Shape of America: Episode One Reviews

Great game, entertaining. Unfortunately it ends after the first episode… so no resolution… 90s nostalgia guaranteed!

I like this game. It shows in a very interesting way the rise of a former waiter through the ranks of politics, starting out as an internet lobbyist. Having it in a fictional American Union of States in the 90s allows for some nice retro feeling and havingh politics with obvious expys of real life people without having to go to close to real life politics of the current day. I recommend this game to everybody who is interested in politics.

Fun little game. Some bugs are present, but if you've got two hours to play a nice homage to 90s - early 2000s click stories, it's worth a go. There's a few too many bugs (occasional crashes, linear values can go negative, core fighting mechanic is a bit too easy) for me to say it's worth $5 in it's current state, but with updates / more episodes, it could be a good buy.

I won't do a full review until the whole series is out, but here are my thoughts: It's very unique. It's an rpg, but the combat system is through debates and what I would call minigames. It's small, and IMO not worth the full price tag, but maybe when all the other episodes are out I'll change my mind. As for right now, if it's on sale and you got a pile of pennies you don't know how to spend, it's worth a shot, but I hesitate to recommend it further without more from the series. =========================== As of 6/28/19 I've learned the second episode has been canceled due to financial reasons,something that screams bullshit due to the (to me at least) low cost assets and length of the first one. Obviously don't buy.

Surprisingly well executed and presented game. I like the retro, CRT vibe and the fact that such a small production provides choices. Although the music could've been a bit better.

I downloaded this game for free (regional price, maybe?). I really liked the aesthetics, cool retro 80s (90s should be, really, but it felt a bit older than that. Perhaps in this American Union State the 90s were like that). The soundtrack is also good and fits with the story. The Pokemon-style verbal Throwdowns are a nice element, and I liked that you didn't know much about how they worked and had to find out by trial and error. The storyline is intriguing, as well as the theme. Politics and text-based adventure is a good combo. The most negative part is that the game ends abruptly, as it is only the first episode. Shame that it didn't continue. If I had to pay for the game, I probably wouldn't have gotten it. Nevertheless, I spent a fun couple of hours playing it, always wanting to find out more about what was about to happen. Overall, a fun little game, but beware that it is incomplete.

It's so good, please make chapter 2. The story and game mechanics work perfectly. A unique game that really reveals how the political quid pro quo system works. The game is short but for the price it is worth it.

Episode 1 shows the promise of an innovative, engaging RPG. In all, this is an innovative concept that's very well executed. I was invested and my imagination was engaged. The 3-5 hours is definitely worth the 5 bucks. In terms of gameplay the adventure aspects of the game strongly outweigh the merits of the RPG elements, but that is largely by design. Most RPGs may have white mages, thiefs, etc. etc. this game instead has the four greek humors representing different classes. The system could stand to be refined a bit... once you figure out what class an opponent is its not hard to beat them, at least in episode 1, but again that doesn't substantially take away from the emotional investment or enjoyability of the game. I'm curious to see how designers deal with the rapid acceleration they allow for in this first part. It's not hard to gain a lot of momentum if certain choices are made. Inversely, it seems easy to miss out on some opportunities if you're not careful that could drastically alter your trajectory moving forward. This wide varience of outcomes could cause some difficulties for episode 2 design. One of the keenest design aspects of the game is the lack of a save feature. If you lose a crucial battle or make a mistake -as mentioned above- you can't simply rewind to a new day. This safeguards raises stakes and really makes caution much more important.

This is the retro-"House of Cards"-narrative game most of us deserve. Also: a must buy for everyone loving text-based adventures.

This is episode one only. In my opinion, a waste of time until the game is complete and there is an end to the story. I wasted more than an hour to get nowhere. Games should either be released completed or with the possibility of buying the whole package at once. Quite dissapointed that I wasted 1+ hours. Seems like a nice premise, but, until is complete, do not waste your money or your time.