[quote][b][url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asset_flip]Warning: Asset Flip![/url][/b]
Lawnmower Game is a Digital Homicide style asset flip, or what Valve calls a "Fake Game". The "developer" paid for/pirated a few Unity asset store assets, dumped them all in a blender, and submitted it to Valve as if they're real game developers.[/quote]
[quote][url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AI_slop][b]Warning: AI Slop[/b][/url]
Community materials for this product were produced with soulless AI generated content.[/quote]
One of Tero Lunkka's first of literally hundreds of forays into scamming PC gamers out of money as he pushes bare minimum effort Unreal engine asset flips onto Steam in the hopes people will give him money for other people's game assets. Coined by Jim Sterling, an "asset flip" is loosely based on the concept of "house flipping" where people buy an old, decrepit house, fix it up, new curtains and carpet, then sell the house for a higher price, making a profit in the process. Auction flipping is another concept where you buy something at auction then just sell the thing again for a profit.
But really, asset flipping is much worse than those things, it's not even mildly ethical because it really is an act from a shady "developer", not sincerely making a game for gamers, but a "minimum viable product" just good enough to land on Steam, but not a real game (which is why Valve calls these things "fake games"). And that's what Tero Lunkka does, and that's what this is... a cash grab.
In this case, Tero cludged together some low quality Unreal assets like the [url=https://www.fab.com/listings/fa8aff69-977b-4c20-8b89-22b888fe8ac6]Realistic Grass 1[/url] asset pack from Defuse Studios, and a couple of other stolen assets and a basic driving game blueprint, and is trying to get paid for it.
It has no value or merit as a real game.
Mikko Seppälä/Tero Lunkka 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/581200]Nash Racing[/url]" = [url=https://www.unrealengine.com/marketplace/en-US/product/advanced-tuning-cars]Advanced Tuning Cars[/url] developed by James Novih
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/2985190]Candy Renovation[/url]" = [url=https://www.unrealengine.com/marketplace/en-US/product/renovation-simulator]Renovation Simulator[/url] developed by Manudog
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/4584120]Sad Virus Military[/url]" = [url=https://www.fab.com/listings/90b72290-8bc0-4097-8661-dd28b8a26dff]POLYGON: Battle Royale[/url] developed by Synty Games
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/4542820]Sad Virus Asia[/url]" = [url=https://www.fab.com/listings/56ca1dbd-0d40-4c70-abdb-5974215ea0c0]Stylized Japanese Temple[/url] developed by AleksandrIvanov
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/4486980]Super Clown Puzzle[/url]" = [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2BvzZlnM1Q]Unreal Engine 4 3D Platformer Project[/url] developed by Unreal University
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/4511130]Sad Virus Castle[/url]" = [url=https://www.fab.com/listings/6c9ecebd-a408-4c23-94aa-982e5f915dca]Stylized Castle[/url] developed by AleksandrIvanov
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/2617210]Lost Princess: Winterland[/url]" = [url=https://www.unrealengine.com/marketplace/en-US/product/polygon-vikings-pack]Polygon Vikings Pack[/url] developed by Synty Games
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/4679770]Sad Virus Waterland[/url]" = [url=https://www.fab.com/listings/8899d4e5-0beb-4f6c-bc00-8bd639bb89b0]Sharur's Underwater Temple[/url] developed by Sharur
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/1639090]Survival Isolation[/url]" = [url=https://www.fab.com/listings/bc8e1ee8-5b82-40df-ad2c-226524ca6253]Easy Survival RPG[/url] developed by Easy Systems
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/4556250]Sad Virus Cave[/url]" = [url=https://www.fab.com/listings/fa9ea4d7-ab8c-498b-aab5-42af7c7cb8f2]Stylized Modular Crystal Mine[/url] developed by Scale X
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/768060]The Warrior Of Treasures[/url]" = [url=https://www.unrealengine.com/marketplace/en-US/product/dynamic-combat-system]Dynamic Combat System[/url] developed by Grzegorz Szewczyk
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/3561820]Trump Searching Vigaro[/url]" = [url=https://www.fab.com/listings/fce76096-4cc6-4f21-a040-55ddd3355a0c?lang=en]Stylized Sky Dungeon[/url] developed by AleksandrIvanov
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/1643280]Fancy the Frog[/url]" = [url=https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/2d/characters/pixel-adventure-1-155360]Pixel Adventure 1[/url] developed by Pixel Frog
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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.
The developers didn't design the game for modern gaming PCs, as such the display resolution caps out at 1080p. The game simply won't look right on modern gaming displays due to this failure on the part of the developers.
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 shortcomings push this game below minimum standards for any competently developed modern PC game.
[quote][b][url=https://www.ftc.gov/legal-library/browse/federal-register-notices/16-cfr-part-465-trade-regulation-rule-use-consumer-reviews-testimonials-final-rule]Warning: Review Manipulation![/url][/b]
This game features a small 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, broken English or ChatGPT AI slop, 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.
Due to the 2024 FTC ruling (16 CFR § 465.4, 15 U.S.C. § 45), these fake reviews are a violation of US Federal Law.[/quote]
This kind of asset flipping isn't harmless. It makes it harder for gamers to find genuinely made games from ethical developers. It makes it harder for genuine indie developers, who put hard work into trying to make real games, to find an audience for their products. It gives indie developers a bad name.
Now on to pricing and value. Should you buy this asset flip? Is this really better than any of the 140,000+ genuinely made games on Steam? Of course not!
Lawnmower Game has the farcical price of around $7 USD, it's not worth it given the defects and shortcomings with the product, especially considering the unethical nature of the developer.
For comparison, the $7 asking price for this game could get you games like "The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt", "Bioshock Infinite" or "Mirror's Edge". Quality, professionally made games like those are frequently on sale cheaper than this.
[b]Note:[/b] Due to the very poor quality of the game, all the comedians came out of the woodwork. The vast majority of the reviews for this game are joke reviews, such as "this game cured my cancer, saved my marriage, changed my life" etc. Because most of the reviews are as insincere/mocking the game, and if you removed the fake/joke reviews the game would have a markedly different review score, the positive review score for this game should be disregarded.
