GAG

Gag is a "horror" game set on a sitcom stage that covers the topic of sexual assault. A note before we start. This game includes the developers few other horror games as a bonus, but I will not be talking about them, they are a nice bonus and some really cool experimental work. Story: You play as an unnamed girl who wakes up on a sitcom set with a man named Andrew who is the main star of the show and since I already said the game is about sexual assault you can piece the rest yourself. I won't talk more about the game since it will spoil the rest of the game, but I will I say I enjoyed what I saw of the story. It's not really subtle, more or less taking the head on approach to the subject matter. It is unsettling for sure, but I feel taking a much more toned down approach could have helped the game more. Graphics: Gag is a pretty simplistic looking game. You're mostly spending your time on the set which is pretty barren, the character models are weird and creepy looking (which I think is done on purpose). The visual are seemingly weird for a reason and it does work to make the world really surreal. The only real negative is the long corridor at the end of the game, which all of it looks the same. If you lose your footing you can find yourself walking back a pretty long way just so you turn back and go back the way you came from. Some indication of where you're going would have went a long way. Audio: The audio design is underwhelming, but I feel like it was done on purpose. Most characters use a text to speech program and it does help build an unsettling mood especially with Andrew's deeper voice being really creepy. The one music track is just pure garbage and really just feels like an ironic parody of the sitcom shows. Gameplay: There's no gameplay to speak off in Gag. You are mostly standing and watching a conversation unfold and chime in every so often. You do have to walk from location to location, but that's about as far as the gameplay goes. You are basically standing in place and listening to characters talk. Verdict: If Gag was a free horror experience I would have no trouble recommending it to someone. It has a really creepy setting, a decent story, but that's about it. The other games that come in the collection are much more interesting than Gag itself. I will say on sale, the buck for all the games is worth it to support the dev for these cool experimental games, but not worth it for Gag alone. Final Rating: 6/10 Pros: + Includes the developers other games which are really cool + Story is decent (albeit not very subtle) + Unsettling atmosphere Cons: - Not much play value - Sound design is awful - Gag is not really a game If you liked this review please consider following our groups and curator pages at https://steamcommunity.com/groups/completingthebacklog and https://steamcommunity.com/groups/ImperialReviews