A Collection of Bad Moments Review

A Collection of Bad Moments is a puzzle adventure game developed by Sky Trail Ltd and hit Steam just a couple of days ago. I am lucky enough to lay my hands and eyes on this title and share my first impressions with you.

A Collection of Bad Moments includes four main mini puzzle games along with two hidden and bonus chapters. Every chapter tells a different story and puts you in extreme difficult situations. In order to beat the game and unlock the bonus chapters, you need to survive every chapter.

The thing I love about A Collection of Bad Moments is that every scenario is a brilliant idea which features well designed puzzles and every one of them tells a different story. The other thing is that you don’t need time to warm up to this game. The moment you start the game, you find yourself getting nervous right at that moment before even understand what is going on and already depressed about the situation you are in. Every situation you are in indeed a bad moment and you need to find a way out to save your life. Know that you are just a minute away from death once the game started. Well, maybe except the Beyond Green Lane scenario.

The four main chapters named as Prospector 9, Roof Escape, Beyond Green Lane and Sky Captain. Each chapter offers a different story which are not related to each other and each one of them requires you to survive the best bad moment of your life. Let us see:

Prospector 9 puts you in the shoes of a miner on an asteroid when a comet hits the planet you orbit. Sending a distress signal is your main mission, yet your oxygen level is dropping and you need to fix some antennas in order to send the signal. You need to find parts for repair, water and electrical power cells to synthesize oxygen and scan a relatively big map. Prospector 9 is a survival game as it is a puzzle game.

While playing the Roof Escape you are some kind of agent managed to escape with corporate secrets to a SkyCar platform, yet there are other agents right behind you. You need to figure a way out from the roof platform before they get you.

Beyond Green Lane is a totally different experience amongst them all. You wake up after you have laid dormant in hibernation for untold years and find yourself in a simulation.

Sky Captain puts you in the shoes of a captain of an airship and you find yourself in danger right after you take your first step.

I like the way how A Collection of Bad Moments draws you into this stories just in the blink of an eye. The stories are told with just a few sentences and rush runs through your veins. Every scenario is a brilliant idea when it comes to the story, yet these brilliant ideas were stained by some weird gameplay mechanics.

I still find it charming that every mini game has different gameplay mechanics. Some of them may require you to use a flashlight or throw objects and some don’t. This information will be given to you while you are choosing your preferred bad moment. Yet, it is hard to make them work like you wish.

Throwing and carrying objects around are also some of the bad moments of the game offers. Hitting something with the object you throw is hardly successful while carrying something always makes you doubt if you are still carrying it. It just disappears from your view and you feel like looking down and check if it is still with you. There is also the issue that once you throw an item, it is gone forever. Bye-bye the wrench which I needed the most. Bye-bye little rock which I just dropped in front of my feet.

Along with that, placing objects to where they belong is something you need to work on. Sometimes it fits right away even if you are not trying to fit it, sometimes you get sick of it and throw the object and watch it go where it belongs. Sometimes you find yourself falling even if you are sure that you are standing on something. This part of the game makes me wonder that if there is some kind of magic at work.

Apart from that, A Collection of Bad Moments does not offer video options which you need. The motion blur and brightness may make you feel dizzy from time to time. It took me some time to get used to the graphics of the game and I can’t shake the feeling that it could be much much better. These brilliant ideas deserve a much more beautiful environment and graphics with no doubt.

I should mention that once you exit the game before you finish the chapter, you have to start over. There is no save option and loading icon may stuck in the middle of your screen for a while.

When it comes to voice acting and environmental sounds, they are the most fitting. They are always in harmony with gameplay and empower the atmosphere of the game.

Beyond any doubt, I can say that I enjoyed the puzzles and liked the idea behind A Collection of Bad Memories, but I must say that the potential is still hidden somewhere. Graphics, visuals and controls may ruin your gameplay experience despite the beauty of the story or the idea. Luckily, they can be fixed and added. I would love to see this game evolve into its full potential with more bad moments involved.

Even though there are some down points, A Collection of Bad Moments offers a totally different gameplay experience from the adventure/puzzle games around with a low price. If you like what you read, you can go ahead and pay a visit to A Collection of Bad Moments’ Steam page

A Collection of Bad Moments was reviewed using a Steam key provided by the publisher.