists experimenting on the toys, or one of the higher-up employees since most of the Playtime Co. employees didn't know what was going on at the factory.[1]
- It doesn't matter how fast The Player goes during the game, PJ Pug-a-Pillar will always be behind them.
- PJ Pug-a-Pillar's AI is coded so that PJ catches up to The Player by speeding up the farther they are. For example, if they go super slow; PJ will go super slow. If they go super fast; PJ will go super fast to attempt to catch up to The Player.
- This is the only minigame that the mascot doesn't kill The Player when they go out of bounds.
- PJ Pug-a-Pillar does not actually follow The Player at first. If The Player were to stand in the corner to their right, PJ would walk past them.
- This is not the case anymore as there was a recent patch to fix bugs and glitches. PJ will automatically kill The Player if he goes past them.
- When holding onto the monkey bars with the GrabPack, don't look around when the lights are on as that apparently counts as moving.