Exhausted Man Review (PC)

I, too, know what it’s like to feel exhausted—to the very point of being incapable of arriving at the foot of my own bed without suffering from some rare case of lethargic fatigue. I also know what it’s like to struggle to accommodate a few basic instructions—opening a box, or putting a wedding ring on my beloved’s finger whilst she, weirdly enough, refuses to acknowledge the fact that I am, and regrettably so, an octopus in a three-piece suit. The point is, I do have some level of experience when it comes to these sorts of situations, which makes the likes of Exhausted Man seem like an old friend of mine, similar to how I see Octodad, I guess.

Of course, Exhausted Man isn’t a direct clone of the Dadliest Catch episode, though it does share a lot of its entry-level tropes, including a limited physics-based control system, and a slightly humorous yet mind-numbingly tedious user interface, to list just a couple of its core elements. But, there’s a difference between this and the likes of, say, Baby Steps or Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy: the premise. That’s right, Exhausted Man isn’t about a tentacle-sporting father, or even an adolescent man child whose life depends upon two left feet; on the contrary, it’s about, well, an exhausted man, and not to mention a rather unfortunate predicament that leans on two things: a hefty to-do list, and an unapologetic hero who, due to a sheer lack of sleep, can only muster up the strength to assume the fetal position and crawl. Tough times, eh?

So, should you make the effort to play Exhausted Man, or should you you conserve your energy to slug through another game a la Baby Steps? Let’s talk about it.

Tired of Everything, Apparently

Exhausted Man is just about everything that you could probably imagine it is: a physics-based game in which you, the unfortunate victim of one person’s laziness, must sift through a series of trials from within the confines of a small bedroom. As the title implies, our protagonist is exhausted—so much, that they’re unable to lift themselves out of a sluggish state and bring themselves to complete a series of rather generic homely quests. As it turns out, this gentleman of ours can only crawl, which means that you, being the wound-up overseer that you are, must figure out how to have them complete said tasks without putting too much strain on their respective abilities, or simple lack thereof.

In a similar vein as, say, I Am Bread, Exhausted Man sees you taking on the responsibility of forcing the fetal carcass of an expressionless item (or human, in this case) and having them shovel through various obstacles over a series of twilight periods. In a typical scenario, you’ll find yourself equipped with little more than the two stubborn knees on your curdled legs—tools with which you must coordinate with in order to gradually move around the room and complete tasks that range from organizing pieces of stationery to fixing various game bugs, eating the occasional hearty meal and even replying to several text messages, weirdly enough. And sure, whilst you could argue that the vast majority of these feats aren’t exactly difficult to overcome, but lest we forget that, like every mammal on earth, everyone needs a bit of shuteye — and so does our friend here, rather frustratingly.

Too Tired to Cooperate

There is a silver lining to all of this: the controls — they are oddly responsive. Granted, there is really only so much that you can do with two rigged knees and a couple of drowsy eyes, but the fact that you can, even during the toughest of times, put one foot in front of the other without having to endure any unfair tutorials, is a relief, in ways. Well, I say it doesn’t require any vigorous training, but the fact of the matter is that it does involve some level of discipline. With that said, I certainly wouldn’t go as far as to say that it sits on a similar wavelength as several of its strenuously defined counterparts. Don’t get me wrong, you will struggle to navigate its world, but I can’t bring myself to say that you’ll wind up with a headache that’s as equally painful as ol’ Foddy.

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what Exhausted Man is all about, much less what it aims to encapsulate in its general mechanics and comical design. It isn’t something that’ll leave you with countless questions, minus, perhaps, the one that involves you questioning your own purpose as you mindlessly scrape through a series of relatively mundane objectives as a sleep-deprived layabout. Still, to say that each and every independent work of art needs a purpose or some form of paper moral to resonate with its audience wouldn’t necessarily be true. As for whether or not this game has a purpose is a matter of opinion — and I’ve honestly yet to see it for myself, to be fair. But who cares, right? It’s a game about sleeping, for crying out loud.

Snake 3.0

I’m not about to classify it as an exhilarating game, because it certainly lacks the excitement of an action-packed RPG. Truth is, Exhausted Man is a joyous game, but one that unfortunately comes pre-loaded with a rather basic progression system and a lack of dynamic gameplay. It’s like Snake, I guess. And when I say that, what I mean to say is that, in order to make some level of progress in the story, you simply need to slither your way through the same scenario, and pick up various objects, and complete basic puzzles before moving onto a slightly more densely packed version of the same location. And that’s about it. So, like I said, there isn’t a huge amount to do, other than to use your hands and knees to slide, grasp, and hold several items of some significant value.

Thankfully, it isn’t all doom and gloom in this rather peculiar creation of Candleman Games’ mind. As it turns out, in spite of all its natural disasters and predictable consequences, the game does, rather generously, sport a clay-like art style that’s incredibly pleasant to look at. What’s more, it also boasts a score that is, while still ludicrously silly and somewhat annoying, to say the least, matches the clumsy visual effects surprisingly well. And yet, even with both of these things in the basket, it seems that the gameplay itself is still something of a snooze fest. Is that the point? I don’t know, man; I’m just exhausted from thinking about it at this point.

Verdict

Exhausted Man does us a favor, I suppose. It does us a favor simply because, even though we could be in the middle of tearing our hair out over a catapulting centaur and a Yosemite hammer, we’re not. In fact, we’re left to ponder another dimension, one that doesn’t quite boast as much bullet-sweltering material as its peer. And honestly, I’m beyond grateful for that, because when all’s said and done, I don’t want to “get over it” any more than I absolutely have to, and I’m just happy to finally have something that, while still an absolute nightmare to deal with, isn’t quite nearly as much of a pain in the backside as Bennett Foddy. That’s ten points right there, Exhausted Man.

While it’s certainly no secret that these sorts of games have a novel aspect to them, it seems that they still have a lot of traction in their respective communities. To say that Exhausted Man is as equally compelling as its adversaries might be a bit of a stretch, for sure, but if you’re one for bending over backward for anything that involves having an unfair disadvantage to reap the most pointless benefits known to mankind, then you’re probably going to love slithering around as a game developer in this unruly incarnation for a while.

To cut a long story short, if you adore tedious work and pointless excursions that don’t often end in financial gain or lavish gifts, then there’s a good chance that Exhausted Man will be enough to keep you from dozing off. If, however, you’ve yet to fully recover from Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy, then you may want to steer clear of this one for the next few weeks — at least until you have truly gotten over it. Damn you, Foddy.