“Another live one. Think you’ll probably die like the rest, but hey–helps to keep your hopes up.”
BanzaiBonsai
Summary: After playing for some time, dying a lot, and even solving all puzzles, I can firmly say that this was beyond my expectations. The puzzles, both visual and audible were scary, fun, and interesting. The game actually heavily relies on its audio and it certainly helps to actually listen to it! It’s immersive and sucks you in, to the point you actually feel a pity for the protagonist.
Introduction to the game
An atmospheric greyscale game that features an easily navigatable UI, namely the room you’re in and the options. Besides the clean simplistic look, it also features many audio/radio fragments, some are even made by the author themselves! The fragments are rather depressing and seem to convey a pessimistic situation, at least adding to the scary tone the game sets. The player walks through a gas station, which seems to be abandoned. The player is being watched by something, something incomprehensible.
This game was made for the 2019 DevSquad Summer Jam. And a little disclaimer, without audio, you can’t complete this game! So please, enable audio, put on your headset, pour a nice hot coffee, and get a snack, for you will be in this dream for a while.
My opinion
We wake up inside a bathroom while we never set foot in, for we fell asleep in our own truck. After stepping out of the room, the radio starts blaring things at us, things we easily ignore. The station itself consists of a few rooms, many shelves, and someone behind the counter. Yes, we aren’t alone, bummer! Don’t worry, this wasn’t a spoiler, for anyone will quickly find out. The game/story is actually a big puzzle in which you need to solve many things and find four puzzle pieces to escape. Your only help? An attendee who isn’t that helpful.
After playing for some time, dying a lot, and even solving all puzzles, I can firmly say that this was beyond my expectations. The game is small in terms of total passages, and words, but the complexity makes it gigantic. The puzzles, both visual and audible were scary, fun, and interesting. The game actually heavily relies on its audio and it certainly helps to actually listen to it! It’s immersive and sucks you in, to the point you actually feel a pity for the protagonist. In a way, it also feels very CTP-like. This game is one big escape room and the puzzles were entertaining and not easy, making it even more fun.