Smell like a puddle Reviews

Whenever there is an indie game that gets very popular, it almost feels like it creates its own subgenre in a bubble, in this case we have these psychological visual novels, but more specifically games with a sense of existentialism, and maybe a touch of melancholy. Sometimes they can come across as cheap imitation or clones, sometimes they put enough of a spin on it to make something different. I still have not played the progenitor game so I don't know how they compare, I just thought this game was okay for $2, at least compared to other similar games. It's only about 30-minutes, seems to have 2 endings, one of them being abrupt, if there is another one I am not sure, I got 3/3 achievements so I assume I am done. There are a few small things that can be missed if you don't take the opportunity to click on everything, but beyond that it does not seem like the dialogue choices were that important (outside of that one abrupt ending) The story has a relatively common theme, you find yourself in a place from which you can't get out, a world in the puddle, or I suppose a mental block, something these games tend to explore a lot. I don't think it's a particularly creative idea, too many games do it, but overall I think the writing wasn't too bad, somewhat playful and a little thought-provoking, especially if it's translated from Russian which does not always work that well. On a personal level I wish you added a few other elements to the story beyond its metaphor for a mental state, because like I said, I think too many games go for it, and I wish you had something else going for it. The art panels were not too bad actually, considering the game is only $2, there was some effort to create a few unique effects and scenes, I actually didn't even think it would go that far after playing a certain Bread game. It still feels like you are going for a similar presentation, but overall not too bad, I think the pacing and the narrative of the game works well enough. [h1]Pros:[/h1] (+) For $2 I thought the art panels were decent, I like that you trying to add some weird effects and interactions (not all games do it), and the writing actually wasn't too bad, similar to other games for sure, but it still works for what it is [h1]Feedback:[/h1] - Did you intentionally not translate the last part of the game, it's Russian in English and English in Russian - I was playing with the headphones and I actually found the analog text effects and music a bit painful, I was able to just lower it and work around that way, but just something to keep in mind, that ambient tone you going for isn't bad, just be mindful of it being potentially hard on the ears - It's okay to take inspiration from the games you like, but I personally would advice you to separate yourself even further, the games don't seem that similar on a surface, but I personally wish you had a few more angles to the story, something outside of the metaphor for being in a hole [b]Overall Thoughts: 6/10[/b] Obviously there is a touch of imitation somewhere there, many games do it, but I still see some nice things, the writing is interesting but I would recommend detaching yourself further from those Milk adjacent games, do something that is fully yours, and that thing you do with interactions and mini games, keep that going, most games won't do it. Also I think adding a few more characters probably would help a lot, I think that interaction with the person at the end was probably the better part of the game. [code]Niche, obscure and underrated games: http://store.steampowered.com/curator/31294838-Hidden-Gem-Discovery/ [/code]