Leaving a review for 'The Van game' was the first thing I did after beating my first run on medium difficulty, which I played uninterrupted without closing the game once. Actually, I kind of beat it four times, which is something I'll explain a little bit farther down below.
I can't believe this game only has 8 reviews. It's shocking, really, seeing as it's actually quite fun. Very indie, but in a good way. Love the art direction and music.
As is the case with most other 'Oregon Trail' style games, the mechanics are incredibly simple - to a fault, really, which is one of a few minor nitpicks I have with this title.
But before I dive into those cons, here are some pros:
- art style
- music
- most gameplay elements
- the opportunity to brush up on national park knowledge
- cozy & relaxing
- ᴠ ɪ ʙ ᴇ ꜱ
Now for some criticism...
There are some minor typos here and there - not enough to ruin the experience, but worth pointing out.
There is not enough variety in terms of events, resources, things to do, etc. About halfway into my run, the game started losing some steam. Never got bad, but by the time I was about 80% of the way through, I just wanted to keep pushing for the win; so much so that I stopped "resting" even at low "comfort" levels, which is to say...heal up, pretty much. Minor tweaks to this gameplay loop. such as adding another 2 to 3 random events or maybe something else to collect would improve upon this quite a bit, I'd figure. As it stands, I'm not 100% sure about replayability, although I have a feeling I'll eventually find out, as I'd hate to not pick this back up again.
Last but not least: the game wouldn't let me read the passport entry for Everglades National Park, which was my last stop. Why? Because it told me I had won the game...four times. Every time I tried to go back to the entry to read it, but it wouldn't let me scroll toward the bottom text, and any kind of click resulted in the credits starting over. Surely, this has to be a bug, right? Would love to see this resolved.
Ultimately, though, this was the best $0.69 I've ever spent. Yes, it was that cheap, as I got it on sale. Is this worth the full price? If you're the kind of person who loves geography, road tripping, and national parks, all of which apply to me, I would say probably.
I would recommend it either way, as my four hours felt immersed and I stayed fairly entertained throughout.
'The Van Game' deserves way more purchases and (positive) reviews than it presently has.
