Game: Loop Odyssey
Genre: Adventure, RPG
System: Steam (Windows)
Developer|Publisher: Housemade Inc
Controller Support: No
Price: UK £ 5.79 | US $7.99 | EU € 6,59
Release Date: December 9th, 2021
Review code provided with many thanks to Housemade Inc
Idle Game
Loop Odyssey is known as an idle game, something I don’t think I have come across before in gaming. What this means is you kinda play the game in very short bursts. Then you shrink the window and let the game work away in the background while you get on with something else, maybe the ironing or that important letter to your grandparent. I went in with an open mind for this gaming experience, but, I don’t think it was for me. But that’s not to say it may not pique the interest of others. Let’s explore.
Begin the Loop
You begin the game as a small pixelated man on a map. To play you give commands to your character like movement and actions such as use, attack and chat to interact with objects of interest on the map. When you add a command to the list you will see a handy blue line on the map to help you keep track of your progress. When you’re happy you select ‘GO’ and watch your character carry out your actions. As you move further around the map the fog lifts so you can see more areas and objects and determine your next step.
The main feature of the experience is programming a list of actions then looping the commands to work away in the background. An example of this is you program a command list to fight a difficult enemy. On the first run through you won’t defeat it but leave your actions to loop and leave the game alone in the background, your character will gradually grind away and defeat the enemy. The idea is for you to dip in and out adding to your command list or possibly correcting previous actions to find a better path. Basically, this is a long grindy game you play in very short bursts.
Breaking In
The tutorial doesn’t do the best job of breaking you into the game’s mechanics. It teaches you the basic commands like moving about and attacking and levelling up. But after a few steps, the tutorial asks you to break a fence and loop the action.
For a long time, I thought I was playing the game wrong as my character was looping through the same actions but then failing at the fence. What the game doesn’t make clear at this point is that your commands are probably correct, you actually need to just leave it, looping idling in the background while you get on with other activities. Once I figured this out, I put this game on in the background while writing up reviews for other titles. Finally, it clicked, but the progress is incredibly slow.
It feels like quite a bit of trial and error figuring out the right commands and routes then leaving the game for hours to see if the plan works. It was quite disappointing to return hours later to find my character had still made little progress. I also often forgot to check in on the game as I get quite immersed in my writing. Progress for me was far too slow, probably because I was just playing it wrong but it just failed to click and I felt my time was best served elsewhere. This feels like an experience that will click with some gamers that spend silly hours in front of a PC and are happy to dip in and out.
Pixel Design
The game is presented in a nice pixelated design with a decent enchanting score in the background. There is a story to follow with characters to meet in the world who discuss more of the lore of the dark world you explore. Controls only require the mouse and are simple and easy to use. Simply click or drag and drop commands from the command list. The ideal way to play the game appears to be in windowed mode so you can switch between tasks on your PC and possibly avoid the boss’s gaze. Though you really should work on that report rather than playing video games at work.
There’s a massive adventure included in the package with multiple endings to discover. If it clicks this will take you hundreds of hours to actually finish but remember most of that is leaving it idle and not actually playing it. Check-in time will likely be 5 minutes or less here and there.
Conclusion – Looping Back Around
Loop Odyssey is an interesting idea but I just don’t think it’s for me at this stage of my life. The reason for this is that this type of experience is just incompatible with my current lifestyle. I don’t work in front of a PC for my real-life job and even when I do spend time writing articles on PC it’s not hours at a time. Which wouldn’t allow for the time needed for this to grind away in the background.
That been said the game is well put together and knows what it aims to be. I can see some gamers really getting into this concept. It’s a shame a demo is not currently available to allow folk to see if this works for them. Loop Odyssey is a long grind to enjoy in very short bursts but does require your PC to be on for absurd lengths of time. If that sounds like fun to you then get looping.
Final Verdict: I Like It
