🧠 OUT OF THE BOX

🧠 OUT OF THE BOX

Liz

Rating this game a 6.5/10

This game is very reminiscent of Paper's Pleases Game play however, it is not as complex. The story is engaging enough and the characters are great (Liz, Torres and Warren are intriguing characters).

However that's all I can really say about this game. I would've loved to see more dialogue options, Have more variety for game play, just something to spice things up as it can get very repetitive. This is just something to bring up as of my 2nd play thru I was breezing thru the levels with ease. Overall it's a nice little indie game to pick up.

It's pretty good. I've seen people compare it to the game "Papers, Please!", which is a game I haven't played, but I'll take their word for it.

Best part is definitely the soundtrack. It's mostly punk-rock, with a little bit of techno sprinkled in. Unfortunately, there isn't really a way to listen to a high-quality version of the soundtrack without listening to the tracks in-game, so that was a bummer.

Only problem I can see is that the art-style doesn't really match the tone, and not in a "this-game-looks-cute-but-is-secretly-scary!"-kinda way, but in a genuinely jarring kinda way. I didn't really mind it at all, but I can see it being a turn-off for some people.

All-in-all, good game. Would recommend.

This is a game you will enjoy if you liked Papers, Please. Frankly, I don't have any critique to give, apart from the times when a nigth just can't go well (since most people may just now be eligible to enter). All in all, it's a fun and interesting game! I recommend it!

Now let me start by saying that I absolutely adore the artstyle (ever since Randal's monday), and while OUT OF THE BOX obviously is going into a different direction gameplay-wise, it's still simply a good looking game.
The objective is theoretcally quite simple - to only let people into the club who are legally allowed to - but in practice it's really harder than it sounds, with time limits, bills to pay, guests that try to bribe you etc..
The story is quite well thought out and your decisions affect the characters in the long run. There's four different endings plus some other achievements to unlock, which adds quite a bite of replay value. Some seem to be bugged though, so I don't know if it's really possible to achieve 100% at the moment.

All in all, a solid 8/10.

Similar to Papers Please (in fact the achievement with that name made me laugh) in gameplay but with a much more engaging story. You're a bouncer at a nightclub deciding which people can and cannot enter the club while making some other story altering choice in the between cutscenes.

The characters feel fairly well-rounded, the art style is gorgeous, and the multiple endings part keeps you coming back for more than one playthrough.

There are several typos in the cutscenes between work shifts though from what I've gathered of a quick google search the developers are ESL [seems their first language may be Spanish?] so they could do with perhaps getting a primarily English speaking proofreader for the conversational dialogue, but otherwise I have no complaints with the game mechanics and that's just a nitpick in the grand scheme of an otherwise great game.

I purchased copies of the games for both of my partners because of how much I enjoyed it.

I would love to see more content from these developers, definitely support them!

A little job simulator game. Graphics are cool, althougth it is focused in the mechanics and concept, based on player`s memory, observation and calculation skills. As a simulator is quite realistic, because it fits to recreate a relatively simple job like a night club doorman. The Player have some expendings ( rent, gimnasium, medicines... ) and his hability to get money strongly depends on quick decissions and a fast coordination of finger and eyes, because only can do a limited number of actions each night - but its a bit cheater: some nights the most customers are undesirable. The mechanics, screens and characters are so basic that this product perfectly could have been made in the 90's end of 20th century. The gameplay is fun and challenging throught as plot advance with new situtations. Obviously is based on "Papers Please", but this one is much better in all ways. Sadly this one is short too - about less of 10 hours and 50% achievements to reach the better final - and lacks of replayability, because the concept can't support prolongate sessions. Its story is not recommedable for children and teenagers. Try to buy in bundles or special sales.

Great papers please like game, you're the bouncer of a night club and you have to choose who is allowed to enter. I found the gameplay to be repetitive at times and I just wanted to continue with the story but overall I'd say it's worth it.

Interesting game =) Even though "OUT OF THE BOX" was obviously created under the influence of "Papers Please" and "Family guy", this lil game has its own unique gameplay and game design.

So what can OUT OF THE BOX offer to you?

Overall a fun game. A lot of clicking (you are basically just checking IDs). There is a bit of a story component, which helps tie the game together, and there are important choices to make and so the story helps smooth over the fact that some mechanics are a little tedious since you are basically doing roughly the same task (check ID and either let people into the club or tell them to leave). I think the game ended at just the right time. Overall, I enjoyed it.

It's basically Paper's Please but with being a bouncer. Though unlike lot of similar games, I don't know if there is ending for "not rebelling against your employee at all" since achievements suggest endings are mostly "bad, mediocre, average or good one". Either way, short and nice story.

