Release Date: 13/07/2017
Played On: Win
Available On: Win
Time Played: 25m
Progress: Completed
Developer: Gamechuck
Publisher: Gamechuck
In a world where narrative gaming and visual novels are more popular than ever before, is there room for an actual comic book to enter the gaming space? I often think about how games can tell stories better, but I'm rarely asked to consider how gamification can enhance other story-telling mediums.
This is exactly what All You Can Eat presents, as it is undoubtedly more comic book than game, but each half enhances the whole. Although, rather than being a slide-show of panels to click through, there are puzzles to solve, branching paths, and backtracking to keep things interesting.
If you were to look at this game as a traditional point-and-click adventure, it would seem lacking and empty. The puzzling is fairly straight forward, with only a few combinations and items available at any given point. There are locations and characters to visit, but again there's minimal depth to these encounters, as they are beats in the story and not a lot else.
On the other hand, if you think of All You Can Eat as a digitally enhanced comic book, it really shines. Rather than passively moving through a linear narrative, the interactions have been introduced to give options and choices to the player that wouldn't otherwise exist. Don't get me wrong though, this is still a comic book with a definite beginning and ending, it just lets you wander off the path a little as everything unfolds.
It works through the game's aesthetic and literal framing that makes everything feel like a hand drawn comic. The designs are fairly traditional, which works well as a way to bring you in and understand what's happening on screen. There's a nice touch of comic book styles that I like, such as heavy contrast and distorted perspectives that offer the personality needed to be appealing. To that end, the presentation is nice enough, but it probably won't blow your socks off.
The story is nonsensical and silly, which is actually a big compliment. Too many point-and-click adventures try to lean on making jokes and humour to sell the story, without ever nailing it. Thankfully All You Can Eat manages to avoid being awkward with its humour and continues to bumble through the absurd tale whether its off-the-cuff remarks land or not. I didn't find myself laughing my ass off, but at the same time I wasn't rolling my eyes at the bad jokes that ruined other games for me (hello Runaway series).
So the story is decent enough and keeps the game moving, but there are only a few locations to travel to, and a few key characters to interact with. If you go in looking for depth and detail on any aspect of the game, you might be disappointed. However, considering the short time investment and low asking price of about a dollar, it's hard to be mad at a game that's clearly trying something different.
Again, if you want an adventurous point-and-click game with mind bending puzzles and complex characters, this isn't it. While the mechanics are simple point-and-click interactions, along with some light dialogue choices, there isn't a lot of challenge to really sink your teeth into. Instead you get a short and enjoyable hybrid of comic book sensibilities, tied with adventure game systems that make All You Can Eat into a legitimate game, as opposed to a slide-show of "interaction".
It's a neat little experience, but I probably enjoyed finding out how interactive a comic book can be more than the actual game. That's not meant to sound like a criticism of the game, as it's written well enough and is smooth to play with little obstruction. However, the really fascinating element that excites me about All You Can Eat, is that it pushes the envelope a little further for medium crossovers.
In fact one of the coolest aspects of the game comes right after you've finished playing it. After immersing yourself in the story and navigating through pages and panels to tease out the eventual conclusion, you're offered a print-out of your story. The game then exports an actual comic made up of every panel and interaction you had throughout the story. Sure there are some parts where it's confusing to read, as you might have back-tracked and repeated dialogue, but overall it's a novel idea that again ties the whole experience back into the world of comic books.
It's never easy for big games to iterate much outside of a relatively safe zone that ensures sales, so the real creativity can often be found in small projects like this one. I believe that all of these little games that show clever fusions between mediums, contribute to the entire scene being pushed forward. One day I hope this push will result in better narratives for the big games, but right now there's always another morsel to try.
All You Can Eat is one such morsel that is worth a go if you're interested in trying out different mash-ups of narrative genres. It's a fun time that doesn't waste your time for the sake of taking time.