[su_list icon=”icon: info-circle”]
- Developer: Sundae Month
- Publisher: Excalibur Games
- Genre: Adventure, Indie, RPG, Early Access
- Release Date: 23 February 2017
- Platforms: Windows
- Supplied By: Excalibur Games
[/su_list]
Sometimes games are there to make you smile, and that’s exactly what Dad Quest does. With its brilliant, and at times dry, humour it’s a game that doesn’t take itself too seriously.
You play as a dad (shock, horror!) that is put through a few easy trials and then simply given a child to take care of. This child is a small child, about 6/7 I would say, and at the perfect age for batting around like a baseball bat and throwing long distances like a football. No, seriously. You use this child as your weapon to take out enemies. As someone who personally doesn’t get along with small children, I love it!
The 8-bit style graphics of the game lend themselves perfectly to the overall feel, which is clearly indie comedy style. The design is simple, which allows the humour in the narrative to come through a lot clearer than if you were being distracted by fancy graphics and super-fast cut scenes. Music wise I wouldn’t really call it inspiring, it’s great game music but it’s not the type of music that I would listen to outside of the game. It’s simple, easy to play along to and doesn’t distract from the game play.
The narrative of this game is perfectly on point, it’s not very often that I find a game that makes me laugh out loud. But this one had me giggling consistently at the bad puns, the great timing and the comedy genius of the writing style. For a game called Dad Quest it definitely has some Dad humour in it. I’m not a Dad myself but I can appreciate that any Dad who plays this game will get the “in” jokes that are everywhere within this game.
The game play is slightly flawed in places. For example the jumping mechanic uses the space bar rather than simply pressing up. This has lead me to die on several occasions as I’m running away from monsters and have pressed the up key instead of space bar, which then involves me running face first into a wall and then the monster quickly approaching and munching on my health bar.
The combat system is simple enough, left click to swing your child, right click to throw your child. I know that sounds morbid and horrible, but only if it was better graphics! Because of the 8 bit nature of the graphics the kid literally bounces around like a little football when your throw them. Obviously this game should come with a warning that the game is fantasy and these stunts should not be performed in real life but I don’t think anyone is that silly. It’s easy to pick up and simple to use.
The story is as follows, you are Dad number 63 (or something like that) who has been selected by a laboratory to go through some tests to ensure that you are good enough to be a Dad. Eventually, after jumping over some water and entering your name onto a keypad, you’re qualified and are given your child. You can choose between a boy or a girl (a luxury that is not possible in real life) and can even name your child to keep that connection alive between you two. After traversing here there and everywhere around the lab you are then transported to an island. Don’t ask, even I don’t know. And at this point things started becoming a little more confusing and the story started to lose its way a bit. I’m unsure of where the story goes after you enter the desert after entering a library (see? I told you it was confused) but I’m pretty sure that it’s going deeper into a rabbit hole I won’t be able to get out of.
Put aside it’s few flaws and Dad Quest is a beautifully simple game with great humour, it’s a game that could be played by anyone and everyone. Each scene has different challenges and I’m sure that the storyline will be going down some weird route which will keep me entertained for hours. If you are a YouTuber, I can guarantee this will get you some laughs, if you’re a casual gamer it will provide you with hours of giggles and if you’re a hard-core gamer it will give you a welcome relief from all of the seriousness in your life.
