Happy Game

Happy Game is a dark surrealist adventure from Amanita Design that seemingly starts out as a cheerful childhood dream before quickly plunging into a disturbing nightmare full of bizarre creatures and unpleasant imagery. The player moves through a dreamlike landscape made up of grotesque, often disturbingly overgrown heads, teeth and other bodily motifs, solving simple point-and-click puzzles that allow progress through this strange world. The interactions are deliberately simple and direct, so all of the player's attention is focused on what's currently happening on screen rather than on mechanical complexity. Transitions between individual scenes are smooth and often unpredictable, so the player is never sure what strange scene will appear around the next corner.

The contrast between the seemingly playful, colorful graphics and their genuinely nerve-wracking content is the game's main asset - Happy Game toys with the expectation that a game from a studio known mainly for contemplative titles like Machinarium or Samorost will again be pleasant, and instead offers an unpleasant, at times oppressive experience. The sound design and music deepen the sense of anxiety without the game reaching for a classic horror jumpscare - the tension is more atmospheric and psychological, built slowly through recurring motifs and deformed shapes. The short playtime, meanwhile, allows the entire unpleasant experience to be completed in one closed sitting, which only heightens the feeling of a dark dream from which the player eventually wakes up.

Happy Game divided players thanks to its uncompromising style and its willingness to go against the pleasant expectations Amanita Design had built up with its previous games. Even so, it is valued as a bold artistic experiment that shows a point-and-click adventure can also work as a tool for evoking genuinely strong and unpleasant emotions, and that even an established studio isn't afraid to abandon its own safe, beloved tone.

Why play it: If you're after a bold artistic experiment that goes against pleasant expectations, Happy Game proves that a point-and-click adventure can evoke genuinely unpleasant emotions too.