The timing is very tightly packed, which is quite usual for the games of this studio, so the game can be completely completed in 3-4 busy hours. The puzzles in the game are quite simpleīut at the same time very funny (as ironic as it may sound). The art style and overall design is meant to convey a horror-like experience. Although Happy Game is grotesque, it all sounds worse than it is. There are also a few scenes with flashing lights that could be bothersome for more sensitive players and the game warns in the beginning about these two aspects. For those easily disturbed a warning is in order, since some of these puzzles involve not only putting together decapitated toys, or on the contrary, tearing them apart in half, but also beheading bunny-like beasts with a bladed guillotine or throwing them into the meat grinder. Solving the puzzles will require you to summon your dark side, since you’ll be pulling heads, eyes, tongues and any other tuggable parts from all sorts of creatures. Unlike other titles from Amanita, the gameplay focuses less on solving puzzles / finding out the way all the contraptions work (which by the way, now take shape as scary, unfriendly creatures) and shifts towards experiencing the game as an artistic creation. Hideous monsters will hunt you down, creepy toys will surround you and the screens will overall be covered in blood spots and other gooey substances. In Happy Game you follow the adventures of a little boy trapped in his nightmares.

Yet it’s still an Amanita game, and it has mainly the same style and design, and it’s undoubtedly a piece of art like any of their other titles. It’s dark, macabre, gory and it’s pretty much the antithesis of what we’re used to when it comes to Amanita games. Sometimes the puzzles get challenging and even frustrating with the unskippable repeating actions, and at other times the interactions seem cumbersome and lengthy (edit: this was caused mainly by my 144 Hz monitor, there was a bug in the game that’s fixed now). The cursor appears again when you know you can interact again. You must often wait and watch things unfold on the screen after interacting with something, like in a real dream. It allows for the progressive unfurling of incredibly twisted imagery as you solve straightforward yet brilliant puzzles. Although only the left mouse button is needed to play through this beautiful 2D puzzler, interactivity with the scenes is very rich. This game got so much love put into it, and it’s simply an excellent piece of art.

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