The comic factor is what made me wishlist this one until I picked it up on sale. Definitely repetitive gameplay in a Papers Please sort of way, but it's a fun title.

Do me a favor, do it, do it.

What's in the box

It's a little bit like Papers please, but with a club. The background story is very good with different endings. Sometimes it's a bit depressing when there are only fakes and you can't let people in the club and you get the message, that you are supposed to let more people in, but you can't because every single one is a fake...
Once you've played this a litte and you can work with the hotkeys it's a bit easy, but still very good. I would like to have a successor or an update with an endless mode. I even would pay a bit for a DLC.

i experienced some gameplay breaking bugs... several times, making me replay lots of days again.

some mechanics become really boring after playing lots of days and sometimes you get to pick some choices which end in "game over" making you replay days again.
got the bad ending and just didn't feel like replaying the game at all.

it's basically like the game "Papers, Please" (which i enjoyed) but with better art style, BUT worse gameplay (and annoying bugs)

Some great ideas and a cool story, can't say I haven't enjoyed some of the 6 hours spent on the game. But overall feeling at the end is frustation due to a few issues imo:

- several time ran into a bug where the text screen freezes and there is no choice but to reset the level
- gameplay quickly gets too repetitive, also making levels too easy at some point
- a certain lack of good sense sometimes, some discrepancies on documents you have to click on to avoid a penalty, some you don't (?). Almost every level you see regular customers trying to get in, if I remember it right there is one that is of age to enter the club but one day she decides to put a sticker on her id card to fake her age? Doesn't make any sense.

Also, really not a point since achievements are not important but there is one where you need to get kicked 10 times? Isn't the point of the game being a good bouncer and not getting kicked in the face?

If developers read these lines I hope they won't find it too harsh, I know it is an indie game and it requires a lot of work and efforts. The game clearly comes from a good place and has tons of qualities other than the few frustations mentioned above.

Best wishes for future projects.

Sincerely,

Frok

.The story is good and the multi ending games are something i like very much but the gameplay is sooo repetitive.I can only play 1 hour or so in a day and get bored.If you have money to spare you might as well try it but dont expect much.

Its like papers please with much more enjoyable story and graphics. Also the data you review doesn't ever become the overwhelming wall of digging that papers please did, instead you are more focused on churning through people quickly as possible. The story was good as well. Small characters and big characters both can die, which helps keep your decisions weighty. There are hot keys for most major commands. I didn't figure that out right away and the game was much more difficult than I think was intended. Once I got the hotkeys down it kinda went the other direction of being a little to easy but the story made up for it and still presented hard choices all the way through. Great game all in all. Perfect for a weekend marathon play through.

It really is a shame that this game doesn't seem to be getting much attention. I think it is quite a hidden gem.

I really like the art style. All the character sprites just ooze personality. The only thing that bothers me a bit is that the idle animations in some cutscenes look a bit exaggerated, with some characters constantly headbanging for no reason. Less animation would have been more here. But I am willing to overlook that minor flaw because I just enjoy the style so much. Also, don't let the cutesy look fool you. There are some really brutal scenes in this game.

The game mechanics heavily rip o... I mean take inspiration from the great Papers Please. But this game gives you fewer details to worry about. So anyone who liked the general idea of PP but got too overwhelmed by the complexity of later levels will enjoy this slightly less mentally taxing approach to the "people vetting" genre. The game still feels challenging, though.

The story is a typical gangster drama plot where you have to decide between staying loyal to your criminal boss or turning him in. But the characters have some surprising hidden depths, making the plot an enjoyable experience.

I should also point out a few quality-of-life issues: The game language at first launch defaults to Spanish for some reason (hint: pick the default language either from the Steam settings or the system locale and if both fail, just ask the user), unskipable intro video, unskipable scene transitions, the day select screen is annoying to navigate, a few glitches here and there (like dialogs getting stuck in an infinite loop). But these are all minor problems. There is just one game design issue which really bothers me: the ultra-simplistic combat mechanic where you just press F once to not die.

In the end this game might not be for everyone, but I definitely enjoyed it.

A really good game! Engaging, fun, thrilling... it was worth the wait until the release!

Although I must warn you that "violence" tag is really +18 stuff, I found myself more than once thinking "oh, no, sh*t!"

"Papers Please" where you play the role of a club bouncer. Expect exactly similar concept: checking various documents and tickets, watching out for fakes, checking if people themselves look the profile or not. Rules that get more complex over time, special events that alter or add unusual rules on specific days, etc. Managing your expenses to pay for rent, meds, stuff, aswell as child support for your kid. The story progression is immersive and detailed too. Just like in Papers Please, there is an opportunity to work with various factions, where your choices will lead to multiple possible endings.

The game executes all of those concepts on point, so if you liked Papers, its a guarantee that you will like this one aswell.