Keytamine

The line between obnoxious and enjoyable can be very thin sometimes. But in the end, I’m still going to give this a thumbs up even though I feel more neutral, leaning to positive, about this one. So let me tell you about the good, the bad and perhaps the ugly, starting with the negative since I prefer to end on a positive note.

The first one is entirely on me, I admit that, for some reason I expected it to be an idle and/or a clicker. It is not. You have no control over clicking, and you can’t let it idle. I found it very hard, despite being able to upgrade the clicking—though it isn’t always clear if that’s in speed or strength—if you gather enough XP and don’t have a lock on it. Since the mechanic is build on you can’t just upgrade one thing, you’ll be forced to upgrade one or several things before you can go back to an upgrade you’re focusing on. And all in all, that’s fine, but sometimes also a little annoying. A little bit of a mixed bag for me, you know.

Alongside that, to me, the ramp-up of difficulty felt hard in the way that I feel like I must grind lower levels for gold to upgrade in the shop. Which already makes me hold my breath thinking, what if I run out of shop upgrades and still struggle? And I’m ok with a grind, but sometimes the grind feels too grindy and then I get bored with it fast. So, to me, this isn’t a binge player. More of an ‘’I’ll occasionally jump in when I feel like it’’ type of game. For a while, till I get bored again.

As I mentioned earlier, the line between obnoxious and enjoyable can be very thin. I’m not an ASMR person; it never did anything for me. But I am sensitive to sound due to other reasons. So, the one clicking isn’t the other. While I found some a pain and a horror, I thought others were absolutely lovely and a joy. And it made me think that it’s a bit of a shame, since we can choose the keys visually, but we can’t select the clicking sound we enjoy the most, the one that tickles our drums the best. I think it’s lovely there is such a variation of keys too, from healing to wooden ‘loot’ crates and even dynamite. But also, bad keys like wizards, stronger ‘enemy’ keys and also the healing block—lol. No, honestly, that healing block can backfire. It's chance-based! Land in the green and you’ll get health, but land in the red and you’ll lose health, which can be a little bit scary at times if the difficulty is a little too harsh and you’re low on health.

With all that being said, I do think this game is unique and, in a way, engaging. Maybe in some ways even a little hypnotic, rhythm-wise. The hovering over the enemies and upgrades is a clever game mechanic in my opinion. I love that different areas are all unique, each with its distinct atmosphere and music. And the game feels smooth, which makes it visually pleasing to see. And of course, the cute cats. I’m not sure what triggers them or if it’s random, and somehow it always catches me off guard, but it’s fun and cute. I can recommend this one, carefully, depending on what you look for in a game. If it’s idle or clicker, this one is a no-go, but if you’re willing to be a little active in it, give it a try, and perhaps you’ll find yourself enjoying the clickity clacky tactile sounds.


Winning some health VS Kitties!
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3548021354
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3548016428

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I would be super grateful if you could consider following me over at the following places for more first looks, reviews, recommendations, etc:

• | My first looks | ~My YouTube channel.
• | Tchii made ya look | ~My curator
• | IndieGems | ~Wonderful Indie curator
• | IndieGems Gameplay | ~IndieGem's YouTube channel.
• | Calm | ~Curator for the Dutch-speaking folks out here.
• | Calm's first looks | ~Calm's YouTube channel.

Thank you!

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This is a relaxation game like no other, designed, as near as I can tell, specifically for me.

Visually this game is so slick and clean that I can feel my fingertips slipping over the keys.
The clackety-clack is unbelievably satisfying. The ambience creates a perfect medium for carrying the clacks without distracting from them, taking just enough of the edge off for the mechanical sounds to not intrude when I start to zone out.
The difficulty scales insanely but it is completely controllable.
The upgrades create their own satisfaction, especially since their main effect is to increase the number of clicks you can hear and how long you can hear them. You are building your own relaxation with each coin.
The experience lazily bobbing on screen will wait as long as you leave them there - they're in no rush, and neither are you.
The fact that you don't even click, you just amble your cursor around, is an elegant genius.

And Level 0 shows the developers precisely understand exactly what this game is and who it is for. Me. It is for me.

I have never before had an ASMR tingle to an interactive experience.

Keytamine is exactly what it says on the tin. And for me personally I am grateful to the creators of this game for the almost medical level of destressing I came home to today. No notes - an utterly perfect meditative experience for those for whom such weighty clack-clacks carry weight.

So relaxing
So addictive
So calm
So good.
(still need some ui improvment)