Brain Please Don't

I felt I had very few options to choose from. I played more but this isn't a walking simulator. I bought it gave it a go. In short a no here.

Interesting concept, quite poor execution. Critique Gaming is better than this

This is a short game, a very interesting concept that lets you experience the daily challenges of a troubled teenager. First of all, I very much enjoyed the fact that I can chose at start what are the weaknesses Cameron is facing. Based on my choices, the game may get more or less difficult. This difficulty is reflected in her initial stats, and the cards that can be played to boost these. By growing her attributes, you gain access to more options about how to answer to the events she faces. If the numbers are too low, the available answers are more aligned to her issues. The final goal is to grow her stats over one week, to leave her "less broken". The main loop of the game is that an event is displayed, like someone talking to you, and you get a list of answers. Some of them may not be available at once because of low stats, but you can play cards from a selection of 3, to boost these. Sometimes you can play a card, even if it lowers an attribute, in hope to draw another card that...

nice game couldve been better. shame that you have to gamble numbers to unlock a choise. wish you couldve choose and let the story play out.

[h1]Brain, NO![/h1] This game is... well, it's hardly a game by definition. It's so minimal that there's not much I can talk about this game. The game is so short, you can simply refund this game after [i]4[/i] playthroughs. The length of this game feels like my game projects that I make for college assignments, heh. [spoiler]Note to self: I should make them better.[/spoiler] There's no main menu, no saves, no pause screen, no options, no nothing. Credits cannot be skipped, but that's it, the game simply does nothing after the credits. It doesn't even close itself! All that's there in the game is simply the "game" itself. So, [i]how's[/i] the gameplay? ...I guess the video in their store page already explains all there the game turns out. You pick at least 2 of 10 issues, and pick up to 10 ways how you cope with it, no more than the amount of issues you picked. That gives you the starting deck. The game doesn't enforce these rules, you can pick no issues at all and all the coping te...

I don't know if I could really give this much of a review... the concept is there and the game interacts with you based on choice an okay text based simulation with some visuals to help the user engage in the story. The big problem I have with this game is that the cards dictate whether you are going to be doing a positive or negative action and you can just keep clicking them. This really doesn't really feel like there's much to it besides social construction and picking cards till you win. I wouldn't really call this a game more something someone may sit down with their kid and explain what stigmas surround that situation. But as a learning tool on it's own? Not worth your time.

tl;dr: It's a short visual novel, but worth the price. There really isn't any strategy to it or replay value, but I did get a dollar's worth of enjoyment out of it. I'd recommend it if you generally like visual novels. I also think the combo of deckbuidling in an interactive visual novel framework is relatively new and unique, so worth playing if you're interested in seeing a proof of concept of those mechanics combined. ---- Like the other reviews say, this is a VERY short game. BUT I don't that's a bad thing. I would love to see some of the developers that made this make a longer sequel with a rouge-lite/rouge legacy feel to it given such a short game loop. And like come on, this game cost less than a dollar. You should expect games that cost less than a dollar to be short. It's the price of a candy bar. I definitely got a candy bar's worth of enjoyment for none of the calories. It's a meditation on the small traumas of one's teenage years and the coping mechanisms that develop f...

I only have enough money for chicken nugget 😥

[i] My Experience [/i] Brain Please Don't is excellent. Although developer Critique Gaming clearly states that they are not mental health professionals, they still touch on many important themes related to mental health and wellness. You begin with a deck that is composed of cards determined by both the difficulties your teen is facing and the coping skills he/she uses to manage their emotions. Certain cards raise stats, certain cards lower them, and some do both. The game then takes you through a set of scenarios, each of which can be responded to in multiple ways. However, certain responses are only available to you if you possess certain stats (for instance, a high degree of openness or confidence). You have a hand of three cards, and a new card is drawn after each play. However, due to how many cards are strictly negative, playing a ton of cards during each scenario may not be advisable. As a general rule, I liked the scenarios and writing. At the same time, some of the scenar...

Nice concept but it's a little short. Would play again to see how other paths flesh out but I guess it doesn't make much of a difference since I ended with perfect scores and no problems on my first run ever.