Rubbernecking

Although being on a date should technically be a fully engaging experience, that is not always the case. Hence, sometimes you realize way too early that you do not have too much in common with the other person, but it’s not possible to make that clear without hurting the other person’s feelings. Pretending to be interested is just as bad in the long run, but it can save you a bit of momentary awkwardness.

Rubbernecking is a comical game in which the goal is to entertain yourself by looking around a restaurant without angering your date and remain in her good graces until the check arrives. It’s not a heavily interactive game, and it’s also fairly short, but it can change your mood for the better if you are feeling down for some reason, and it only takes a few minutes to see everything it has to offer.

To begin, it’s important to look at your date from time to time in order to check her opinion of you. If the monitor that stands for her face is full of pink dots and hearts, you are all good, but if it sports an angry smiley you have to pay more attention to her for a while. On the other hand, it’s difficult to do so when so many interesting things happen all around you.

As an example, it’s pretty tough to keep your attention focused on the date when there’s a fire in the diner’s kitchen, not to mention the two cats that seem to be on a date a table over. Moreover, the grim reaper himself appears after a few minutes and reaps one of the patrons, after which he has a beer in the next booth. Hence, the game makes it very hard to win.

Not much can be said about the graphics, because they do not matter much in the case at hand. The low-poly style works great with the general atmosphere of the game, even if there are barely any textures or special effects involved. You are way too busy laughing at the random events around the diner to care about the graphics, on the other hand, which is a good thing.

All things considered, Rubbernecking is not much of a game as it is a way to change your mood for the better and maybe have a few laughs, which is still a great deal. Hence, it would be nice if the game featured more levels or more things to do, but even this short experience is worth it.