India-based indie game developer Pyrodactyl, maker of offbeat RPGs like Unrest and A. Typical RPG, released Will Fight for Food on April 22. Will Fight for Food, also known as Will Fight for Food: Super Actual Sellout: Game of the Hour, is a self-described comedic role-playing brawler where you can either use fists of fury to “punch people into submission” or words of wisdom to “talk them through a ridiculously complex conversation system.” I opted for the punch now, talk later approach.
In Will Fight for Food you play as Jared Casey Dent, a disgraced wrestler in a down-and-out bloodstained middle American town. You have to climb the social ladder from “disgraced wrestler to disgraced wrestler who dismantles the sinister plans of Whateville Fighting Federation” and set Jared’s life straight using your own home blend of: brutal violence; Jared’s waver, hamfisted brand of subtle persuasion; side questing for loose change; and just doing stuff for the hell of it. Complete each scenario by talking to or beating up NPCs, or non-player characters.
Every RPG has NPCs you find annoying. In this one, you can beat them up.
The game is equipped with a detailed conversation system that I didn’t care much for in terms of wasting my time with pointless back-and-forth banter. I understand dialogue in games, especially RPGs or choose-your-own-adventure games, but if the game advertises a nonlinear plot to begin with, what’s the point? I spammed “Enter” and didn’t bother reading most of it so I could waste more time throwing a dozen punches and kicks to down individual NPCs.
The mechanics of the game are that of a basic side-scroller, beat-em-up, button masher with simple controls and equally simple animations. The fighting animations are about as dynamic as an early-2000s Flash game, and in my opinion, the lack of variety or ability to chain combos exponentially detracts from the initial allure to beat up NPCs.
The writing and humor were also a bit lackluster. See the developer-provided screenshots below for a glimpse of both. Part of me thinks the dialogue merely exists for the pure gratification of beating NPCs up in lieu of sitting through lengthy conversations that are often not even necessary to incite in the first place. The highlighted “ridiculously complicated conversation system” is what turned me off from wanting to complete this game.
In the end, Will Fight for Food is the type of game meant for quick doses of mindlessly simple gameplay and flat, offbeat humor. Although to be honest, this game wouldn’t be my first choice for either; I’d rather play a better-executed free mobile game than pay money for and sit at my computer to play this. I was afforded a key from the developer and couldn’t play more than 5 minutes at a time before getting bored or irritated.
Don’t take my word for it, though. Agree or disagree? Share your thoughts on Will Fight for Food in the comments.
If this type of indie game piques your interest, it’s available on Steam for the -17 % reduced price of $4.97 USD. Below is the game’s announcement trailer, courtesy of Pyrodactyl.