This game is a tribute to Paul Allen Panks, deceased, famous for submitting numerous games to the IFComp which were generally not well received.
I never played a Panks game myself, but I've read a lot about them. This game includes an actual museum to Panks that is quite detailed.
The main game seems to reference Panks' 2 Ninja games, and also the fact that much of his work was unfinished.