'Splosion Man

'Splosion Man is a puzzle platformer where the player character and titular protagonist, 'Splosion Man, possesses the power to detonate himself due to an accident at a laboratory called Big Science. Using this power, the player must escape the facility by going through a series of levels containing different puzzles, traps, and enemies. This act of self-detonation, called a "'splode", is the only form of combat, allowing the player to jump, kill enemies, and destroy obstacles. The player can only use the 'splode thrice consecutively before a cooldown.

'Splosion Man includes a story mode consisting of fifty levels, including three bosses, as well as up to four-player cooperative gameplay, with fifty coop-exclusive levels. When playing cooperatively the players are each presented in a different color to distinguish them from others. All players share the same screen which zooms in and out according to how close players are to one another. The game does not contain any usable items, but hidden in each level is a cake which can be consumed for extra points or achievements.

Pre-production for 'Splosion Man began in early 2008, coinciding with winding down of development of The Maw, another Twisted Pixel Games title. The pre-production began in order to keep the team working on a title once The Maw was completed. Production began in December 2008, and development began in January 2009. In April 1, Twisted Pixel released a press announcement that a new game called 'Splosion Man would be released onto the Xbox Live Arcade.

The next day, Twisted Pixel confirmed that the game wasn't an April Fool's Day hoax and that it would be released later in the year. It was featured at the 2009 PAX convention at Twisted Pixel's booth. 'Splosion Man was released for Xbox Live Arcade on July 22. It was the first of five titles to be released as part of Microsoft's Summer of Arcade for the Xbox 360.

'Splosion Man received "generally favorable" reviews according to the review aggregator website Metacritic, scoring 84 per cent based on 52 critic reviews. Brett Todd of GameSpot called 'Splosion Man "one of the most original platformers to come down the road in a while", and IGN reviewer Daemon Hatfield said it "upped the ante" from Twisted Pixel's previous game, The Maw.

Reviewers generally praised the game's humor, simplicity, and inexpensive price. Brett Todd of GameSpot called 'Splosion Man "one of the most original platformers to come down the road in a while", adding the price was "very reasonable". Hatfield also lauded the game's humor, gameplay and personality, adding "not a moment goes by without seeing something new and exciting". The level design, overall gameplay length and personality were high points for Eduardo Reboucas of Game Revolution, who continued with stating that the game was "easy to play, hard to master".

Twisted Pixel Games developed a sequel to 'Splosion Man titled Ms. Splosion Man. The female version of 'Splosion Man was selected, according to Josh Bear of Twisted Pixel Games, as part of an underlying homage to Ms. Pac-Man.

It was Bear's opinion that Ms. Pac-Man was an improvement on Pac-Man and Ms. Splosion Man is likewise meant to be an advancement on 'Splosion Man. It was released on July 13, 2011.