Itch Crit 02: Timeout

Timeout is a short detective adventure set in a Chicago where time has replaced fiat currency. There isn’t a lot of background on where time comes from and how it is functionally transferred. As a hard-boiled style detective you live in a semi-run down pixel alternative reality version of Chicago. In the surprisingly walkable street that you live on (I wonder what rents are in that area considering a detective can afford to live there), you run into a cultist wearing a Frank from Donny Darko style rabbit mask. He gives you some scam time and thus your investigation begins.

In your roughly 20 minutes playing Timeout you will encounter some bugs and clunky shooting mechanics, as well as some stunning skylines with a depth of field that you rarely see in such a small indie game. The streets feel realistic in density and pleasant in their character. There are some stylistic choices for the bar and casino that I did not appreciate as they feel like they belong in some Western setting instead of plopped in the center of the jazz filled alternate reality Chicago streets and alleys.

You may have realized that I keep referring it to alternate reality Chicago, and that is because the skyline is subtly unhinged. At first glance the yellow pixelized windows and building profiles are pleasant, and then you realize that there are three versions of the Chrysler building from New York City scattered in the skyline and each at a different height.

Something I found oddly satisfying in Timeout is the camera perspective. It has a typical side-view camera, which usually feels like an old-school arcade game, but something about the way the camera moves perpendicularly when you move away or towards the camera feels new and unique to this game.

Between the interesting take on pixel architecture in a video game and the new use of the side-view camera angle, I really enjoyed this sort of messy adventure. Still bummed I didn’t get the black Cadillac though.