Tech Olive

Here to save us from the familiar, the standard, and the expected is „Dinner Date”. Promising a whole new and unique gameplay experience, just how well does this new indie project do the job? Does it exceed expectations or has the meal been spoiled?

Taking control of the main protagonist Julian Luxemburg’s subconscious, you’re rather restricted in what you can actually do. The game is effectively an interactive cutscene that has you pressing the corresponding key to a bubble that shows on the screen. It’s a very difficult mechanic to explain, and even harder to understand without trying it out first-hand. From just reading the details, it seems the game would be quite boring and dry, offering very little entertainment value, but it’s best to look at „Dinner Date” not as a game, but a story. A nice and even immersing experience that lets you become another person through their innermost thoughts and feelings, assuming you’ll let it, of course.

Though the visuals are slightly lacking and often come off as washed out and deprived in definition, „Dinner Date” tells its story very well through the use of a one-sided internal narrative. The game creates a very interesting spectator view of the degradation that happens to ones mood and mindset when stood up on a date. Unfortunately, there’s little “game” to be had in that story. It’s best to think of „Dinner Date” as an interactive novel of sorts. By no means is this a bad thing, it just means that the game itself will only appeal to a small demographic of gamers.

Perhaps if the game experience changed each time you played or if your actions affected the overall outcome of the character’s night, it could be something much greater and would possibly be worth your time and money, but as it stands it doesn’t offer a lot of replay value. It’s certainly a game for those that crave a well-crafted story arch above all else, even at the cost of other aspects. In any case, it’s a very unique experience and that is a rarity in the gaming industry.

Score: 6 Olives