A Smooth Game (Unlike... Life)

Writing a review about "A Smooth Game" can't be done in terms of black/white as per Steam's voting system so I think I'll make one thing clear from the very beginning: "A Smooth Game" - isn't exactly a game, it's more like an experience and finds its space in the indie game category. The developer brings you around with his thoughts through a path in the wood populated by unusual and sometimes quite abstract friends. My feeling about it is that this is a game the developer wanted and needed to do, so in some sense you're not really the target as much as the developer themselves. You get to peek into this story about the purpose of life, that sometimes feels a bit autobiographical. The videogame is just a vector carrying the experience, and it is with these expectations you should be playing it. As a secondary purpose, the experience attemps to convey you (and the dev as well) a message. You may or may not agree with it, yet, following the linear miniquests you stumble upon, you're somehow forced to carry on, while still flowing in the rails of this imaginary walk in the woods. Some older people may find the answers provided by the experience as trivial, but keep in mind we're almost some silent observer in all this, and this is the "beauty" of this. The experience shares with you an intimate view of a person who's in a very troubled and inquisitive phase. And, at the same time it tries to share this with you, the player. The eternal question about the meaning of life has, somehow, a partial answer, and the game progression presents an internal dialogue that may or may be not the developer's thoughts but instead something that the dev keeps hearing when talking with people. While the look of the game may be sort of cartoony and cute, it implies a few darker notes - also referring to suicidal thoughts and the struggle to find a meaning in life. Expect an experience you may or may not agree in full, containing answers that to some degree could be right, but also quite dangerous if interpreted as axioms. ------------------------ The tech compartment is minimal, and this is the first game from the developer, that I assume being relatively young. By looking at the credits I can't tell which assets the dev created, but I personally like the pixel art. The background music sometimes falls a bit flat leaving maybe too much space to full silence. It took me about 40 minutes to complete the experience and having to choose between recommending or not the title, I was mostly neutral. That is: it's a nice start for a first game, but I can see some heart and effort have been put in it so I'd encourage motivating the dev to keep developing other games. Pricewise, I believe the game and the dev could find a better place and better chances of getting feedback on the Itch.io platform. At the current price (or even for free), you could find more polished and entertaining titles. Besides, for a first game it's something I can close an eye on, hoping that the dev find some other inspiration while also adapting the expectations in terms of profit and feedback. I believe Steam should host something more polished, that could be the result of publishing other games on a more specific indie platform. Final notes: despite the gloomy tone of the game, a few moments made me genuinely smile. A few ideas are quite cute, and I loved the credits :) If I had to provide the dev a single feedback, it would be about adding some richness to the music. We need an intro music, more sound effects, and a better initial track which, IMO, scares the player a bit with its cacophony.

Made me rethink some aspects, the mouth is by far the best character. I highly recommend this game. Love the credit photos :)

Well, how and where should I start? It's sensitive. A game with a message that isn't hidden at all. You felt sad and empty after every conversations with the characters because you know the feeling to good, if you lived it before or at the moment, after each quest ended - you felt relieved because it's telling a hard truth everytime.

AFTER The REMOVAL Announcement from 6 Dec 2022 The REMOVAL was REMOVED on 20 Dec 2022 NOW AGain THIS SCAMMER "Developer" Made a NEW Removal Announcement S T A Y A W A Y FROM THIS SO CALLED "DEVELOPER" STEAM RULE ABUSE LIAR JUST SCAM! 1. Removal Announcement: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2142100/view/3602346906547907437 [quote]Product Retirement Notice Hi all, I'm writing this to notify you that this game will retire by the end of 2022. Due to the developer's personal situation the game will be no longer sold on Steam after 2022. I thank all of you who have purchased and played A Smooth Game (Unlike... Life). Can't thank enough to those who wrote review and emailed me about the game. You'll keep the copy of the game after it's retirement from Steam and download/play it anytime as you wish. Your purchase will still be applied Steam's regular refund policy if you want a refund. Please contact me via discussion or email if you have any question about it. Thank you.[/quote] 2. Not Removed Anymore Announcement https://steamcommunity.com/app/2142100/eventcomments/6126615404787623355?snr=2_9_100003_ [quote]Hi, About a week ago I was talking to a good Samaritan. This person explained me about Steam ecosystem, which I was completely ignorant of. During the conversation I made an impromptu decision to add achievements on the game. While drawing assets for the achievements, I thought it doesn't make sense to update a game about to shut down. Despite of that I just carried on simply because it was what I wanted to do. After contemplating several days I decided to withdraw my initial decision and leave the app on Steam. I've requested Steam support to cancel app removal and I'll confirm it as soon as I get reply. Thanks for all the cool reviews and warm supports, it's so invaluable for the developer. Without additional information I might have ended up having a huge misunderstand, that there're people with game developer support kink. Just kidding. Again I want to thank all of you and hope you'll have a great holidays. Cheers PS It's confirmed.[/quote] 3. ANOTHER Removal Announcement https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2142100/view/533231454521394546 [quote]Stepping Back to Go Further... Hi everyone, I feel really bad to bring this news to you. This product will be removed from sale by 6th Aug (PST). The reason behind this decision is about legal matter. I didn't know that regardless of how small a game is, it still needs to be classified and age rated in the country I live. I looked up how to do so and noticed it cost a lot. I would have to pay about 3 to 4 times of what I've made out of this product so far, and honestly I couldn't pay that much for this tiny game,,. If I'd known this before the release then I would most likely have given up. It's just way too expensive for a person who wants to start small. I am so sorry for bringing not so good news but this decision isn't for the sake of giving up. I'll continue making games and next game will be much more prepared and polished than this one (it's in the early stage of development so it'll take a long time to finish though). PLEASE DO NOT PURCHASE THIS PRODUCT. I know some of you have bought more than one copy just to support me. I've never known who did what but at least I could tell those occasional weird purchases were intended to support me. Is it you? I think you have very unusual kink, though I still appreciate your support! This product is being removed so please don't purchase it. Thank you for reading and I'll see you with my next game. Bye![/quote] PLEASE Steam-Support. Delete This Scammer Developer because of Steam-Rule-Abuse !

Please be warned my opinions may be somewhat positively-bias as I used to frequently chat with the dev (we eventually went our own ways) But onto the review, I honestly love this game. Why I Think it's Good: I love the pixel art, I love how the characters inspired by the developers own surroundings, it's unique, and a great cheap experience. Price: Price is atleast to me, fair for what you get. I had no problems paying 3 dollars for this. Nitpicks and/or Bugs: Once you have skateboard following you, he can cause an out of bounds glitch that honestly I liked despite being obviously unintentional, if you walked into Skateboard, he would over power you and push you into his forward direction, doing this allows you to clip through the bushes into the black void, which can then allow you to for example beat the game while skateboard is still your companion (Infact I did this myself for the funny factor) or simply skip interacting with characters at all, oh and this bug only occurs for moving Up and Down, not Left and Right. A nitpick I have is the music inconsistently plays, it'll be silent and then randomly one of the 2 OST tracks kick in, I recommend fixing that. Last nitpick is the occasional broken english within the dialog, I can read the dialogue perfectly fine with them, but for quality sake I recommend looking into fixing most if not all errors. Overall Score: I give this absolutely lovely game, a 9/10, has it's flaws, but if presented to the correct audience is a great little experience, so glad I was made aware of this game (Also the Clip outside the map Glitch is just funny so that makes it more enjoyable to toy around with). Suggestions: Add more content, like a DLC or update with new story and characters. Note for Dev: By the way Nameless, if you read this and ever want to talk again, my friend requests are open :)