Splinter Cell but cute: indie stealth game about an asocial giraffe has a free demo on Steam

Stealth games challenge the player to avoid detection. This lends itself well to games where you play as an assassin, or maybe games where you are underpowered compared to your opponents. But I had never seen a developer take the genre in the direction of a mundane week in the city. That’s where Quail Button LLC’s newly announced A Week in the Life of Asocial Giraffe comes in. Sometimes, being anti-social can feel a lot like Splinter Cell or Metal Gear, but not everyone realizes that the consequences of being spotted can be just as dire.

Splinter Cell but cute: A Week in the Life of Asocial Giraffe has a free demo

This cute new game was announced last week during the Six One Indie showcase and released a free demo on Steam the same day. The premise is simple. You are a giraffe, a creature that stands out in a city full of humans, but your head will explode if you talk to anyone. It looks like there is a clever mechanic where the giraffe’s neck acts like a tension meter, filling up red to warn the player that this social situation is far too much to handle.

As the asocial giraffe, your goals are mundane. Go to the grocery store, visit the laundromat, or pick up a new plant. But Quail Button turns these daily tasks into moments of severe tension. Sure, you’re not saving the world from nuclear disaster, or fighting off an evil organization of assassins, or anything like that, but that doesn’t mean the stakes aren’t still high.

Related:„Games made in 2 years are more exciting than games made in 8 years.” According to indie game dev, the belief that time defines the project's quality is wrong

Normally, it might seem like an easy task to avoid people. Most people I encounter in the city are not interested in talking to strangers. But this indie game is set in a city that was voted the world’s friendliest city. It’s easy to tell from the game’s trailer and screenshots. Every character you meet is smiling widely and ready to jump into conversation. For an asocial giraffe, it’s one of the most dangerous locations.

While this is a cartoonish 2D point-and-click adventure, rather than an action shooter, I look forward to the tense stealth puzzles, random encounters, and clever animations. At one moment in the trailer, the giraffe is hiding behind a refrigerator in the grocery store, grabbing a drink as people by. Another moment shows the giraffe attempting to get service at a desk by ringing a bell, but surely the sound will attract a nearby friendly NPC. I’m very curious how the mechanics will play out. Thankfully, I won’t have to wait until the game comes out, since there is a free demo available now on Steam.

As a cute, animated game, maybe it’s just because I grew up watching Saturday morning cartoons, but I wonder if there will be a character arc throughout the game. Will the giraffe learn to be more social? Maybe the giraffe will come to with being friendly and accept that it’s tough to live in a world without friends? Perhaps the city's people will realize how unfriendly their friendliness can be in the wrong situation. There’s also the possibility that the giraffe continues living its asocial life, and we are just along for the experience. This could go so many ways, and I’m happy to be along for the ride. You can the free demo for A Week in the Life of Asocial Giraffe on Steam and add it to your wishlist to the creative developers behind this unique project. For now, we’ll have to wait for a future release date announcement.

• indie games
• stealth games
• point-and-click adventures