Release Date: Q2 2024
Systems: Windows, Linux, macOS
Publisher: Other Tales Interactive
Developer: Other Tales Interactive
Time Spent: 42 Minutes
Hoo boy did I have a journey with this game. I first started it on the Steam Deck because it's easier and more comfortable to play games on that platform while lying in bed than it is on my laptop. And I figure that a lot of games are going to want to be Steam Deck verified/playable to help increase their sales. Miniatures is a point-and-click game where, at least in the demo, you receive a box from an Ikea-adjacent store and you construct a piece of furniture with the rest of your family. This isn't a building sim though, you're not following instructions and following a step-by-step guide, but each scene is more of a single-screen vignette where you perform a specific action and then there is a transition and you move onto another step. Not necessarily the next step, just another step. You go from screwing on a single hinge to playing with the bolts before being visually scolded by a creepy motherly hand.
So I started the game on the Steam Deck and sat at the screen following the titles for about 20 seconds before realizing that I could actually do something and that something was to turn on the lights. I first started by using the right trackpad and thinking I could use the R-Trigger, but instead, I had to use the A-button to select things. Only on my fourth attempt (more on that in a bit) did I realize that I could use the left joystick to move around the cursor which was a huge relief because needing to use the same finger (in this case, my right thumb) to move the cursor and press the selecting button did not feel good.
Fourth attempt, yes. Actually, this ended up being five total attempts at playing Miniatures on the Steam Deck and it all came down to a single screen that refused to work for whatever reason. On the fifth task, a handle is placed near the center of the screen. When the cursor turns black over the handle and I click it, two opposing hands grab either side of the handle. Now, depending on which attempt I am referring to, different things would happen, although both were in the same vein. The first thing that happened was that the cursor turned black when it was over the bottom left hand, but nothing happened when I clicked the hand. So I tried rapidly clicking the hand, but still nothing happened. After a few minutes of more nothing happening, I exited back to the main menu and then restarted the game from the beginning. The second time, the cursor was black regardless of where it was on the screen. The same thing happened the third time and that was the last time I played that first night. The next night, after having posted on the discussion board (thanks Vasokolbaso), I tried and the cursor was white regardless of where it was on the screen, and again, nothing happened regardless of where I clicked. My fifth attempt was on my laptop to see if it was a problem with the game or just a problem with the Steam Deck. That time I was able to progress, successfully breaking the handle, and ended up "finishing" whatever the piece of furniture our family was assembling.
I genuinely don't know if there is additional content for this one particular furniture project. Still, the empty spaces in the box at the beginning of the game as well as the description on Steam say that there are "four graphical adventures" and this one felt pretty complete. I also wonder if the glitch that I experienced was somehow a "me" issue and not one experienced by other Steam Deck users, but as far as I know from the discussion pages, I might be the only one? I also don't know what the price point would be for this kind of game if this is 25% of what will eventually be offered and as it is, I can't imagine that there will be a whole lot of replay value apart from showing it to other people and watching them experience this fun and weird game. Experience. Thing. It's definitely my type of wind-down game where I just want to experience something with minimal effort after something more taxing.
~JWfW/JDub/The Faceplanman/Jaconian
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