Do you have room in your brain for temporarily useful information? Want to learn about home hazards that go unnoticed? In that case, Home safety hotline he has a job for you.
Originally released earlier this year, it’s now coming to consoles. Being an OS simulator, it’s always an odd fit for a controller, but I needed an excuse to go back to check it out, so I’ll take it.
Home safety hotline you log in for the first time as a title company employee. The company provides information and support to homeowners, helping them in times of need, whether due to cockroaches or a house fire.
You receive a list of common problems and receive calls from customers. They give you a description of the problem they are facing and you have to determine what is going on and give them the correct information by simply selecting it. It progresses through the days of the week, with each day adding additional problems to your list. You must be as precise as possible or you will be fired.
While it starts with such mundane problems as black mold, supernatural encounters creep in. As time goes on, things get weirder. You might still encounter the odd person who calls about something like termites to confuse you, but they’ve often been approached because you’re an expert in dealing with the supernatural. including Home safety hotline walks the line between horror and humor.
It’s a very uncomplicated, straightforward concept. You just get a description and choose your answer. For Home safety hotlineeverything is in the presentation. It’s presented like a Windows 95 program, dated 1996. It’s not exactly an analog horror game, but the idea is the same.
Connections run the gamut. You get customers who have had a bad experience before and are now irritated, those who are confused that they were told to call you, and then there are those who are dire. “How do you tell someone their dog is dead?” – my husband asked, looking over my shoulder. “By email,” I replied.
However, customers can be misleading. While the answer is obvious to some, others will intentionally include information that confuses you. There are also times when your database has technical problems and you are unable to re-check the information in a possible response. If you make a mistake, you won’t be notified immediately, even if it was your last chance. A few phone calls later, you’ll be reprimanded by a manager or contacted by an furious, dissatisfied customer. It might just be a quiz, but these are diminutive ways Home safety hotline keeps things engaging.
The disadvantage of this is that the calls are always the same and always in the same order. As far as I know, there are no random elements in the main story mode. If you get fired, you just repeat the day over again, so you just have to listen to the same conversations and adjust your answers to finally get the grade. There’s no replay value in that sense, but some of the things that are unlocked upon completion make up for that.
My main problem with Home safety hotline is that it just doesn’t feel optimal on console. With its operating system interface and scroll bars, it was designed with mouse control in mind. The on-screen functions are mapped to buttons, so it works reasonably well, although it loses some of the legitimate feel. Scrolling especially sucks.
To navigate through multiple menus, you simply scroll using the D-pad, but it moves one press at a time. If you want to get from the top to the bottom of the list, you can only get there by pressing the down button repeatedly. There are also problems with scrolling through the menu. The information pane jumps when it first reaches the bottom of the viewport, and emails won’t scroll to off-screen content when your inbox is full. I spoke with Mr. Puppy Combo (director of Torture Star Video, publisher) and he let me know that an update is on the way, but I can’t confirm whether it will fix these issues.
It’s not the end of the world, but it worried me a little. For anyone who only has the option to play on console or just wants a Switch version they can play on the toilet, this fits the bill.
Other than that, I liked it Home safety hotline. The main story lasts 2-3 hours, but also includes the first DLC, Seasonal employeewhich adds 60-90 minutes of runtime. Plus, you’ll get some nice bonuses upon completion. Truth be told, I’m not sure the concept could go much further, so it’s good that it doesn’t overstay its welcome and instead provides additional benefits if you can’t get enough.
I’m sure I’ve said this many times, but it’s a very uncomplicated premise that boils down to a quiz with related research, but presents it with love and flair. It is much more than the sum of its parts. With a combination of quirky and earthy, he has an endearing personality. This probably won’t surprise you, and the console version may not be the most optimal way to play the game, but it’s a fun day-to-day job.
