Developed by Happy Snake, QT is an indie game that looks pretty basic visually but it actually offers a lot of content. QT is not a single game. Well, technically it is a single game but after you begin the game, you get to choose from 3 different and unique games. Each of these three games is completely different from each other and you get hours and hours of gameplay time in each of these games depending on your playstyle and a keen eye for solving puzzles. Even if you are a master puzzle solver, QT hides plenty of secrets where you least expect them to be. This is our review of the Steam version of QT.
Let’s start with the first game which is QT. QT is loosely based on the now-removed demo PT of the canceled Silent Hills game. It follows the same idea of a corridor after corridor but the major difference here is that after 2 scary corridors, you get to see some really fun stuff and the entirety of the game changes. It brings its own unique taste of humor, color, and characters into the mix and most importantly, its own puzzles which are really head-scratching.
In each run of the corridor, you get to pick different items that are related to an overall puzzle or interact with different items which will solve an instant puzzle thus unlocking the exit of the puzzle. QT comes with its own set of achievements which can only be solved if you complete the tasks in each corridor. After you’ve hit the last of the corridor, you can continue to have the corridors switched by heading towards the exit to complete the remaining achievements. You will find a few achievements as a nod to the main PT demo as well which is really cool.
The second mini-game in QT is the Museum. As the name suggests, this game will take you to a Museum where you are able to pet different people and even dogs. This game follows the same formula of QT however this is a completely open map rather than just corridors. Here, you can explore the museum, check out different exhibits, steal some merch from the gift shop or pet some dogs at the dog exhibit. This is a much bigger game than QT and it comes with its own unique achievements for you to hunt.
As you explore the museum, you will start finding keys that unlock new doors for you and unlocks new interaction items as well. The Museum also has different levels for you to explore and also plenty more collectible items to collect in order to unlock achievements. This is primarily an achievement hunting game so everything that you do in the game will most probably unlock an achievement for you and you can quickly check them all by pressing the ‘Tab’ key.
The final game in the mix is Kouen and it is the biggest one when it comes to scale. Kouen features a really big park which is filled with different types of wildlife and you are free to explore the whole park. Find a camera and you can even take pictures of the wildlife in the area and unlock even more achievements. The park is filled with different attractions, campsites, rivers and even a large water body on its surroundings. It can even be considered as an island and you arrive here on a train.
After getting off the train, you are completely free to roam around, interact with the local community and animals and complete various tasks littered around the entire island. The animals are really cute however not all of them are friendly. Some of the dangerous animals will not hesitate to harm you so you will need to be careful around certain animals in the park. When compared with the other 2 games, Kouen offers the most content and even reaching one end from another one takes quite some time.
Overall, all three games follow the same criteria. They all are low-stress, exploration games which are really cool to look at as well. The accompanying soundtrack is pretty decent as well. I only suffered some framerate issues in the third game Kouen. In open areas, while exploring the forest, the frames sometimes dropped even below 20. QT is not very demanding when it comes to hardware and my review PC is a pretty decent build. Other than this, I did not encounter any other problems with the game. Surely there a few graphical hiccups here and there but they are very minute and you hardly notice them.
Final Verdict:
QT is a really cute game and all about meeting your friends, taking pictures of animals, petting random strangers in a museum or strolling through continuously changing corridors solving puzzles and unlocking achievements. The game itself might seem very small but the levels are pretty big and once you start achievement hunting, a single game is going to take hours before you are done with it. The game does not guide you much either. The achievement names and descriptions just give you a little bit of hint but after that, you are on your own to solve the puzzles and unlock achievements. At just $4.94, QT offers hours of gameplay in a simple-to-understand and cool looking package. Highly recommended!
Final Score: 9.2/10
What a happy looking game.