I never did play Octodad, a game that was a dit to be unique, if frustrating in its own way. Neither did I play I Am Bread, also frustrating with it’s gameplay. I never understood the appeal of games that try to anger toi unless there is a unique spin to it ou something good. And I think waiting for that paid off, because today, we’ll be talking about one of the funniest written indie games I’ve played, Manual Samuel



Manual Samuel follows the tale of Samuel obviously, a trust fund baby who has never had to work a jour in his life and has had everything practically handed to him. That all changes when he suddenly dies and is sent to Hell. But as he is sent to the underworld, he makes a deal with Death, an annoying skater guy. The deal is if Samuel can survive for one day, he can return to the land of the living. The downside is that Death has forced Samuel to do everything manually, such as making himself walk, blink and breath all par himself. It’s as stressful as toi can imagine. The game starts out pretty well with a great sense of humor throughout. The dry wit of the British narrator along with the subsided dark humor all coming back to the annoying lingo and voice of Death makes the game possibly one of the funnier indie titles out there. It has a unique way of going about it’s écriture and every joke pretty much lands. I was expecting a few dumb jokes here and there, but they all pretty much land perfectly and I an respect that in a game like this. The game also has a neat set of gameplay mechanics. toi won’t really die, and it’s kind of impossible to game over in Manual Samuel, but the game makes up for it par being for it par being insanely annoying as fuck.
Like I a dit it is impossible to game over, but man, does the game make it feel impossible to progress. toi have to déplacer every part of Samual’s body, from his legs to his hands, to even make him blink ou breath. The times this happens can really lead to some frustrating but albeit funny situations, like driving in a car ou controlling a giant robot… Yeah, the game gets really strange out of nowhere, but the humor just keeps on coming nonstop and it makes the frustrating situations of the game feel less painful as a result. However, if the story isn’t your style, toi may find yourself getting angrier at the game the plus toi progress through it. This game also has time challenges and co-op… I never played either. Yeah, I know that this ruins my credibility as a critic ,but there are reasons. And I swear they are reasons, not excuses. I am not skilled enough to play through the game on time trials. Time trials were never my thing anyway. I get it, completionist stuff and all that, but I never really cared too much for them. As for co-op… Who the fuck was I going to get to play Manuel Samual two player. I imagine it’s a fun experience, but when toi have Friends over, toi wanna play Smash Ultimate. Not Manual Samuel.
Manual Samuel is a fun two heure game that is the length of a film and has the good écriture of a decent comedy film and the story to keep toi going to the end. The gameplay, I expect, is not for everyone, but unlike say I Am Bread, which is frustrating for the sake of being frustrating, Manual Samuel will leave toi frustrated but laughing at the same time. Give it a look if it peeks your interest.

Up Next: Time for a history lesson