Pico’s School

Pico's School is a point-and-click action Flash game developed by Tom Fulp, the creator of Newgrounds. It was originally released on Newgrounds in 1999 before the site's Portal system was invented, but it was converted into HTML5 and rereleased on April 1st, 2021. It centers around a kid named Pico whp has to save his school from a group of goth kids that are shooting up the school. 
== Gameplay ==
The game opens with a cutscene showing Pico in class, peacefully participating in his teacher's lesson when one of his classmates, a goth kid named Cassandra, abruptly gets up and starts ranting about how she hates school. Cassandra then shoots the classroom, leaving everyone dead except Pico, who decides to make a run for it after Cassandra leaves. The game begins after this cutscene.
Your task is to explore the rooms and halls of the school to look for items that can help you fend off against the goth kids. Each room has buttons you can click on to have Pico move into another room based on which direction you pick, though not every room can be accessed. Some rooms contain items you can collect and store in your inventory, while other rooms contain goth kids that you'll have to fight and defeat in order to move forward. During these battles, the goth kids can attack you and will end the game if they cause you to run out of health.
== Items ==
* Fire Extinguisher: Extinguishes fires (obviously). Found in the hallway.
* Gun: Can be used to fight the goth kids. Found in the janitor's closet.
* School Key: Lets you open the gate that blocks off the second half of the hallway. Obtained from Alucard after defeating him.
* Goggles: Can be used to activate night vision mode, which lets you see things you normally couldn't. Obtained from Hanzou after defeating them.
* Master Key: Lets you open the door to the boiler room. Obtained in Pico's homeroom after using the Goggles' night vision mode to find them.
== Bosses ==
* Alucard: A goth kid with psychic powers. He's normally protected by a psychic energy barrier and attacks by telekinetically throwing dead kids and chairs at you. Sometimes he'll become confused, causing him to stop attacking and lower his force field so you can get some hits on him before he recovers and starts attacking again.
* Cyclops: A punk kid that stands guard in the hallway, blocking the way forward. Talking with him will only result in you getting shot and knocked back, so to get past him you have to shoot him with your gun. After shooting him, you can then choose to either spare him or kill him.
* Hanzou: A goth kid dressed up like a ninja, equipped with night vision goggles and a sword. During their battle, they turn off the lights in the room and runs around for a short while before charging at you and attacking you with their sword. The sword glows red in the dark, so you have to shoot wherever the red glow is in order to hit Hanzou.
* Cassandra: The leader of the goth kids, who is actually an alien in disguise. During her battle, she assumes her true alien form and attacks by throwing explosive barrels and stomping to make pieces of the ceiling fall down on you (both attacks can be deflected by shooting at them). Sometimes, her eyes will start glowing and eventually shoot lasers at you unless you shoot at them. Her only weak spot is her crotch, so you'll need to keep shooting there to drain her health when she's not attacking you.
== Legacy ==
Due to the game's popularity on Newgrounds, Pico became the website's mascot for a short while in the 2000's, and has had his own holiday dedicated to him since 2006 usually celebrated on the 30th of April each year, Pico day. Pico went on to be featured in other games and animations on the site, including as a guest character in the widely popular rhythm game Friday Night Funkin'.
== Trivia ==
* The game is based on the Columbine Shootings of 1999.
*The game was made in Flash 3, at which point Flash did not make use of variables or code of any kind yet.
* On the day it was rereleased in HTML5, the game's name was changed to Pico's School: Love Conquers All, the violent content was removed, and Boyfriend (the main protagonist of Friday Night Funkin') was added to the ending scene. All of this was done as an April Fool's joke and the game was later restored to its original form, albeit it still runs on HTML5.
**Pico's School: Love Conquers All still exists as a separate game and can be accessed from this link: https://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/787272
Category:Games
Category:Action Games
Category:Point And Click
Category:Newgrounds