Buddy
Simulator 1984

Buddy Simulator 1984 (2021) is an adventure horror game. What starts as a retro-themed set of mini-games soon evolves into a tale of anxiety, friendship and depression as your buddy makes new games for you to play each with creepy anomalies and glitches. It's an evolving experience that entirely depends on your choices, even down to the ending.

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You are introduced to your buddy (called Buddy) at the start of the game. You initially play several old fashioned games with them, such as hangman and guess the number. After quickly tiring of these, the Buddy character creates a set of new games for you to play. It's here that you uncover strange anomalies, from creepy, out of character dialogue to sudden, loud glitches that show strange scenes.

As you progress, these anomalies get more frequent and intense, and Buddy seems more and more desperate to please you and keep you playing, and also seems to want you to choose certain activities and options. Finally, when the whole thing seems on the brink of collapse, you confront Buddy and decide whether your friendship will survive or whether the damage has already been done.

In the first few sections, you type responses and commands, and although you can type anything the game only recognises certain responses. Soon after the introductory phase, the gameplay shifts to resemble early 2D, then 3D, RPGs where you move about the world and occasionally fight enemies in a combat system that relies on precise timing of random keys that briefly flash across the screen.

It's a novel game with a unique way of telling a thematically rich story that, when combined with its blend of genres, make it a compelling choice for both novice and experienced players.

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Our examiner, Ben Kendall, first checked Buddy Simulator 1984 2 years ago. It was re-examined by Jo Robertson and updated 10 months ago.