Burly Men at Sea

Burly Men at Sea is a lesson in simple elegance and whimsical storytelling. Almost more of an experience than a game, it's intended to be enjoyed, soaked in, rather than beaten. This short yet fantastic tittle is a fantastic addition to the Switch lineup, and a must-play for everyone's inner child.

I feel like I’m misleading readers by using the word game or play because really, this is closer to a visual novel or a comic book in motion. I created bonds with those on the screen, I laughed, I gasped in shock and I missed the sense of the game when I wasn’t within the world. Burly Men at Sea is very much a folktale exploration of the world and relationships that surround us.

Burly Men at Sea is a charming little adventure that gamers of any age will enjoy. The limited interactivity may put off some people, but this is an adventure full of whimsy and humour that I can fully recommend.

While it might not offer that much in terms of player agency, Burly Men at Sea more than makes up for it with buckets of charm, wit and affable Scandinavian storytelling. Its playtime sessions are usually short, but with each playthrough recorded like a tome on your virtual shelf, there’s plenty of new characters and encounters to be discovered as you plot many a memory on your very own map.

Burly Men at Sea is a title with a minimalist design in which you choose your actions as they trigger small tales based on Scandinavian folklore starring three bearded brothers.

The game seems to be going for a the journey is the reward theme, but watching the same two endings again and again quickly grows tedious and diminishes what came before it. Finding an untrodden path isn’t exciting anymore when you know exactly where it leads. The story, however charmingly presented, lost its grip on me once I became aware each new situation I found myself in would have no payoff.

Burly Men at Sea is a very quaint and surprisingly enjoyable twist on the point-and-click genre, with lovely visuals, an impressive-and-quirky soundtrack, and more replayability than first thought. However, saying that, the whole experience can be breezed through in an hour or two, and it lacks enough real meat to be it a truly satisfying dish, especially given this is the highest priced version on the market right now.

So like this indie game is super wholesome, and hecka interesting. While I personally don't like the title as it feels very bland, the overall simplistic style of the art reinforces a lot of the game itself. This is a game about going a little adventure, and making choices to get different endings. It's a lot like the Stanley Parable, but far more wholesome and genuine. If you like choose your own adventure games, then I strongly suggest you give this one a look as it's rather short, and kinda an easy platinum. It's super quirky and fun with all the noises that are made each turn.

The Credits Rolled Before I Could Even Understand What the Game Was AboutI don’t mind short games or ones with limited interactivity, but this particular game takes that formula a bit too far. The act of interacting with it felt almost meaningless, and I couldn’t help but feel disconnected from what was happening.While I do appreciate the simplicity of the art style, some scenes—like the one with the island and the giant—are so convoluted that it's hard to discern what's going on. The game also features three characters, but it doesn’t really matter because they’re essentially just one asset. There’s nothing about them that stands out, and none of them have enough depth to justify their presence in the game. Why bother creating three characters if none of them are developed enough to make a difference?The only redeeming quality I can give the game is that some of its sound effects are actually funny, but that’s where the positives end. Ultimately, I’d advise you to avoid this game. It’s a waste of time, and I’m sure you can find something far more creative and enjoyable to do with just 30 minutes of your life.

Burly Men at Sea is a point-and-click choose-your-own-adventure game. It has gorgeous, stylish graphics that I wouldn't mind hanging to my sitting room walls, a nice core idea, and beautifully quirky sound effects. That's where the good of it ends. Burly Men is just barely interactive enough to call itself a "game". In some sequences, you're left wondering whether your commands are having any effect on the game at all. This lack of interactivity wouldn't be so damning if Burly Men worked as a piece of fiction–but for me, it doesn't. The humour falls flat more often than not, and the branching story is just a series of disjointed encounters without a narrative arc. Worse of all, the text that accompanies the beautiful images is overwritten and dense with adverbs. All of those shortcomings would make for a mediocre game. What convinced me to give it a very low score, however, are the terrible controls on the Switch. In some scenes, the game just won't do what it's asked for. Combined with the limited interactivity, that makes for a very frustrating experience. There was one sequence in particular (the "green landmass" scene) where even after knowing what to do, I just couldn't make it work with the touch screen, which is supposed to be the main mode of interaction with the game. The half-baked controls give me the suspicion that this game was converted in a hurry to jump on the Switch bandwagon, and the authors didn't even care to play through the conversion to test it with the different modes of control. For a game that costs much more on the Switch than it does on other platforms, that's a lack of respect for your buyers.

This is not a game. It is total garbage and a complete and utter waste of humanity's time. Small children and easily entertained adults might enjoy it's minimalist artstyle. It has no gameplay to speak of. You can sort-of make choices, but they only have two outcomes and all lead to the same place within minutes. Its events have no wit, no charm, no humor. You spend more time waiting than playing or even reading. The endings, which are all the same, give you a code to go to their website to buy a book version of the crap you just played which is more expensive than the game itself. It's dull, useless, and morally bankrupt. Oh and there is a Chinese ethnic slur in it. There was no reason for that to be there. They could have chosen literally any other sound effect to use and they did not. They didn't care about anything in this product. They don't respect your time and it provides no fun nor even a hint of an engaging experience. Do not waste your time even looking at Burly Men at Sea.