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All You Can Eat
By oldmariner
All You Can Eat
Developer: GAMECHUCK
System Requirements PC minimal
This
version of All You Can Eat is a pre-release provided by the game
developer for this review. I did not see a release date posted on the
game ’s
website. Gamechuck is requesting players greenlight the game at Steam.
For more information you can go to
http://game-chuck.com/
. According to the developer It's an interactive comic which means that
every player interaction in the game world (talking, picking up items,
using objects, etc.) creates a new comic panel, furthering the story.
Also, when you reach the end, the game gives you the option to print it
out like a real comic. The game is a light-hearted comedy with dry and
slightly weird humor inspired by daily comics such as Dilbert or Calvin
& Hobbes. The story follows the protagonist who has been living inside a
24/7 diner for the last ten years, off of a single "All You Can Eat"
coupon. Now, the diner is about to close for good and our hero is going
to end up on the street unless he finds a way to keep the diner open.
The entire game can be finished in under an hour.
At the
outset I had several questions, first of all what is an interactive
comic? Is it like Lifestream or Shady Brook, it is it point and click in
the Adventure game style? What are the requirements and how does it
play? There are no minimums posted on the web site of the developers,
which raised my curiosity. The only way to find out is to dig in. I mean
after all, it only takes an hour to play.
I quickly
discovered the requirements are in fact minimal, you don ’t
even have to install the game. It is contained in a self executing file
occupying a small footprint on your hard drive taking up only 220 MB. It
is unlike Lifestream and Shady Brook, being far less detailed,
presenting a flat black and white game world resembling the comic strip
you find in a newspaper. This is the way the game renders when loaded on
your screen. The scenes are displayed in black and white without any
voice acting. There are subtle background sounds matching the scene you
are viewing. It is a unique concept to say the least. When you resolve
the required interaction on the panel you are playing, the game slides
right to the next panel as you progress through the game. That is the
concept. So how does it play and what is the story?
The story
is a stretch at best. It follows the protagonist, who has been living
inside a 24/7 diner for the last ten years, off of a single "All You Can
Eat" coupon. Now, the diner is about to close for good and our hero is
going to end up on the street unless he finds a way to keep the diner
open. That is your task, find a way to save the diner or you will become
homeless and will have to buy your own food.
The game
is fully point and click. Speech is accomplished through talk bubbles
showing as they do in comic strips. You are not required to remain in
the same scene until you accomplish all you need to do or ask all the
required questions. You are free to wander. There are several locations
you can visit. The mouse cycles through several icons allowing you to
look and use your inventory, which is visible along the bottom of the
scene. In options the icons are described and easily applied using the
mouse. All You Can Eat ran smoothly without any issues. And yes it is an
adventure game. Puzzles were along the idea of what do I do next. I
would guess many may complete this in an hour or less, but don ’t
be surprised if it takes a lot longer.
On the
loading screen you are offered the following choices, Continue, New
Game, How To Play, Options and quit.
You can access this screen by using the escape key on your keyboard
during game play. Controls are found under Options. You have the choices
to adjust volume, mute the sounds, select windowed mode or color blind
mode. I have no idea what the latter is supposed to do. Checking the box
or cancelling the check box made no visible changes in the game. There
are no manual saves. The game keeps track of your progress, loading up
where you left off when selecting continue.
I saw no
announcement of projected costs for this game when released. But it is a
cute brain teaser of a game even if the plot is a stretch. Supposedly
the all you can eat ticket is good only until you leave the diner, but
yet you can visit several other locations and return without penalty. It
is a fun little point and click game taking minimal space on your PC.
The difficulty will vary depending on your ability to figure out how to
solve this problem of how to keep the diner open.
GameBoomers Review Guidelines
June 2017
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