Things I Played: The Sexy Brutale – A Twisted Game About Rewinding Time
The Sexy Brutale isn’t a game I’d heard much about before I bought it last week. This is the fate of many indies game which don't have tens of millions of dollars into the marketing budget so I guess it's not surprising. However, I feel like doing Tequila Games a favour: their game is awesome and you should absolutely, completely, definitely play it.
To describe The Sexy Brutale briefly, I'd say it's like a cross between Cluedo and Groundhog Day. To describe it in longer detail, I'd say it's puzzle game where you use time travel mechanics to save people from gruesome deaths and that it's set in a swanky casino which you're invited to attend by a mysterious host who may or may not have a hidden agenda and that it's up to you to use the power of a trusty pocket watch to reverse time so that the others guests don't succumb to their mortal fate.
Like most puzzle games there's a problem and it's namely this: you can’t be seen by any of the guests that you're supposed to save. They wear masks that contain hidden powers. Powers that attack you should you be seen by any of them. It means can't simply yell 'Watch out!' or anything smart like that. Instead you have to find ingenious solutions such as hiding in wardrobes, peeking through key holes, and spying through CCTV. All in the name of figuring out their patterns so that you can save them.
It's complicated by the fact you only have twelve hours of time to save each guest, roughly about 15 minutes in game time. When the clock strikes midnight, the hotel goes kaboom and if the puzzle isn't solved you have to rewind time to the beginning of the day. This means that it's imperative to play through each day multiple times. You build up knowledge of solutions bit by bit, a lot like some Day of the Dead-inspired detective novel.
Like most puzzle games there's a problem and it's namely this: you can’t be seen by any of the guests that you're supposed to save. They wear masks that contain hidden powers. Powers that attack you should you be seen by any of them. It means can't simply yell 'Watch out!' or anything smart like that. Instead you have to find ingenious solutions such as hiding in wardrobes, peeking through key holes, and spying through CCTV. All in the name of figuring out their patterns so that you can save them.
It's complicated by the fact you only have twelve hours of time to save each guest, roughly about 15 minutes in game time. When the clock strikes midnight, the hotel goes kaboom and if the puzzle isn't solved you have to rewind time to the beginning of the day. This means that it's imperative to play through each day multiple times. You build up knowledge of solutions bit by bit, a lot like some Day of the Dead-inspired detective novel.
While there was at least one occasion when I found myself solving a puzzle completely by accident, I found The Sexy Brutale to be a delightful experience overall. It has a fairly heartfelt story underpinned by themes like tragedy and remorse. Most of the deaths are bone-ticklingly gruesome in some way. The art-style is also really, really cool. It's like a combination of gothic aesthetics and film noir.
Play it!
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Play it!
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