Kids (video game)

Kids

Steam - World - Title card.

Developer Playables Publisher Playables Published 2019-05-28 Platforms Android, iOS, Linux, Macintosh, Windows Genres Casual, Passive puzzle, Puzzle Themes Surreal Distribution Commercial

Kids is a casual puzzle video game developed and published by Playables on 2019-05-28 for Android, iOS, Linux, Macintosh, and Windows. The game centers around a crowd of white featureless "kids" whose movements you are able to influence to some degree. In each scene you have to get them to do something like fall into a pit, clap their hands, or make their way through intestines.

Personal

Own?	Yes. On itch.io and Steam.
Won?	Yes.
Finished	2020-06-29.

I bought this game as part of the Bundle For Racial Justice and Equality. It looked fairly interesting from the trailer, so I installed it and beat it in about 15 minutes. It was quite interesting.

Review

4	5	5	4	1

Best Version: Windows

— This section contains spoilers! —

Good

• The game is nicely weird. For example, you get to poop the kids out of a sphincter.
• The little white "kids" are well-drawn and smoothly animated.
• The ambient sound fits the surreal game and the spoken dialogue sounds good.
• There is something oddly satisfying about all the footsteps stomping around and the hands clapping in order.

Bad

• Although there are over a dozen scenes, many of them are just rehashes of existing puzzles with tiny variations. The puzzles aren't very taxing either, so it's less a puzzle game and more of a artistic toy.

Ugly

• With game play topping out at about 15 minutes, and much of it just being variations on a theme, there just isn't enough enjoyment to be had.

Media

Images

• 

  Steam title card.

• 

  Icon.

Videos

Trailer.

Longplay - Windows.

Representation

Strong female character?	Fail	No gender is depicted in the "kids."
Bechdel test?	Fail	There are no clear women.
Strong person of color character?	Fail	None of the characters have a race, but they are all drawn white.
Queer character?	Fail	There are no clear queer characters.

Links