[h1]Clever and Human[/h1]
[i]There will be a TL;DR at the end[/i].
~
It is hard to describe this game in words.
The game is both simple and teeming with intricacies.
It's unbelievably clever and outstandingly foolish.
It's a treasure trove of nuance and a stale march.
It's a blissful escape and a vapid waste of time.
The creators really nailed the atmosphere and placed some good UI into the mix.
While you're probably not going to be playing this game an infinite sum of times - there's a lot of replay-ability - and there's a lot of intricate ways that certain aspects and events overlap to push you towards one of the game's many endings.
It's funny, it's a meme game, and it's a good simulator.
In the end - it didn't feel like I played a refreshing videogame as much as I lived a strange fantasy as a noble savage trying to live off ramen in a mad chase to make cash playing games online.
It's like a peek into a mirror that shows you that cowering figment in the back of your mind that wishes that they ran away and joined the circus as a teen (Or any such fantasies).
To be clear, Streamer's Life is an odd title to categorize.
When paired with other simulators and management games, it is closest to Game Dev Tycoon - but lacks a bit of the nuance. It isn't an action game, and is more closely aligned with the meme games such as Postal and Super Amazing Wagon Adventure that service satire better than a strong product.
It fringes on the Artistic title, where the emphasis is on evoking particular emotions over concise gameplay loops or overarching themes - such as Journey, Abzu, or Gris.
In a way the game succeeds, but lands itself in an awkward compromise that makes it difficult to explain or put labels on. It's good fun, but isn't outstanding in any field. It lacks polish and has a lot of rough edges and repeated content that can grind and turn your brain off as you trudge through from week to week of the less interesting spells of the game's erratic event calendar. UI widgets are rough and unpolished. It plays less like a game designed by professionals to deliver a potent dose of serotonin to your brain - but a lot more like an ambitious Game Jam that persisted to release because it's a generally funny idea executed with charisma.
While flawed, it does what it wants well and will entertain you for hours if you know when to turn your brain off and when to open up your mind to what the game is telling you (Mostly to laugh at the antiquated memes)
Looking forward to returning to this game in a few years when it will truly be a time capsule. The hallmarks of yesteryear's zeitgeist in memes and tech are references to the trials of the early streamers that are tomorrow's antiquities. I'm going to like showing this one to the kids.
~
[h3]TL;DR[/h3]
[b]5.5/10[/b].
Streamer's Life is a [b]Competent[/b] game.
I went in looking for a quick laugh and was pleasantly surprised to walk away chuckling and determined to chase the dreams that I have in my heart [i]today[/i].
While it may not be the apex of game design and won't be lining up for any awards, it was very fun while it lasted and instills the player with a faint, but present ray of hope.
Chin up, keep going.
You have a fighting chance, and a lot of fun along the way.
