10mg: Locked In Reviews

I liked the music.

So it doesn't have a pause menu. So the only way to exit the game is to complete it or force close it. Which is weird. I enjoy the 2 player nature of it. However it is only a 20 minute game. I noticed a couple spelling mistakes in the text. Nothing that makes it unreadable but the occasional missing "the" The plot I won't spoil but I find it kinda meh. One of the characters solutions is wildly irresponsible finance wise and money is a plot point though. There are better visual novels out there. Overall I can't recommend this game. It is part of a 10mg bundle so don't let it dissuade you.

Played with my wife and we both don't like Jerome, but we both did have fun.

I purchased the full 10 Minute Game Collection and am going to play them in the order they appear in my library. That means this is #5 of 10. Know in advance what you are getting. As the collection title suggests, a ten minute game is not a triple A title. It is a short game-jam-esque proof of concept / working prototype / execution of an idea. At least that's what I'm going to infer from first impressions. Locked In claims to be a marriage simulator for two players. Just like marriage, I would not recommend this game. Now I will admit that I played this alone in my dark, dank cave of gloomy festering bitterness, but that's not what has caused me to dislike the game. It's all just too contrived; the setup, the characters, the dialogue, the anti-government sentiment, the choices available and the conclusions drawn. It bothers me that I didn't enjoy it, I have played a couple of Far Few Giants' games. They generally have good writing and interesting scenarios with moral conundrums. Their characters are quite unique and have convincing motivations and dialogue. Here perhaps it's just too on the nose. The specificity of the time and place somehow detracts from the experience. Maybe it's too accurate, I found myself feeling angry with both characters and therefore doubly at myself. Perhaps with a player two, at least half that ire would be deflected elsewhere. As an argument simulator I guess it is successful in making one feel bad at the end of it. As a true reflection on the complexity of relationships, the one dimensional characters and their dogged refusal to go beyond binary reasoning is as frustrating as having a real argument with a partner. Have I missed the point? Was I supposed to not enjoy this experience? If I ever lure someone else into the cave, I will try this experience out as a duet and re-review. For now and probably ever, this was not for me. I should point out that the art direction is as nice as ever from FFG with the now standard faceless character models and bold bright colours everywhere. Also, their frequent collaborator Ricky C is once again on sound and music direction. This time around he treats us to a nice little minimal ambient track which as always I enjoyed. I am still looking forward to future projects from Far Few Giants, and really I think it's quite thematically fitting that we didn't see eye to eye on this release.

Found out that the game told the husband's player about [spoiler]the wife's infidelity[/spoiler] at the start without telling the wife's player. This is mind-bogglingly unfair and leaves out the wife's motivations for the event. Not recommended!

Interesting concept - 2 player visual novel (though you can cheat and play it alone - I did) - that makes you very glad the pandemic is over (and slightly worried about the next one). Very stress-inducing game, could lead to some interesting discussions if played with a romantic partner.