Saturday Edition (2022)

I was not expecting to feel so engaged in a Playdate game! I'm new to the console so this was really exciting.

This game really caught me off guard. The writing and atmosphere is really dry and mundane, but there's something really fascinating under the surface. The main character adds a hilarious sense of irony: the least interesting man in the world has the most fantastic story ever, and he doesn't care to talk much about it because he'd rather just live his life...slowly. We're brought down to his level and speed of life. The small little moments and enjoyment in life are really sweet. Oftentimes it's the most unexpected interactions where I find the most fascinating pieces of storytelling. Like John stopping by to talk to the lady selling crystals in the mall, that turned out to be a really great moment where he opens up about his experiences during his four-year disappearance and Margaret shares her outlook on being open-minded in life. Absolutely wonderful, and I'm even more excited to check out what else there is to do on my playdate.

I will say this game is not for everyone. Most of the gameplay is talking to people, observing the world around you, and traveling to different locations. Sometimes there is an element of point-and-click adventure where you need to combine game elements to interact with them together. The story moves slowly to allow for time to focus on the character moments. These aren't bad things but it's not for everyone, and you might just not be in the mood for this sort of thing. But go in with the right mindset and you'll find a great story here. I'm somewhere between a 4 and 5 on this one, but grouvee doesn't allow half ratings.