Game Thoughts - 5 Days a Stranger by Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw

Note: This is a repost from our WordPress, which we don't update anymore.

It's been quite a while since I played this, but back then, it was with the commentary turned on so I had some help when it counted. But now, I thought that I should give it another go.

I tried playing this plus the other games in the Chzo Mythos series, but this was the only one I ended up finishing, since I am easily spooked.

Again, beware of spoilers. Also... Kind of want to speedrun this eventually since I kind of know how it goes.

But that's just a thought. - Kochi

What's It All About?

Trilby's a gentleman thief who was informed that a certain DeFoe Manor's owner had recently and mysteriously died, leaving the place abandoned. Sounds easy enough to break into, right?

Well, yes, until he finds that there's nothing of value in the safe, and that he's stuck inside.

What's keeping him in there? Will he ever find a way out?

Writing

Just as there are five days in the game, there are also five people of interest, although two of them you won't get to know for long. They're...

Oh wait, there's also a killer with a welding mask, an apron, and a machete... but this isn't much of a survival horror than it is a point-and-click game.

I like that despite the short length of this game, the characters are pretty fleshed-out, to the point that they actually have short bios in the game's website and they really do sound like people you might meet or see at some point in life, personality-wise. And the differences in personality are shown through their dynamic with each other as they face a stressful situation.

The story has a simple premise, but I think that it was executed quite well (although the same can't be said for the game planning, especially with one of the scenes involved lol). We can see how the situation develops as the characters are faced with certain incidents. And they really do drive the story forward, despite the looming threat of something beyond their control.

And I guess that's what I like about it. It's very character-driven.

Art

It's a retro point-and-click, so pixel art is the way to go for this game. And while the characters look somewhat simple, there's quite a bit of detail in the different backgrounds. And it's good that even something as small as two book spines can be distinguished from the rest.

I also like that there's animation for them when they are talking, and the colored text is helpful in knowing who's saying what. It's also nice that speech and item text are differentiated from each other quite clearly, with the former having no textbox and colored, and the latter having a textbox and plain white text.

If there's anything "bad" about it, it's the fact that some objects in scenes end up being unproportional. But the dev is aware of that, no need to bring it up that much. And hey, it doesn't make it unplayable.

Audio

Save for key moments in the game where you know something big is going to happen or is happening, there's almost no background music. Instead, you're mostly accompanied by weird sounds, like random whispers or footsteps, that range from being creepy to kind of funny, depending on where you are.

But man, when there's a decisive moment, the music really does the job of setting the mood.

Gameplay

Being made in Adventure Game Studio, the gameplay is very retro point-and-click. You first choose a command, like walk or look, then click on an item on the screen to interact with it. Thankfully, item names can be seen on-screen, so you know where exactly you're pointing.

Although, there's the usual problem of pixel hunting, or having to move your cursor to a very specific spot just to select an item. For the most part, though, whatever it is will be visible. The real problem is the hitbox.

Also, while there's the convenience of accessing the commands from the bottom of the screen, trust me, you are better off with the right-click menu. Not only is it easier, you can also access your inventory as well as the save/load options. And there are quite a few parts where you have to put items together to solve something, so this will be handy.

Overall

If you're looking into playing some retro-style point-and-clicks (then again, considering when this was made, you can already call it outright retro), this is a pretty interesting title, as well as series, to start with. You might think it ends where it does, but trust me, it goes quite a bit deeper, especially with the latter two games in the series.

Anyway, if you're interested in playing it, you can access it from the Fully Ramblomatic website.