Few weeks ago, I got Manual Samuel for free from one of Humble Bundle promotions. I let it stay in my backlog until I tried it this week and I felt in love with the humor and unique gameplay few minutes in the game.
The game follows Samuel (Sam,) a guy born rich and had everything a guy possibly want. He's a spoiled-selfish guy who fixes problems by throwing money on them. In a dispute with his girlfriend, he was hit hard on his head that he had to remember how to stand-up and walk outside of the restaurant to catch up with her. Once he got a hang of it, he crosses the street to talk with his girlfriend but he was hit with a truck, died and sent to Hell.
In Hell, he makes a deal with The Grim Reaper (who is surprisingly a rock 'n' roll singer.) If he survived a whole day he will get to live again. But for that day, all his actions are manual. He has to consciously think if he wants to stand up, walk, grab things and breath.
The cashier looks nice, but Sam looks horrible
Like The Stanley Parable which I played last week. Manual Samuel is a narrated game and most of the actions you take are narrated. The narrator has funny stuff to say each time Sam fails to do normal-life stuff, like drinking coffee or taking a leak. (Where is my privacy?!) The Grim Reaper doubles the mockery by commenting too when he's there.
I like The Grim Reaper's character, he's so funny and laid-back, he manages to be both Evil and likable at the same time. As for Samuel, he's a character you'd love to hate, but I couldn't stop feeling sorry about him and the situation he's in. Controlling his actions (which is hard as I'll explain below) makes one feel sympathy for him, and wish the same never happens to them.
Yo, yo, yo!
The gameplay of this game is simple, it feels like a mix between an adventure game and a puzzle. There is a button for every part of Sam's body and every action he needs to do must be done with one or combination of these buttons.
I played Manual Samuel on PC with a Xbox 360 controller. The LB/RB buttons are for Sam's left and right hand respectively. LT/RT buttons for his legs. A button is for blinking and X/B buttons are for breathing in and out respectively. It's a resource management game and your body pars are your resources.
When walking you must alternate between Left and Right legs. Trying to move the wrong leg will result in Samuel falling and has to get up again. There are other parts in which you have to click the right button at the right time, like when Sam is taking a shower or drinking coffee. Life is hard when you try to do unconscious things consciously. I imagine the game to be harder if not unplayable with Keyboard.
More than once I would forget to breath in or out (or both) that my character passes out. I would forget blinking until the screen turns white. But the most common mistake I tend to make is to move the wrong leg. Every time I think I got hang of when to move the left or the right leg, I make the same mistake again. (We never learn, indeed.)
Another feature I like about this game is the #hashtags. Some of the actions you make Sam do, will appear as a hashtag at the bottom right of the screen. Some of the hashtags are optional and there's even an achievement for seeing all of them.
Yay! A Hashtag~
Manual Samuel is a short game, compromising only few chapters. Yet each chapter of them is completely different. There's a chapter where you drive a car and another one in which you work at. I was surprised by how different the looks and personalities of each NPC. Even the characters that you can't interact with.
I reached the fifth chapter in around an hour. It's a game that's compromised of just mundane things, but makes them challenging and interesting. I hope to see this game to completion!
Backlog Status
Will Finish!
Driving A Car!
People who don't have fast reflexes like me will find the game challenging but satisfying. I got stuck in the fifth chapter because I needed to walk fast but I kept on moving the wrong leg, I still was close at finishing that part more than once so I know its possible for me.
Overall, I think Manual Samuel is worth playing even if it has less than 3 hours worth of content. Not sure if its worth the $9.99 price tag but it definitely worth it on sale! Above all, it's a good reminder of how blessed we are to not have to think to be able to breath!