PC Review: 'Kudos'

Indy games. Absolutely refreshing and interesting, that's what they are. Well, that, and sometimes flawed, but surely not more mindless copies of horribly boring and deathly uninteresting RTS or FPSs. Take Kudos for example. It's 100% indy, it's smart and it's one of those games you wouldn't understand how it plays, unless you actually tried it out, and that's a quality I love.

Then again Kudos isn't just quirky. It's a bloody great game. A game that managed to make the TOP 10 indy games list of Game Tunnel, while also earning a 7/10 (!) from the illustrious Eurogamer site and a rather unique "I really, really like it, even though it depresses the hell out of me sometimes / 10" from Angry-Gamer. Then again (yes, again!) this is the only game that happily informs you -a mere 20 seconds after installation- that you "had a bad day at work today, which will not help your mood. Today, after bills and tax, you earned 15,88$". Nice.

It's also a life simulator, in case you were wondering, and it's pretty much turn-based. More Jones in the Fast Lane or Alter Ego than The Sims really, as each day consists of two turns and you (well the in-game you) can do one thing each turn, be it working, shopping, socializing, drinking, studying, reading or anything else you'd fancy. There are quite literally hundreds of options. And believe me, you'll try to explore them all. Kudos is really addictive. REALLY addictive. Adding insult to injury it's also constantly reminding you how miserably your -actual and very real- life is being managed, especially while playing the addictive Kudos. Oh, and you can't actually lead the life of Stalin or Cicciolina. Damn!

The eye-candy side of the game is definitely simple, but -face it- that's also the case with Football Manager, and no one complained. Still, the graphics are simple, the few animations quite excellent (love the flies really -almost thought they were real for a moment) and the sound of the whole thing quite decent. Have a look at this lovely gameplay video/trailer and you'll figure quite a few things out:

That's an (eight) out of (ten). And you should really try it. At least for a while. You'll definitely be hooked.

Download the Kudos demo
or get the full version

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