A Man With a Monocle Demo

Unusual stories usually get a lot of traction with the public, not to mention the fact that they can also make people forget about a few faulty gameplay mechanics. As weird as they might be, on the other hand, they must also make sense and be intriguing, otherwise it doesn’t really matter how whacky the characters are, or how colorful the environments might be.

A Man With a Monocle is a retro 2D platformer in which your main purpose is the same as in every other platformer ever released: get from one end of the level to the other and survive the obstacles in between. However, things get a bit more silly than usual in the game at hand, mainly because of the plot that runs in the background and the characters that are part of it.

As such, you obviously play the role of a nameless man who happens to be wearing a top hat and a stellar monocle on his eye. While you are strolling around the blocky plains of a weird world, a spirit by the name of Kain starts talking directly to your mind. As it happens, this spirit is actually trapped in your monocle and you must find a way to free it. Granted, it may not be solid genius, but at least it’s something you don't hear every day.

Gameplay-wise, you’ll be able to pick it up from the first few seconds, especially if you are familiar with the genre. In essence, all you have to do is run from one end of the level to the other and jump over anything that looks like it might kill you. Obviously, certain sections require good coordination and fast reflexes, but even so, there’s nothing to make this game stand out from the crowd.

Sadly, the same can be said about the graphics, which have nothing unique about them, besides the retro look that’s apparently quite popular lately. The level design is quite dull as well, since every level is more or less the same, except for the occasional surge of color. Fortunately, the soundtrack is a lot better and it can keep you good company along the way.

All things considered, A Man With a Monocle is definitely not a bad game, but it doesn’t make any effort to be good either. Hence, this is just a regular platformer with what appears to be an intriguing story, except that it gets boring after the intro.