RAIN;CHECK

One of many existentialism visual novels on Steam, reminded me a lot of 'Surrogate' specifically, dealing with anxiety and intrusive thoughts while avoiding the real world. Something awful happens in your life, and instead of moving past it, you choose a path of temporary comfort, thinking that killing time will make it better, but instead everything becomes meaningless, you start delaying the things you wanted to do, and never actually getting to them, simple things like playing games just don't make you happy like they used to, and instead of healing, you only fall further into the hole, making no progress in life, and laking the courage to try new things. You can finish the game in about 15 minutes, multiple by 4 endings, so about 60 minutes or so. Some of the achievements require you to play a clicker mini-game, so that adds another hour for 100% completion. The endings are not purely cosmetic, they have a few unique panels for each path as well as the overall conclusion, giving you a choice if the character should crawl into the a ball, or face her fear. A bittersweet experience overall, not the most creative game conceptually, there are many like it, but I didn't have any issues with the writing, the game conveys the emotional state of the character well enough, as well as using some supernatural visuals for thought-provoking concepts, even though the game is grounded in reality. The art panels are relatively simple compared to other games, but for me personally, if there is at least some movement and perspective changes, it's always better than just scrolling pictures, and the game did some of that to improve the pacing. [h1] Pros: [/h1] (+) Several short endings, each adding a bit more context to the plot, in addition to having a few unique panels for each conclusion, and thought-provoking perspectives on the choices you make. (+) I found the story a bit predictable, but overall the writing wasn't bad, making it easy to sympathize with the character. (+) The drawings were simple, but with a little movement and scenery changes, it was good enough for the price. [h1] FeedbacK: [/h1] - Don't have any issues with the game, other than I feel like it's a very overused idea for the narrative, not the most exciting concept. The last 2 cow achievements were a bit annoying to get since they took almost as long as the game. [b] Overall Thoughts: 7/10 [/b] Decently put together visual novel for $2, providing some introspective for those of us that hide away from the real world after some trauma. The endings are short but have different types of conclusion and art for each, which is better than a few other games. Not bad, just try to be a little more creative, everyone does this type of game these days. [code]Niche, obscure and underrated games: http://store.steampowered.com/curator/31294838-Hidden-Gem-Discovery/ [/code]

What an interesting game. It's nice seeing new studios have their go at games like these. It's definitely worth the 2 Euros.

I really enjoyed Rain;Check because I think it offered a sound take on what I'd describe as the zillenial quarter-life crisis, and the ways people cope with being stuck in that kind of transitional purgatory. It got me thinking a lot about how I deal with it and what I could do better too. I think it was a depressing story at first, but it offers a hopeful outlook in its final ending. I hope my friend and the person they worked with continue making more games/VNs in the future because I could tell while I was helping with a tiny bit of QA on this that they have some very creative ideas when working together. The line about overtaking slow people on the sidewalk is still sending me. Also the cows were cute.

A good, short visual novel about growing past your boundaries into something more worthwhile. I didn't see that it was a horror game, so I got spooked real good. But then again, I am also a huge scaredy-cat. 10/10, would have a panic attack again.

This is a pretty good vn that's coupled with a basic but fun clicker game. The dev(s?) have strong "this is my first game" energy which is genuinely charming to see. Playing this game is like glimpsing into somebody's soul for a moment. I hope the dev continues to make games and art.

Short but sweet introspective story with good art and relatable writing, I hope to see more games from the developers. You can get all the endings in about 30 minutes, but if you want all the achievements there's an idle/clicker extra game about cows.

I really enjoyed this, a short, introspective visual novel with a message I could relate to. I took something away from this, and it's a game I will be thinking about for a while.

The short but heartfelt story about such things as self doubt, apathy, and the fear of the future, etc. is nice and all...but i'm here for Cow Clicker.

Mooooooooooooooo! Lovely little game that makes you makes you have an existential crisis, I mean, question how much you use social media, I mean… Look, it's great and totally worth it! Mooooooooooooooo!

This game is a delight. All you really have to do is click the cow. It also comes packaged with a visual novel. All jokes aside, I enjoyed this game. There is a lot of stuff I personally relate to. I'm not huge on visual novels but I can say that the game and story is the perfect length for this specific narrative. The art direction is smart, and helps prop up the story, especially when you hit the true ending. I don't really want to spoil much so I'll just leave it as a thing you should actually play for yourself. There's not many endings, but this story doesn't necessitate anything complex beyond the main point. I like to champion indie works and this is one I'll get behind. As their first published game this is great. You can tell there is intent and passion behind what the devs did. I hope to see more things from them.