What in the Twilight Zone did I just go through? I’m not even sure yet if that was in a good or a bad way. But I do know it was bizarre. I’m reasonably sure this one falls under a niche game, which isn’t a bad thing per se. Perhaps by telling you about it, I can lure you in too, or at least help you decide which way to lean at the end of the review. So, let’s begin.
When I started the game, I was suddenly in a hauntingly bizarre gas station, inside that little shop that is. One that seemed to be in the middle of nowhere, cause when I looked outside, nothing was there. Oh, the creepy creeps crept on me for sure. No biggie, I’ll try the doo… and it’s locked. Of course, it’s closed. I’m not sure why my brain thought, even for a split second, that that would be a good idea, to try, because a part of me knew. I mean, it was literally stated on the store page. Locked. Door.
So now I was here, with nothing around, well, not nothing - there were scratch cards, and I did have a little bit of money, and an addiction to scratch them. Thus, off we went to scratch. But then something odd happened, everything turned grey and grey, and it was game over. Oh, right. Energy bar thingy. Something the store page also clearly mentioned, but I still kind of forgot about and ignored, I guess. Which is ok. It’s hilarious that it happened a second time because I couldn’t figure out how to replace my energy. Hint.: it’s not the chip—or crisps for those who rather call it that—rack I stood in front of, desperately seeking, the second time, to stay alive, to survive. Ah, yes, the good game over again. Surely the third time is a charm, right? Right?!!
Ok, again! I figured out how to keep my energy up. I had scratchers handy, and I absolutely turned off my game sound because the radio station just creeped me out. Hopefully, it didn’t tell me something I really needed to know or anything important. But yeah, creepy! Then again, so was the silence, but one was slightly less than the other. Ok, maybe game sound on a very low volume, then. I couldn’t help but jump a little bit every time I (thought? I) heard something, carefully turning around, holding my breath. Nothing. Okay, next scratcher, I need to keep the energy up and earn money. What was that sound? Nothing, ok.. Keep going! And this was pretty much my gameplay; rinse and repeat for a while until at some point… Was that the door? Or did I just think I heard something again, like throughout most of the game…?
And whether it was or not, is something I want to share so badly, but won’t because I dislike spoiling things. Whether it opened, if something happened after, if it didn’t open, and something happened. Only one way to find out. Jump in and scratch like your life depends on it.
So, in conclusion, while playing, I had already formed a negative review in my mind, with a sense of pain in my heart. Because I mean it when I say I really love scratching scratch cards, and I wish Steam had more of them. They’re just a feel-good, keeps you busy, kinda thing. However, a few minor details, such as having no introduction, guidance on what to do, or instructions on how to replenish your energy, were a bit of a buzzkill for me. Yes, I know the options are on the store page, but let’s be honest, they should be in the game. Pressing Escape equals *boop*. The game is gone. It just closes off, which means you’ll always have to close out and can’t pause.
No volume settings either. And to me, the whole adjustment of motion blur and mouse sensitivity felt wonky, and I couldn’t get either of them properly right. Nor was it always clear what price I exactly won. An index of some sort would have been helpful in this case. Maybe.
I also encountered one minor oddity. Sometimes, a scratcher wouldn’t scratch off properly.
But in the end, I still want to give it a careful thumbs up, because reflecting for a few days, pondering about it, I did enjoy it and wished it was a little longer or had a mode to scratch endlessly without having to look at the energy thing all the time after your playthrough. I even kind of miss it, that little Twilight Zone space there. Weird huh. Though that might be the scratch card addict in me talking… ((Narrator: It is.))
I wouldn’t mind a Grubby Fingers Two either, but bigger, bolder—NOT scarier!—more scratchers, etc. And a menu, for the love of God, a menu with options for blur, mouse, sound, etc and a proper way to pause. But eh, we’ll see.
The bugger that didn’t wanne scratch off properly VS it’s eerie here…
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3482281950
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3484817263
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I would be super grateful if you could consider giving a follow over at the following places for more first looks, reviews, recommendations, etc:
[list]
[*]|[url= https://www.youtube.com/@Tchii] My first looks [/url]| ~My YouTube channel.
[*]|[url=https://steamcommunity.com/groups/TchiiMadeYaLook/curation] Tchii made ya look [/url]| ~My curator
[*]|[url=https://steamcommunity.com/groups/Indie_Gems/curation] IndieGems [/url]| ~Wonderful Indie curator
[*]|[url=https://www.youtube.com/@IndieGems2] IndieGems Gameplay [/url]| ~IndieGem's YouTube channel.
[*]|[url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/26279617/] Calm [/url]| ~Curator for the Dutch-speaking folks out here.
[*]|[url=https://www.youtube.com/@yoshiruless] Calm's first looks [/url]| ~Calm's YouTube channel.
[/list]
Thank you!
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