TOY BOX

would've been a cute horror game if it didn't rely on negative stereotyping for one of the characters, and didn't make the mysterious they/them main villain the closest we get to having any trans characters in the game. [spoiler]the third "toy" you encounter is a caricature of a sexually violent kinkster who masochistically sexually harasses the inspector and cynically uses terms like "kinkshaming" and "safe space" to deflect from his violations of others' consent. of course some people like this exist in real life, but when there aren't any other characters who express kink in consensual ways or sexually harm others in normative ways to balance things out, it just perpetuates the stereotype that sexual deviance is intrinsically linked to sexual violence.[/spoiler]

This game was such a surprise. I'd say a surprising delight, but it is NOT meant to be delightful. Yet it is such a unique item which scratches a very specific sort of narrative and aesthetic itch.

VERY lore heavy for such a simple game. A lot of parts that'll make you want to *insert imaginary violent scenario* the "Grand Toy Maker" once you get into it.

A fun, dark, short story game. All for the price of free! What's not to love? The sound design is stellar and the stories dark and moving. Settings also have a nice accessibility feature that cuts out minigames (thank god because I can't click fast enough on them).

I will mention that I only got the very basic routine ending and haven't done the others. Highlights of this game are the art and atmosphere, which I quite liked, along with the story (both for each toy as well as for our protagonist's, as much as u get from the routine end). The idea of the story progression is quite unique and interesting (breaking the toys to find out more about them and deciding if to salvage or destroy), it plays very well on the judge, jury, exectioner moral dilema, the value of a life and nature of afterlife. I will say that the downsides are the simplicity of the 'minigames' to break the toys if you can call them that. They still serve their role as an unconfortable transition between the states of the toys (if very little), but they require so little interaction that they barely feel necessary. Another wonky aspect is the camera movement to look around the rooms, it feels at times very unresponsive and slow with the mouse. The routine ending was quite weirdly executed as well, I am left with the impression we could potentially run and hide (and in the inspection room we saw some potential places), but I just get a black screen after with sounds of runnin…

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