Pabili Po! ver.2

About Pabili Po! ver.2

Pabili Po! ver.2 is a 2D pixel-art educational game built around the sari-sari store phrase
“pabili po” — “buy for me, please,” the polite way a Filipino asks for something at the
neighborhood store. It was developed by edsrosario (Elyzze “Eds” del Rosario) as a
multimedia capstone / thesis project at De La Salle–College of St. Benilde, using Unity.

The game’s audience is specific and worth understanding before you play. It is not built for
foreign learners starting from zero, and it is not a game that teaches fluent Tagalog from
scratch. It is built for Filipinos who have grown up speaking English most of the time, who
recognize Tagalog when they hear it but cannot always produce it on the spot, and who want to
brush up on the basic words they would actually use in a normal day. The sari-sari store is
the perfect stage for that: almost every Filipino who grew up around one has, at some point,
called out “pabili po” and then fumbled for the exact word for what they wanted.

The browser build is free and runs in HTML5 on itch.io. It is landscape-oriented (1000×625),
so it plays best in a wider browser window rather than on a narrow phone. There are no
advertised desktop or mobile downloads.

A note on relationship: Pabili Po! ver.2 is not related to Narinig Mo Ba?. Both games
reference Filipino sari-sari store culture, and both use the store as a stage for something
else — in Narinig Mo Ba?, a quiet psychological horror; in Pabili Po!, a vocabulary
refresher. But they are by different developers, with different goals, and they share no
official story, characters, or universe. The De La Salle–College of St. Benilde capstone
credit is the student project that produced this game; it is not an institutional
endorsement of any other game on this site.

How to Play

The browser build loads into a 2D pixel-art scene framed around the sari-sari store
conversations that every Filipino remembers from childhood.

1. Open the game. Click Play Now to load the game in the player. Because the game is
   landscape-oriented, use a wider browser window rather than a narrow phone screen.
2. Follow the everyday scenario. The game presents sari-sari-store situations: a customer
   calls out “pabili po,” and you have to identify the right Tagalog word for what they are
   asking for.
3. Learn and practice. Each interaction teaches a basic Tagalog word and then asks you to
   use it in a new situation. The loop is small: recognize, recall, retry.
4. Build everyday vocabulary. The words selected are the ones that come up in normal
   conversation — the names of common store items, polite phrases, short requests.

This is not a management sim, a story game, or a horror piece. It is a vocabulary tool
dressed up as a game. The 2D pixel-art framing exists to make the practice feel familiar:
you are back at the counter, being the kid who had to call out their order politely.

The “ver.2” in the title suggests this is a second iteration of an earlier Pabili Po!
concept. The itch.io page presents this browser build as the current release.

The Setting

The phrase “pabili po” is one of the first Filipino phrases every child learns. It is the
polite form of asking someone to buy something on your behalf — “pabili po ng…” followed by
what you want. In a real sari-sari store, a child leans in the window and says
“pabili po ng coke” or “pabili po ng one pancit canton,” and the owner reaches for it without
breaking conversation.

That tiny exchange is the whole premise of the game. Most second- and third-generation
Filipinos who grew up mostly speaking English can still picture that window, but they might
not immediately reach for the right Tagalog word when they try to replay the scene. Pabili
Po! ver.2 is designed to rebuild that reflex.

The 2D pixel-art presentation keeps the tone warm and approachable. This is not a flashy
language-learning app; it is a small, thesis-project-sized piece that uses nostalgia for the
sari-sari store as a hook for vocabulary practice. The college-thesis origin shows in the
scope: focused, small, and clearly aimed at a specific audience rather than at a general
language-learner market.

For the sari-sari shelf on this site, Pabili Po! is the language-learning branch of the
family. The store is not the gameplay challenge; it is the remembered scene that makes the
vocabulary feel worth relearning.

Tips for New Players

• It is for Filipinos, not foreign learners. If you have no Tagalog at all, the game may
  move too fast. If you understand Tagalog when you hear it but struggle to speak it, this is
  exactly the audience the game was made for.
• Use a wide browser window. The build is 1000×625 landscape. A narrow phone screen will
  either letterbox the game or make the pixel-art text hard to read.
• Take your time on each word. The point is recall, not speed. If you get a word wrong,
  the retry is part of the learning loop.
• It is a thesis project. Expect a focused, compact scope rather than a commercial
  language course. Treat it as a small, loving piece from a student, not as an app.
• Do not confuse it with Narinig Mo Ba?. Same store, different everything. Pabili Po!
  is a vocabulary game; the main game is a horror story. They share no universe.
• It is free. The itch.io build costs nothing.
• Replay the everyday phrases. The most useful words in the game are the ones that come
  up in normal conversation. If you have a Filipino family gathering coming up, this is a
  good five-minute warm-up.