“I quit”. Hardly the most inspiring words ever and not ones most will utter, as they’re a clear admittance of defeat. Although given the title of Man Giving Up, it’ll likely surprise exactly no one, that this game is about doing just that. Or is it? Could there be some deeper meaning behind the protagonist’s willingness to raise his arms to the sky and surrender?
Made for MAGS September, which still has a week or two left at the time of writing, Man Giving Up is certainly an original creation if nothing else. But at the same time, it’s also one that’s hard to describe without spoiling the entire thing. I will say this much though: there’s both pointing and clicking, yet… not much of either. Peculiar? You bet.
Even though games with little to no proper interactivity (like Dear Esther or Gone Home) don’t do much for me, I’m fairly certain that I actually beat this one. Or maybe not. Maybe I simply got the bad ending? Hard to tell, as the whole thing feels more like an experiment/joke than most point ‘n’ click games. Yet for some reason, I kept playing, likely driven by curiosity more than anything else, eager to find out what lied ahead – so to speak. Let’s just say that losing eventually became second nature.
Now, at the start of each level, you’re presented with a huge sign that says “CLICK HERE TO TRY”, and unless you do just that, nothing happens. Should you, however, do as told, [spoilers] happen, followed by [spoilers] and [even more spoilers]. Oh, and there are even ‘good’ and ‘ultra’ graphics settings for each, which – as shown above this paragraph – changes their visual design noticeably. As far as I can tell, it doesn’t modify the gameplay in any way, but it’s a nice touch that goes well with its tongue-in-cheek style.
So all in all, an interesting take on MAGS September’s “Cross-Country” theme. Here’s to hoping it’ll have some competition by the time October comes around though, as ‘victory by default’ isn’t that exciting. Time will tell. But for now, those interested can find download links for Man Giving Up in this AGS forum post. Try not to quit too hard, eh?
