Recent reviews by BrickInTheHead

i tried playing dwarf fortress classic a couple years back and the lack of a GUI stopped me from getting into it.

this version is great for those who weren't able to get over the hurdle of learning the visual language of the classic version. there are still bits that are clunky, but that clunkyness comes from complexity. the emergent storytelling is beautiful and hilarious. from parrots stealing my stuff, to dwarf babies being constantly pissed off little maniacs, to the absolutely gratuitous depictions of my dwarf bashing a coyote to bits with his crossbow after he ran out of ammo and then flinging it by the big toe, resulting in hilarious amounts of gore, this game is just the gift that keeps on giving. can't wait to get deeper into it.

i'm an absolute newb to this game and have already sunk in a ton of time in like, 2 days. it's great.

Will recommend with caution. When you buy this you're paying for a simple cutesy party game, nothing more. It achieves well on that - it's pretty fun. But it's a very, very shallow game, mechanically speaking. I guess the way I'd describe this game is that while you're "playing" it, it almost really feels like you're just watching it happen while you hit A. Playing this game is almost like watching 4 people play on slot machines, and every now and then a wacky casino staffer pops by and gives free money to one of the players for a random reason.

While there are choices to be made as you play, ultimately luck is the primary driving force of the game. That makes for a fun, mindless experience, where you just enjoy (and learn to live with) what happens. The reason I say that is that there's really only one good choice to make on any given turn: rush the goal. Getting the goal gives you incredible benefits and a very good chance to severely disadvantage the person furthest from the goal.

Played a 5 year game with my partner and 2 CPU players. It was a few hours. It was cute to make our characters and play through some of the trademark style japanese wackiness. But, in essence, every turn was the same thing: roll dice, rush the goal, grab property when close to the goal and trying to land on it, and dump bad monsters on other players whenever possible.

With respect to investing in properties, it might be possible that playing this game on some wild, 50 year timespan or something like that opens up new strategic aspects to it. In order to monopolize certain cities you need to be able to purchase properties worth billions, which raises the question as to what gameplay feels that far down the line. With the monsters rampaging through various cities every now and then, it'd likely become much more important to actually kill them. But as a player that put in 4 hours with a partner and 2 CPU players, I really don't see the incentive to play this game EVEN LONGER to get there. Too much of it is just related to chance and it doesn't feel like there's meaningful choices to be made. It just feels like you're watching a gameshow.

And that's why I would still cautiously recommend this game. It's fun for the same reason that something like Fall Guys is fun. You customize a character and play a basic, mindless, cutesy game with a fun aesthetic. Don't come in expecting complexity. If it's there, it's hidden behind too many layers of luck to be noticeable.

Every now and then a game comes out that's basically perfect. One that's got limited and tight mechanics and just devotes everything it's got to making those few things as fun as possible. Ape Out is one of those games. What you see is what you get. And what you get is damn awesome. Stylish, simple, and fun.