SmashPad attended The MIX + Kinda Funny’s Spring Game Showcase during GDC. To be honest, while walking around the venue, I was very overwhelmed and didn’t know what to play and almost didn’t play anything. It was technically day two of GDC for press, my energy was starting to come down for the day, lighting indoors was non-existent, and my anti-social habits began to peak. But I still attempted to power through and make the most of it. That’s when I finally saw the table for A Week in the Life of Asocial Giraffe. In the midst of writing this, I’m thinking this game was made for me.
This point-and-click puzzle game caught my attention with its cute hand-drawn art style. You play as a very anxious giraffe ironically living in “Friendly City” trying to do daily life activities unnoticed and unbothered. The idea around the game is you figuring out quirky ways to avoid interacting with others or else his head will explode. Extremely relatable if you ask me.
Being this anxious is my superpower.
The first level had me trying to leave a train, but there’s a lady trying to get her dog to fetch her purse back standing in the exit and she won’t move. What is a scared giraffe to do? Start pointing and start clicking! I actually played with an Xbox controller and used the directional buttons to choose what object to interact with next, and that worked just fine too.
First try at the game and it almost had me questioning my puzzle-solving skills. It had me trying to think outside the box, until I had to throw in the towel and ask a dev how do I get this dang dog to move. The solution was a lot simpler than I thought, and I was overthinking–no big deal, we’ll get them at the next one. This was the first of many “ah-ha” moments for me.
At the end of the day, we’re all just little anti-social giraffes trying to steer clear of conversations.
The next two levels involve you moving back and forth from setting to setting, and found it a little tricky. There was a supermarket area where I needed to buy matcha, but there were too many people at the store, so I had to create several diversions for the sampler workers and the rushing crowds dying to talk to me. This involved hiding behind a special shelf replacing matcha flavors in order to send customers out of my way towards opposite sides of the store or to keep the workers busy from talking to me. It did take a bit of back and forth, but once I figured out the rhythm and what to do it became a lot easier.
It took me a moment to realize I was hiding behind one of those “Item of the Day” shelves, which are known to be main attractions at the store. Every time I replaced a matcha flavor it would send customers running towards the area of that item. It’s a lot of trial and error and when you make the mistake of running into somebody, the giraffe’s head starts to boil like a thermometer. Once the redness of being so anxious reaches his head, it pops like a balloon and into a day dream bubble. Giraffe came back to reality and I got to retry the level again.
This was a cute way to depict that talking to people can sometimes be stressful, but in the grand scheme of things, once it’s over, it’s over, and you can move on with what you were doing again. I left the store with my matcha and was relieved I finally finished the level. Almost like real anxiety.
I hate it when my head explodes when trying to buy something at the supermarket.
The final level I played was a very cute look into the humor of the game and showed just how far this giraffe is willing to go to not talk to someone. The mailman is trying to deliver my giraffe mail, and instead of dealing with the quick hi and bye, we get to go the extra mile of keeping clear of him. We’re in Giraffe’s apartment and the doorbell rings and you suddenly have to figure out how to work a hidden contraption that whips out a decoy to answer the door for you. This was one of the easier to get through puzzles in the game and the surprise of getting a fake giraffe to answer the door was a silly and wholesome moment to end the demo with.
I really enjoyed playing this demo and happy I gave it a shot when I was having an asocial giraffe moment myself. It’s got a cozy aesthetic with lots of good humor, and made me feel so smart every time I finished a level. The level designs are simple due to the game’s daily life aspect, however, it has a clever way of including their “avoidant mechanics” when it comes to its puzzle solving. Not to mention they’re pleasant to look at and the art style makes me want to save the distressed Giraffe from the taxing act of interacting with the general public. I think all of us can find a small piece of ourselves in this hand drawn little adventure game.
A Week in the Life of Asocial Giraffe currently has no release date, but their Steam page says it’s “Coming Soon,” and I have it wishlisted. There also isn’t any news regarding it hitting consoles and I’m hoping that will change since I can see this being a perfect fit for my Switch 2.
