Alright. [i]All Fridges Are Psychotic[/i] is an interesting point and click adventure with an interesting premise, that definitely leans into the comedy and meta side of the PnC genre. Now, I'm currently a bit stuck and I don't know that I have the patience to go back through and try each and every item combination to find the solution, so I'm setting it down for now, but if you are a PnC enthusiast, I would say you're probably going to enjoy this one. Interestingly enough, this game first released as a mobile game in like 2009, but despite that, there are actually no playthroughs or walkthroughs anywhere on the interwebs that I can find. I think if I was the developer, I would probably go ahead and put one up somewhere for the eventuality of players getting stuck, especially since this game does sometimes embrace old school bad puzzle logic (something they even make a joke about on the protagonist's PC in his apartment).
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3457052794
With that out of the way, Julius is our protagonist, an aspiring screenwriter, and all his ideas are hilarious mash-ups of other existing movies and shows. Which is a fun little jab at the film industry at large. I appreciated it. Through events that unfold, he is unable to get his screenplay judged in a competition and by random chance, meets an intelligent refrigerator that can time-travel with whatever is inside it. Giving Julius an opportunity to hopefully tweak some things in the past so his screenplay can be read and judged properly.
I think the writing in this game is very well done. At no point does it lose focus, preferring to give you a lot of chuckles and a few outright laughs while embarking on this ridiculous adventure. The writing is ever mindful of pop culture, gaming meta, and plenty else besides. And it is set in a time when a lot of things we take for granted now, like tablets and touch screen phones, are awe-inspiring objects. The story has definitely been the star of the show so far.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3461460402
The artstyle is very much a throwback from 2009, from whence this game came. It is very colorful, a little raw and rough, and yet still manages to very much define everything in a non-ambiguous manner. I would call it charming. As far as the audio goes, I don't find anything particularly noteworthy, but it's a bit catchy regardless, and it definitely didn't bother me in the least.
I mentioned it is very pop culture centric. My favorite is the Goonies part, which adult children such as myself who were present for that phenomena will definitely appreciate, lol.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3461441950
Gameplay is standard stuff. A lot of match item to person or object puzzles. Some make complete sense; others completely abandon logic as older PnC's are wont to do. Items are stored in a backpack. Also, right click highlights most interactable objects, although a few are skipped (such as the broom and the tissue dispenser, for example), and a few actually can't be interacted with (such as one of the store's pictures which presents as a safe or some such upstairs, and shows up downstairs as well, but in a non-interactable fashion downstairs). Beyond that, you just wander through a few different story areas, examining stuff and talking to people.
By the way, while it did release originally in or around 2009, I have no idea if this is an updated version or simply the original version on a different platform. I don't believe I experienced any bugs or technical issues though (unless certain items that couldn't be interacted with were actually meant to be interactable).
I think this game has all the charm and silliness you could want from this style of point and click adventure, and if there was at least one guide in existence, this would be an easier recommendation, but as things stand right now, it still certainly earns that $3.99 retail price tag. You just will want to be proficient in the old bad logic PnCs if you are thinking about buying this right now. But with the addition of a guide, it would be accessible to a much wider audience IMO. I know, I know, git gud. :)
[b]I've finished the game now. Turns out there was a bug preventing me from adding a necessary item to the fridge. Thanks to the developer for forwarding a save file that picked up from right there with the bugged item already in the fridge. The remainder of the game only took about twenty minutes or so afterwards. I think the edited save file nullified the ability for the attendant cheevos to drop, but it's alright. I was more interested in seeing the conclusion to the game than earning achievements. Hopefully there does end up being a sequel on Steam.[/b]
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