Shindig is a point-and-click adventure game developed by husband and wife team Martyn and Fay Maillardet who created Imaginary Friends Games.
The premise is simple you start the game by answering a newspaper advertisement for a party planning job set on a remote island, but unlike The Forest, there are no dodgy vibes, just wholesome town folk who help you along your journey to throwing the best Shindig the island has ever seen.
It’s an adventure game about compassion and how a little kindness can make all the difference in a world full of hurt.
Imaginary Friends Games
Shindig at the Heart is a simple point-and-click adventure game, think Broken Sword but without the faff of trying to work out what to do with that damn goat! You are tasked with finding items to complete the party, we’re talking music, drinks, decorations and most importantly CAKE. Along the way, you meet the many wonderful diverse personalities that make up the island’s inhabitants. Wonderful and diverse characters each with a different personality that really shines through, despite the characters mostly just being voiced by Fay, she has managed to put such character into the islanders you meet.
When you talk to each character they have a story, and each story is related to some sort of problem whether that’s an issue in the game or real-life issues that people can relate to, I found it very insightful with some of the things they were saying, For example, some of the characters have issues like burnout, anxiety and more. The way the characters are written really spoke to me and there’s no judgement, every islander understands each other’s limitations, and that’s an island I’d love to live on.
Martyn and Fay have said themselves they are not artists, I can relate unless you want a weird-shaped potato drawn, though Shindig is simplistic in its design its what works so well. The aesthetics of the game fits in with the theme, the story and the characters and doesn’t detract from the experience. Each asset looks hand drawn and some of the character designs are quite brilliant, check out rock-hard abs Steve below my personal favourite third-person talking character ever.
The game also hosts some fantastic songs, baking cakes is quite the earworm and won’t leave my brain! As mentioned above the voice acting is quirky, funny and really good for just a small team of people.
Shindig has a collection of accessibility options that caters to as many people as possible from the create a character screen that represents some diverse options to the option menu that caters to those who are hard of hearing. While it is slightly limited in accessibility, this is probably due to being just a small team they do make a great effort in what they have provided so far. Shindig lets you create your own character and while I loved the options to be able to represent myself, (yes I really do have purple hair), it was limited to male/female, skin colour, hairstyles, hair colour and beards for males and females which is a nice touch. it was limited to only changing hair and not clothes, it would have been nice to perhaps have more options such as clothes but again it does not devalue the game in any way.
While Shindig may appear to be aimed at children the game can be enjoyed by all, okay maybe not dark souls fans unless you fancy a change of pace. While the game’s puzzles are simplistic unlike other point-and-click games it does not take away from the overall experience Shindig will scratch that point-and-click adventure itch. The perfect experience for point-and-click adventure fans and people that want a relaxing, insightful game with its relatable characters, its running mental health themes and how it’s okay to be a square peg in a circle hole. I have been struggling to get into gaming lately, and Shindig was one I sailed through and found myself laughing out loud and also relating to some of the characters. While the game is short and easily completed in 2/3 hours it’s the perfect game to fully immerse yourself in. I would also love to see more from the developers especially what’s behind the waterfall?
9/10
Most Importantly you can pet the dog in Shindig and he appreciates it if you ask first, personal space is important.
Shindig is available on PC my copy was bought from Steam here but it is also available on itch.io here.
You can also find out more information on Shindig and the developers Imaginary Friends Games over on their website here.
nerdybirdgames.com 