It all started with me making a cup of coffee before doing my daily rounds on Twitter. Now. I wouldn’t call myself a power user by any stretch of the imagination. But I make use of the scheduling feature and have between 8-16 feeds open in TweetDeck at any given time. And as such I’m bound to see one or two games that appeal to my senses throughout a day. And this particular day it was the game Where’s Samantha that stood out to me the most.
A game with style
The first thing that spoke to my woolly fashion senses was the art direction. You see. I have a penchant for stylistic indie games. And the last time I saw something similar was back in 2016 and 2018 when the Unravel games by Coldwood Interactive got released. So yeah, it was obvious I had to give this game a try. And I’m glad I did!
Stuck in the loop
Sure, it was the stitched burlap look that piqued my interest at first. But as it turned out Where’s Samantha has a pretty stellar voice actor bringing the storyline to life as well. I think I speak for both me and Yuri when I say: The voice actor did the storyline justice. But what I ended up liking even more was the classic game loop. And that was also the main reason I had a hard time putting the game down to write this review.
Everything has a purpose
Needless to say, maybe, Where’s Samantha isn’t an innovative game. Now, Let me stop you right there before you take that statement out of context and assume it to be a bad thing. You see. This game has no reason to be innovative. Yes, the game is filled to the brim with classic gameplay mechanics. But everything in the game has its place and purpose. And Respect Studios did a real good job stitching it all together.
A casual experience
And while on the subject of stitching things together. I’ve never been especially good at puzzles. And more often than not I’ve become frustrated at games for taking the puzzle aspect too far. But that wasn’t the case with Where’s Samantha. I actually managed to play 1/3 of the game before I asked myself how many levels I’ve played. So, with that in mind. If you’re looking for a difficult game, Where’s Samantha isn’t it. It is however a perfect game for both young and old who wants a casual gaming experience without breaking the bank.
Screw caps and thimbles
Remember that cup of coffee I mentioned 2 minutes and 55 seconds ago? Well. I had a far better experience with Where’s Samantha. The fact is this game ran extremely well on my system. It ran so well I didn’t even care about the lackluster settings page. I only bring this up because I know it will be an issue for some people. But if you feel that you want an out-of-body experience and can live without the fancy screw caps and thimbles an extensive settings page would provide, well, consider buying the game!
Game details
Name: Where’s Samantha
Genre: Platformer, Puzzle
Developer: Respect Studios
Publisher: ROKiT Games
Release: March 25, 2021
Platform: Steam
Price: $12.99, €10.79, £10.29
Disclaimer: Where’s Samantha was provided to me by the developer Respect Studios for review.
