Strange Scaffold, the developer behind El Paso, Elsewhere and Life Eater, has announced their next game, Clickolding, which I donāt want to write out in its stylized, all-caps format around my mother. Although, I donāt think sheād get the reference.
Clickolding bills itself as an āincremental narrativeā game. You play as someone holding a tally counter. A strange person wants to see you click it. Yeah, click it. Click it harder. Just like that. Iām guessing that as you click, the story advances. Judging by the trailer, the person pulls out a pistol coercively, but some of the screenshots also suggest a cash reward if youāre able to reset the counter.
Beyond simply clicking, the press release promises that there will be āenvironmental puzzles and managing a tenuous and uncertain relationship with an uncanny host.ā
Iām not really certain how in-depth I should go in explaining the subject matter. Itās hard to be certain how facetious Clickolding is, though it seems clear that itās trying to plunge into the darker side of the subject matter. It will supposedly feature an āuncomfortable and shifting atmosphere.ā
Approaching what could potentially be a sensitive and disturbing topic reminds me of Strange Scaffoldās Life Eater. With that game, I felt that its handling of the subject wound up blunting the message. However, in that case, it was mostly that the gameplay did not support the narrative, whereas here, the actual game part of the game is so simple that it doesnāt seem like it could even bend that way.
We wonāt have to wait long to find out. Clickolding is set to release on July 16, 2024 on PC.
