Happy Game

I haven't played any Amita Design games before so I can't really compare this to their other games. This is fine. There were moment when I was engaged and moments when I was bored. Overall, the narrative is pretty disjoint and abstract. Maybe a lit major would have fun piecing this together, but for everyone else, I'm not sure. For the main character, the mood is a constant shift of up and down between happiness & relief and horror, without much rhyme or reason that I could discern. I personally tend to dislike it when they overuse that particular trope in horror I wasn't particularly scared and I'm far from scare-proof. A couple of scenes made me laugh and if you have a dark sense of humor like me, you might get a kick at some of them. I enjoyed the scenes with the rabbits a lot so if you're on edge at the beginning as to whether you like the game or not (like I was), wait for the first rabbit scene and then you'll know. It shouldn't take too long. The puzzles are adequate. There are some puzzle require that you capitalize on momentum which was a newish interesting experience for me in the context of a puzzle mouse-driven game. And of course, the visuals of the game are very interesting. They often feel like a painting. In that regard, the game is very solid and consistent through and through. So overall, a nice imaginative artsy game that has some highs and some flats. I don't consider it very scary though it might tickle your funny bone if it is dark. Also, unless you enjoy doing significant mental gymnastics to piece together things that don't make much sense, don't expect a coherent arching narrative between the puzzles. You might be happier if you consider the different puzzles to be standalone short stories with the same main character.

As someone who has loved everything from Amanita Design so far (maybe with the exception of Chuchel, which was "only" good and not excellent - but I still finished it and kinda enjoyed it), Happy Game really disappointed me. I went in aware of the fact that this was going to be different and rather disturbing experience but I expected at least some class and point to it. After about 2 hours, I didn't really find any of it. It seems to be twisted and disturbing just for the sake of it - and worse, its bright colors, often used in large areas, along with overusing of flashes make it extremely aggresive and unpleasant on the eyes so even after the short time spent with HG, I was on the verge of getting a headache (or epileptic seizure - I'm not diagnosed with epilepsy BTW). I'm uninstalling this and I don't think I'll ever be coming back.

Love the dark humour. The puzzles were fun and not too hard. I played it in one evening, it's not a long game, but it held my attention all the way through, and had me chuckling at some of the solutions and ensuing scenes. I have all the Amanita games, and I love them all, this one included.

This is definitely not your average Amanita title. The game itself is just a set of simple puzzles; what sets it apart is surreal - if not disturbing - visuals and thought-provoking "story", with a "happy ending" in the end - the one which does not look like a happy ending at all. Get this if you like bizzare visuals and controversal themes; skip it if you don't count stuff like cannibalistic killer rabbits and exploding hearts as an amusing kind of entertainment. "The bloody trail of rampage" would probably be the best description of the core game mechanic as to get further down the story our little protagonist has to ruthlessly eliminate any obstacles along his path.