SmashPad attended The MIX + Kinda Funny’s Spring Game Showcase during GDC. To be honest, while walking around the venue, I was very overwhelmed and didn’t know what to play and almost didn’t play anything. It was technically day two…
SmashPad attended The MIX + Kinda Funny’s Spring Game Showcase during GDC. To be honest, while walking around the venue, I was very overwhelmed and didn’t know what to play and almost didn’t play anything. It was technically day two of GDC for press, my energy was starting to come down for the day, lighting indoors was non-existent, and my anti-social habits began to peak. But I still attempted to power through and make the most of it. That’s when I finally saw the table for A Week in the Life of Asocial Giraffe. In the midst of writing this, I’m thinking this game was made for me.
This point-and-click puzzle game caught my attention with its cute hand-drawn art style. You play as a very anxious giraffe ironically living in “Friendly City” trying to do daily life activities unnoticed and unbothered. The idea around the game is you figuring out quirky ways to avoid interacting with others or else his head will explode. Extremely relatable if you ask me.
Being this anxious is my superpower.
The first level had me trying to leave a train, but there’s a lady trying to get her dog to fetch her purse back standing in the exit and she won’t move. What is a scared giraffe to do? Start pointing and start clicking! I actually played with an Xbox controller and used the directional buttons to choose what object to interact with next, and that worked just fine too.
First try at the game and it almost had me questioning my puzzle-solving skills. It had me trying to think outside the box, until I had to throw in the towel and ask a dev how do I get this dang dog to move. The solution was a lot simpler than I thought, and I was overthinking–no big deal, we’ll get them at the next one. This was the first of many “ah-ha” moments for me.
At the end of the day, we’re all just little anti-social giraffes trying to steer clear of conversations.
The next two levels involve you moving back and forth from setting to setting, and found it a little tricky. There was a supermarket area where I needed to buy matcha, but there were too many people at the store, so I had to create several diversions for the sampler workers and the rushing crowds dying to talk to me. This involved hiding behind a special shelf replacing matcha flavors in order to send customers out of my way towards opposite sides of the store or to keep the workers busy from talking to me. It did take a bit of back and forth, but once I figured out the rhythm and what to do it became a lot easier.
It took me a moment to realize I was hiding behind one of those “Item of the Day” shelves, which are known to be main attractions at the store. Every time I replaced a matcha flavor it would send customers running towards the area of that item. It’s a lot of trial and error and when you make the mistake of running into somebody, the giraffe’s head starts to boil like a thermometer. Once the redness of being so anxious reaches his head, it pops like a balloon and into a day dream bubble. Giraffe came back to reality and I got to retry the level again.
This was a cute way to depict that talking to people can sometimes be stressful, but in the grand scheme of things, once it’s over, it’s over, and you can move on with what you were doing again. I left the store with my matcha and was relieved I finally finished the level. Almost like real anxiety.
I hate it when my head explodes when trying to buy something at the supermarket.
The final level I played was a very cute look into the humor of the game and showed just how far this giraffe is willing to go to not talk to someone. The mailman is trying to deliver my giraffe mail, and instead of dealing with the quick hi and bye, we get to go the extra mile of keeping clear of him. We’re in Giraffe’s apartment and the doorbell rings and you suddenly have to figure out how to work a hidden contraption that whips out a decoy to answer the door for you. This was one of the easier to get through puzzles in the game and the surprise of getting a fake giraffe to answer the door was a silly and wholesome moment to end the demo with.
I really enjoyed playing this demo and happy I gave it a shot when I was having an asocial giraffe moment myself. It’s got a cozy aesthetic with lots of good humor, and made me feel so smart every time I finished a level. The level designs are simple due to the game’s daily life aspect, however, it has a clever way of including their “avoidant mechanics” when it comes to its puzzle solving. Not to mention they’re pleasant to look at and the art style makes me want to save the distressed Giraffe from the taxing act of interacting with the general public. I think all of us can find a small piece of ourselves in this hand drawn little adventure game.
A Week in the Life of Asocial Giraffe currently has no release date, but their Steam page says it’s “Coming Soon,” and I have it wishlisted. There also isn’t any news regarding it hitting consoles and I’m hoping that will change since I can see this being a perfect fit for my Switch 2.
by Adriana Rodriguez
