LogFAQs > #975439252

On to games 2 & 3! I started Casual Birder and have some thoughts on that, but I also started on Recommendation Dog and I "finished" the story mode so I'll talk about that first even though I'm not done with it.

Currently Playing: Recommendation Dog

What Is It? Uh so it is sort of like Papers, Please, where instead of inspecting passports to let people into a country you are a dog and finding matches for peoples' job requests.

Thoughts: This one is an interesting one. It is sort of like Papers, Please but scaled down. A lot. I beat the story mode in roughly 15 minutes on my second attempt. I only didn't beat it on my first attempt because I didn't figure out the mechanics quickly enough and failed a couple of times.

So, essentially, you are a dog. You run a temp agency, as most dogs do. People keep coming into your office asking for something. It is usually along the lines of "hey I need a gardener that is expensive and unreliable" which seems like a bad combo but hey, what do I know. I'm a dog. You can then move down to your rolodex and you use the crank to go through it. Each entry in the rolodex has what the person does (so gardener or vet or knight) then rankings in five categories (speed, cost, reliability, quality, and charisma). There is also a name given, but I don't think that's actually used for anything.

You scroll through the rolodex to find what the person is looking for. Sometimes they're like "I want a vet!" and that's it so boom, find a vet, done. Sometimes though they are like that vet needs to be charismatic because my puppy is picky and you have to go through entries that fit both. Pick an uncharismatic vet or take too long and you get a strike. Three strikes and you're out, presumably kicked out of your cushy job because they realized you are a dog and not a person. You get extra points for matching the request better (so say if there is someone with a charisma of a 7 they'll accept it but you'll get less points then if you find someone with a 9).

I kinda like it. I think. It is Papers, Please Lite (well, extra lite, really) but that's still enough to be kinda fun. I liked scrolling through, quickly finding what I was looking for, and then jumping back into the next request. It is a simple puzzle game but it still scratches that itch and it does just enough to be enjoyable. I plan on playing a bit more even though I already cleared the story mode, so that's at least something.

But, again, not great. Like it feels like they didn't finish this. This one got featured on the "playdate podcast" and they mentioned the developer was tasked with finishing this and one other game over a six month period, and I have to assume they worked on that second game for however long six months minus two days is. It is endless rolodex scrolling. You know, that sounds more damning than I actually meant it to be, but that's really all you're doing here. I don't know how much time they really spent on this after that initial concept was thrown out, and I feel like this is the kind of game you'd expect out of a weekend Game Jam. Like if you saw this game you'd be like "oh man what a cool little game to come out of a game jam" and then I'd tell you a team spent six months on it and you would call me a damn liar and punch me in my face.

I think most of the time here went into giving characters funny names. Or "funny" names. I think they're supposed to be clever. I imagine six people sitting around a table shouting out names for four months and that was a majority of the development time. Here are some of my favorites: Rol Odex. An artist named Oblate Spheroid. A chocolatier named Herschel Bar. Truly gut busting stuff here. I think some of the requests are also supposed to be funny, but those are even dumber. Primarily because this is a timed task and I don't have time to be reading all these "hilarious" requests for expensive plumbers. I just quickly scan to see what I'm looking for then jump into the search.

Also, I feel like they missed an opportunity to do something more. I scroll for job title, check statistics, and go through more if that one doesn't fit. There has to be more clever ways to iterate on this concept. Do something with names or put in something I need to review that isn't just a series of numbers, I dunno. Something. Maybe identify something on their pictures (which are all unique) or something else like that as well. There are ways to make this concept better, and it feels like they didn't try. It feels lazy, honestly, like someone had this idea but didn't want to put too much work into it.

Time Played: 1 hour
High Score: 55000 or so
Beaten? Yep. Beating story mode unlocks endless mode and I've been playing around with that for a bit now and I'll probably do another couple of runs before I call this "complete".
Grade: Hm. Maybe a 5? Somewhere in that range. I like it, but I feel like they went more basic than they needed to. There was a way to build this up more and they just didn't try.
Favorite Part So Far: When you beat the main game the final request is for a "good boy" and you check your rolodex and it is only you, the goodest of boys. Adorable 10/10 no notes on this.