What do ponies, demonic rituals, rapid-fire Bolt Guns, and more have in common? Very little, as it turns out. However, these contrasting ideas collide in David and John Szymanski’s The Pony Factory, a first-person horror game originally developed for the first-ever installment of the Dread X Collection back in 2020.
Much like David Szymanski’s Squirrel Stapler, this tense horror tale was given an updated standalone release earlier in the year. Additional content, balance changes, full controller support, and more accompany a fully-fledged rerelease of an equally hilarious and horrifying microcosm of equine violence. But does The Pony Factory justify its own separate release? Is there more going on here than just a strange premise?
Traversing The Pony Factory
In a town suffering from the throes of moral decay, one man took it upon himself to remove the town’s woes the only way a rational person could: sending a message to Hell itself and receiving aid in return. The forces of Hell gave him the means to turn human beings into sentient ponies, with their newfound shape promising a world more full of grace and positivity. Suffice it to say that didn’t happen. With his world now in ruins, he returns to where it all began in order to correct his mistake and set things right. He’ll just have to fight through an army of monstrous ponies to do so.
You’ll roam the halls of the titular equine production facility, winding through snaking hallways, battling ponies, and eventually coming face-to-face with the monstrous head of the factory. That’s about it, really: no puzzles to solve, no major obstacles for progression, no real variation in what you’ll be doing throughout. Just 30 minutes of tense, close-quarters combat in dark environments against a small variety of enemies.
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The game’s length is probably its biggest detriment, though its origins as a smaller title make its brief duration more understandable. There’s still some foreboding sense of escalation, at least. Without any major spoilers, you’ll be tasked with making a circular trip back outside the factory after a key event, with some significant shake-ups in terms of presentation and an additional influx of enemies. It’s not as if you can just breeze through The Pony Factory without actually “playing” it, either. I was on the brink of death at several points on the base difficulty, with one moment, in particular, forcing me to scrounge for health and ammo as a pair of ponies nipped at my heels. It’s short, but not necessarily in a negative way.
Fighting an Equine Menace
You’ll be wielding one of two things in your incredibly brisk journey. With your Bolt Gun, which amounts to a pistol in a typical FPS game, you’ll be trading blows with projectile-throwing ponies and backpedaling away from those trying to close the distance. With your flashlight, you’ll illuminate the factory’s dark corners to get a clean shot at what’s assaulting you. It sounds simple, right? Well, much like the maligned Doom 3 did over 20 years ago, The Pony Factory forces a specific limitation on you — you can only have the Bolt Gun or the flashlight equipped at a time.
How does fighting stuff feel with this restriction? Pretty good. Battles are frantic, leaving you to either run away or beeline towards cover, depending on what kind of pony is heading your way. Every battle will leave you scrambling for resources, scouring every shelf and every errant barrel lid to replenish the only means of defending yourself. Every pony is a genuine threat, as they’re able to slash your health to nothing with very little effort. It’s legitimately tense and feels more in line with David Szymanski’s DUSK compared to Squirrel Stapler.
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Speaking of Squirrel Stapler, The Pony Factory is more than just a little self-aware of how silly its premise is. Humorous notes detail the reasoning behind the initial experiments as well as how they went awry, with some holding their tongue firmly in their cheek as you’re reading them. The game’s score, as minimal as it is, also resembles the same kind of wavering soundscapes found in 1960s B-movies instead of nightmarish ambiance. It almost feels out of place when you see just how grainy and dark the rest of the game is aesthetically. But little things like that help make The Pony Factory stand out among similar indie titles.
It’s worth noting that this expanded version of The Pony Factory comes with some notable features. Aside from full controller support and some extra graphics settings — including Vsync and a FOV slider — the additional modes found in the original Dread X Collection release remain intact. One example is “Iron Horse” mode, which not only removes your crosshair and reduces ammo pickups but also adds instant death upon taking any form of damage. There’s also “Casual” mode, which grants you some substantial upgrades to your Bolt Gun and access to the flashlight from the get-go. The original version of the game found in the Dread X Collection is also included with your purchase.
Should You Play The Pony Factory?
Is there any real benefit to getting the standalone version of The Pony Factory? Would you be better off getting its original incarnation along with a bundle of other fascinating indie horror titles?
Aside from directly supporting both David and John Szymanski, who deserve a few extra bucks, all things considered, we say you should go for it. While The Pony Factory isn’t necessarily the most feature-rich indie horror game out there, what it lacks in content, it more than makes up for with the kind of fun horror that permeates Szymanski’s previous games. It’s effective, sound from a performance perspective, and its intriguing inspirations make for an end product that’s fun to start and finish in a single afternoon.
The Pony Factory is available on Steam. If you’re more interested in playing The Pony Factory in its original incarnation, you can also grab the original Dread X Collection on either Steam or itch.io.
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