Chick-Chick is yet another construction kit template copy+paste from serial shovelware pushers and asset flip scammers, Atomic Fabrik/Gamesforgames. These guys do nothing but copy premade game templates and game tutorials, fill out a few things/stamp out basic levels using the construction kit templates, slap on an asset flipped set of sprites/assets, and dump them on Steam and into cheap nasty shovelware game bundles as cash grabs. Trying to get paid for someone else's game templates, assets... at best, this is shovelware, at worst, it's a scam/cash grab.
This asset flip is just a basic GameMaker Studio template "endless jumper" where you jump upwards on platforms and try to stay alive, it's just a GameMaker Studio tutorial/tech demo. The game assets were stolen from Pixelfrog's "Pixel Adventure" sprite pack.
Gamesforgames have shown a repeat pattern of unethically dumping other people's work onto Steam as a cheap, nasty cash grab, through this account or through closely linked/alt accounts. Here's some examples so you can see for yourself:
[list]
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/2833830]Gas Gas Rocket![/url]" = [url=https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/templates/packs/hovershift-107789]Hovershift[/url] developed by SgLib Games
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/2805620]Zombodesert[/url]" = [url=https://www.sellmyapp.com/downloads/animal-racing-complate-game-racing-game-support-unity-5-5/]Animal Racing[/url] developed by SplayGame Official
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/2862020]Let's Park Bus Edition[/url]" = [url=https://www.sellmyapp.com/downloads/smart-bus-parking-games-bus-driving-simulator-2021/]Bus Driving Simulator 2021[/url] developed by The Armor Gaming
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/1284510]In a search of a new home[/url]" = [url=https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/2d/characters/pixel-adventure-1-155360]Pixel Adventure 1[/url] developed by Pixel Frog
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/2864300]Zombodesert[/url]" = [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cXnw-32BjA]Macho Dash[/url] developed by TAPP Games
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/2477000]Next Station: Zombies[/url]" = [url=https://getunitycode.com/product/merge-train-zombie-defense-unity-source-code/]Merge Train Zombie Defense[/url] developed by Virgil Source
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/2833820]Fox Golf[/url]" = [url=https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/templates/packs/golf-royale-104938]Golf Royale[/url] developed by Code Master Studio
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/2474180]Save The Settlers[/url]" = [url=https://1up-indie2.itch.io/free-tower-defence-project-gamemaker]Free Tower Defence Project[/url] developed by 1UP Indie2
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/2862060]Wild Animals Transporter[/url]" = [url=https://www.sellmyapp.com/downloads/wild-animal-transporter-truck-game-2021/]Wild Animal Transporter Truck Game 2021[/url] developed by Zoobs Man
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/2805640]Desert Special Forces[/url]" = [url=https://www.sellmyapp.com/downloads/frontline-army-commando-war-battle-games/]Frontline Army Commando War[/url] developed by Deeko Games
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/2862050]Spaceship Driver License[/url]" = [url=https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/templates/x-racer-35344]X-Racer[/url] developed by Deer Cat
[/list]
Taking this shovelware seriously as if it was a genuine attempt to make a game, it doesn't meet basic minimum requirements that most PC gamers expect as standard.
A choice was made to use obsolete, decades old retro pixel "art" as a substitute for contemporary PC graphics. It's unclear if this is due to lack of budget or talent, regardless, the overall visual quality of the game is extremely low as a result.
There's no option to change the resolution and no useful graphics tweaks. There's no way to ensure this is running at the native resolution of your display. There's no guarantee this game will look right on any PC as a result of this hamfisted design decision.
Bewilderingly, while the game includes proper audio controls, [b]they don't work!![/b] So you can't turn off the annoying game audio (it's not very good), you'll need to alt+tab out and stop the game sounds using the Windows sound mixer. This is obviously not okay and it's unclear why the developers chose not to bother testing this basic feature.
The controls can't be customised, which will be an annoyance for many, but it can also render the game unplayable for differently-abled gamers, left handed gamers or gamers using AZERTY or other international keyboard layouts.
These technical defects push this game below acceptable standards for any modern PC game.
The poor quality of this game is reflected by how many people spent time with it. At the time of this review, SteamDB shows the all-time peak player number was only 3 players, and the worst part is these weren't genuine players, these were the Russian fake review accounts that the developer paid to make the fake reviews. Since the fake reviews are all done, now the only player activity occurs once or twice a month, presumably someone loading it up to see what it is then quickly uninstalling it. Considering there's over 120 million gamers on Steam and well over 100,000 games for gamers to choose from, the overwhelming lack of interest in this low quality game is to be expected.
It's also important to note the "developer" here has connections to a number of shady Russian asset flippers and review manipulators who show an organised pattern to scam and defraud gamers with fake reviews and asset flipping the work of others for profit. While reviews are about the games, gamers should be informed when developers act unethically. Whether these connections are the same developer using multiple accounts, or just working closely with other unethical developers, gamers should be warned about the harm to gamers by this developer and their associates. Buying games from unethical developers puts your money at risk.
[quote][b][url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2017/01/18/steam-takes-down-art-of-stealth-after-developer-posts-fake-reviews/?sh=750e13e12354]Warning: Review Manipulation![/url][/b]
This game features a number of fake positive reviews from accounts known to be in the business of review manipulation/paid reviews. They're all written in either Russian or broken English, appear at almost exactly the same time, very shortly after the game launched on Steam, all have a direct Steam purchase of the game, and the accounts are used consistently to write fake reviews for asset flips and other cash grabs/scams. The "Positive" review score on this game should be disregarded due to this blatant, unethical review manipulation. This is done to deceive and scam gamers into paying for a bad product.[/quote]
So, should you buy this game? Is this one of the best of the 100,000+ games on Steam?
Chick-Chick has the almost unethical price of $10 USD, for which you could easily get any number of older AAA games. Given the defects and quality issues with the game, coupled with the unrealistic price, and the questionable ethical nature of the developer and/or their associates (as outlined above), this is impossible to recommend.
[quote][b][url=https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/marketing/profile]Profile Features Limited![/url][/b]
Valve have marked this game as "Profile Features Limited" at the time of this review. This is usually caused by poor sales figures and low community acceptance for the game (to date). Until this status changes, this game will not give you +1 to your Game Collector badge count, appear in profile achievements or any other Steam meta-accomplishments, nor can it be displayed in some profile showcases. If these factors are important to you, it may be worth holding off before buying this game.[/quote]
