Condo Review (PC)

Shackled to a sleepless night in a depressingly opaque apartment complex, I suddenly find myself aimlessly shuffling through its grainy corridors, pondering the lack of vigor in the unsettling surroundings. There are things I ought to be doing instead, yet I find that the longer I stay awake, the more I feel at peace with this abstract reality. I have no quarrel with the neighbors, and I certainly don’t have any interest in learning why the fish never produces bubbles or any signs of life. But tonight is different somehow. It’s as if I’ve entered a lucid dream, and I’m clutching the keys to a world that I’ve never quite seen before. The people are odd, and the atmosphere is stale. I’m not sure where I am, or even what it is that I’m doing. But I do know that this Condo has more stories to tell.

I have nowhere to be, and I have nothing to attend. For the next short while, it’s just me, a couple of areas of minor interest, and a series of things that I’d like to talk about. And that, really, is where Condo is taking me: on a restless journey through the inner quarters of a dimly lit building. It doesn’t want me to achieve anything; it just wants me to do whatever feels right, even if it somehow involves staring at inanimate objects until something—anything sprouts up to provide me with another question that I’ll unlikely be able to answer. And that’s all that I’m doing here: roaming aimlessly until the credit roll swoops in to tell me that I’ve done a “satisfactory” job.

Without Reason to Fear

To earmark Condo as a video game wouldn’t be an accurate representation of what it really is, which is, in all its forms, more of a visual novel with abstract themes and philosophical concepts. See, the journey itself doesn’t require much of you, with its stepping stones offering no challenges to overcome, puzzles to solve, or decisions to make, for that matter. Instead, Condo asks only that you aimlessly explore a complex in the dead of night—in a time period where folks are open to revealing more of their secrets, and objects, no matter their size or purpose, pose even greater questions for you to ponder.

The idea is as simple as they come: navigate several rooms and areas in an apartment block, converse with its inhabitants, and unlock short but seemingly crucial events that, once arranged in their entirety, open the floodgates to an ending of some sort. There are no time constraints or final destinations to travel to — just a moody night, a sleepy hollow of a complex, and a lone protagonist who just wants to explore, get lost, and uncover whatever secrets that might creep out from beneath the woodwork. All in all, there’s about thirty minutes of content here, give or take, with only the one series of “events” to discover, and a simple yet fitting ribbon-on-the-box ending to knuckle in on. And that isn’t much, but for a free experience, it wouldn’t feel right to complain about its length, to be honest.

What Roams After Hours

As I said earlier, Condo doesn’t ask much of you. With that, there isn’t much gameplay for you to subject yourself to, either. In fact, if you’re not combing over the details of some object during your evening walk, then you’re likely participating in a conversation, alternating between one of several dialogue options to help steer the narrative and wax lyrical with a total stranger. There are options for you to choose from here, of course, though they don’t necessarily add anything to the final text of the script, nor do they raise any additional consequences if the wrong choice is made. To that end, the encounters are, to some extent, meaningless, though they do frequent a rather thought-provoking message, with some conversations posing a more abstract question pertaining to life and its fragility, purposes and meaning.

Although there isn’t a whole lot of game for you to soak up here, there are several solid features for you to take a gander at, with its minimalistic design, PSX-like automations, and static scenery generating the petite foundations for a slightly intriguing, slightly depressing experience. There’s a great deal of that retro indie essence stitched into it, and so, if you’re looking to fill that void, then you shouldn’t have to dig much deeper than the grainy quarters of Condo.

Verdict

Condo captures a peculiar snapshot of an absurdly bleak and questionably moralistic world of strange happenings, slumber talks, and depressing dilemmas in a way that’s made to feel both inviting and awfully uncomfortable at the same time. It isn’t so much of a video game as it is a window into an abstract universe where nonsensical things are commonplace, and late-night pillow talk disintegrates into a more complex series of questions with unattainable answers. Suffice it to say, then, that it’s an unusual experience with a lot of pros and cons, and not to mention a focal point that, while still intriguing in its own right, is likely to attract a specific audience and not the whole stall, so to speak.

Sadly, if you are looking for a game with a pulpy story and a staggering amount of twists and turns, endgame bonuses and rich character development, then you’ll probably struggle to scrape even a lick of joy out of Condo. If, however, you’re a little more open-minded and available to the concept of plugging into a world that prioritizes unorthodox ideas and progression rather than a traditional linear approach, then you might just find what you’re looking for here. For the record, it isn’t a lengthy experience, so it’s best not to expect anything majorly complicated. That said, if you have an hour or so to spare, then you might just find yourself enjoying the simple act of interacting with fish and the other night owls of this sleepless complex. Well, probably.