Mr Wonder Review (PC)

In an attempt to poke fun at Mr Beast and the absurd amount of money that the acclaimed YouTube star chucks into some of the most morally bankrupt mini-games and big screen series in history, Mr Wonder has rustled up a new spin-off competition series—a barbarically violent and emotionally unhinged saga that more or less invites starry-eyed participants to embark on an ambitious journey to claim eternal riches and, with any luck, a chance to survive a spectacular onslaught of violent contraptions and sadistic set pieces.

Mr Wonder is the culmination of multiple attempts made by aspiring Poppy Playtime fanatics to both birth and raise a sturdy IP that bears all of the same hallmark qualities as its influence. And it isn’t just Poppy Playtime that fuels these engines; it’s a barrage of several twisted psychological horrors that funnel sadistic schoolyard games and unforgiving rules and regulations into a world of adolescent settings. There’s a slither of indie games here, too—Don’t Be Afraid, being one of them. But that’s not all. Oh, if you’re vaguely familiar with Amazon’s Beast Games, then you’ll no doubt recognize not only some of the games that flesh out Mr Wonder, but also the wording, the format, and even the names of the challenges—$1 Vs $1,000,000 Car, being the most on-the-nose of the bunch, for sure,

At the heart of all of this is an entry-level mascot horror piece—a game that asks its participants a simple question: What would you do for a chance to secure a lifetime jackpot?

Hell or High Water

Mr Wonder, the most “beloved content creator in the world”, has sent you a formal invitation to participate in a series of death-defying challenges, and has made it abundantly clear that, should you emerge victorious from the trials, then you will unlock wealth beyond your wildest imagination. The small print, however, informs you that, should you fail to accomplish your objectives, the consolation prize is, well — it’s not worth thinking about.

Your goal in Mr Wonder is to sift through a series of trials, some of which require a basic level of skill in platforming, and others that require a general knack for puzzle-solving to complete. In each task, you have a relatively simple set of guidelines to follow, with the most important one being to evade a rather grizzly fate that orbits your incompetent actions. In a similar fashion as most indie horror-bred titles, though, the objectives are often punishing, unfair, and even a little broken. Not broken-broken, but designed to make you pull your hair out for comical purposes, broken.

The trials that I’m talking about aren’t really new to the trained eye. By that I mean, nine times out of ten, they either involve dodging laser beams, lunging over moving platforms, or memorizing breakable cubes on a destructible pathway. It’s a bit of Squid Game minced with a gore-infested carnival setting, if anything. And I suppose that’s a concept that just works, despite it being one that we’ve seen unfold dozens, if not hundreds of times before.

A Shot in the Dark, Against all Odds

Given that this is a demo that we’re reviewing, there’s still plenty that we’re unable to touch base on here—the events that loom on the other end of the brief sixty-minute campaign, for example. That said, for what the game does currently offer, I’d say that there a good chunk of content to shovel through here, with a good range of activities to throw yourself into and a great sense of tension hanging in the balance between the opening sequences and the climax.

From a horror perspective, Mr Wonder isn’t naturally scary, though it does provide plenty of breadcrumbs to help whet the mood and give newcomers a taste of the disturbing reality that it tries so desperately hard to capture. And to be honest, while the visuals aren’t up to scratch, the general ambiance and world design are pleasantly immersive, with its warped aesthetic and carnival style having a good variety of set pieces and creepy elements to help boost its overall appeal. Could it do with more to help bring its finer details out of the blue? Absolutely. Yet, I wouldn’t say that it’s a bad representation of a puppeteer’s toy box, either.

Verdict

Mr Wonder, despite harboring a slew of mismatched ideas and the occasional broken node, certainly has the potential to become a solid contender in the obstacle course-mascot hybrid gene pool. Although still in possession of a few loose screws and a lot of audiovisual issues, the base game itself still has a good and, more importantly, firm foundation for the arrival of the full-fledged version. And to be honest, I am looking forward to seeing where Mr Wonder will go from here, even though it does feel as if I’ve already seen most of its cards in the first sixty minutes of its prelude. But I’ll be back, and I’ll be ready to see what else the notorious content creator has to offer in due course. You can take that to the bank, Beast.

If you happened to enjoy the likes of Don’t Be Afraid, Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach, or Poppy Playtime, then you should definitely consider dipping your toes into the wacky world of Mr Wonder. I’ll admit, it isn’t quite as fleshed out as the above cult classics, though, to give credit where it’s due, it is the demo that we’re talking about here, and not the full-scale version that’s scheduled to launch a little later this year. With that, a few missing parts are more or less commonplace in this iteration. Still, if you’re hoping to get your hands on something a little more technical, then you might be in for a surprise with the general lack of depth Mr Wonder brings to the table.

With all the above said, Mr Wonder is a pleasantly surprising indie horror with a lot of heart to show for its premise. Therefore, if you have a few bucks to spare, then you should definitely consider adopting it.