Info about The Red Strings Club:

Official game description:
**The Red Strings Club** is a cyberpunk narrative experience about fate and happiness featuring the extensive use of pottery, bartending and impersonating people on the phone to take down a corporate conspiracy.  
The professed altruistic corporation Supercontinent Ltd is on the verge of releasing Social Psyche Welfare: a system that will eliminate depression, anger and fear from society. However, the bartender of a clandestine club and a freelance hacker don't regard this evolution as an improvement but as brainwashing. Alongside unwitting company employees and a rogue empathy android, the duo will pull all the strings they can to bring down this scheme.
Cyberpunk Thriller Narrative
----------------------------
Uncover a mysterious corporate program that promises a blissful existence while debating what does happiness means and what lengths are permissible to obtain it.
Psychological Bartending
------------------------
Read your customer's’ mood and mix the perfect cocktail to manipulate the client's emotions in order to gather the information you want and progress your agenda of stopping Supercontinent's plans.
Genetic Implant Pottery
-----------------------
Design genetic implants at a high-tech lathe to change the attitude and direction of the corporation’s most influential executives.
Vocal Corporate Espionage
-------------------------
Assume the voice of important figures in the Social Psyche Welfare project and play their own motivations against each other over the phone to uncloak their plans.

Release date: 22 Jan, 2018

Categories: Narrative Adventure, Choice-based Narrative, Mini-game Collection, Investigative Gameplay, Philosophical Exploration, Linear Progression, Point-and-click Adventure


- Hardware Profile: No data
Feature extractions:
- Community Price: No data
- Playtime Metrics: No data
- Time-to-fun: No data
- Player Archetypes: No data


Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category.
Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews.
What players like:
- Profound Philosophical Themes (weight 0.92): The game deeply explores complex philosophical and ethical questions, particularly concerning love, free will, human emotions, and the impact of technology and AI on society. Players appreciate the game's ability to provoke introspection and discussion on these relevant themes.
- Engaging Narrative & Pacing (weight 0.85): Players consistently praise the game's compelling and immersive story, excellent pacing, and rich content. The narrative is described as thought-provoking, emotionally resonant, and enjoyable, often leading to a desire to play through in one sitting.
- Strong Emotional Impact (weight 0.55): The game consistently evokes strong emotional responses from players, including tears, deep empathy, and lasting impressions. The narrative choices, particularly the final ones, are highlighted as profoundly moving and impactful.
- Masterful Cyberpunk Setting (weight 0.53): The game is lauded for its concise yet powerful cyberpunk setting, which skillfully blends dystopian elements with philosophical depth. Players find the atmosphere, art style, and thematic exploration of the genre to be captivating and well-executed.
- Memorable Characters & Dialogue (weight 0.24): The characters are consistently described as well-developed, distinct, and charismatic, with engaging and coherent dialogues. Players form strong emotional connections with them, particularly Donovan and Brandis, appreciating their depth and realistic interactions.
- Exceptional Soundtrack & Visuals (weight 0.23): Players highly commend the game's music and sound design, describing them as excellent, immersive, and perfectly fitting the atmosphere and themes. The pixel art style is also frequently praised for its beauty, uniqueness, and effectiveness in conveying the cyberpunk mood.
- Clever Mechanics & Ending (weight 0.22): The game's unique mechanics, such as bartending and pottery, are seen as enjoyable and cleverly integrated into the narrative, enhancing the storytelling. The ending is particularly praised for its ingenious design, impactful twists, and emotional resonance.

Common complaints:
- Frustrating Mini-Games & Controls (weight 0.97): A significant number of players found the mini-games (especially pottery, bartending, and phone calls) to be poorly designed, tedious, and frustrating. Issues include clunky controls, strict judgment, lack of guidance, and repetitiveness, often breaking immersion and making replayability undesirable.
- Predetermined & Unfulfilling Ending (weight 0.84): Players were disappointed by the game's single, predetermined ending, which often felt sad, abrupt, or anticlimactic. The illusion of choice was criticized, as player decisions had little impact on the final outcome, leading to a sense of powerlessness and a lack of emotional resolution.
- Shallow Story & Character Development (weight 0.83): The narrative was often perceived as underdeveloped, with a thin plot, rushed character relationships, and superficial exploration of complex themes. Many felt the story ended abruptly, leaving characters and world-building incomplete, and struggled to connect with the emotional arcs.
- Preachy & Unoriginal Dialogue (weight 0.77): Reviewers found the dialogue to be often pretentious, cringy, and overly didactic, with the game forcefully conveying its philosophical or political views. The discussions on morality and cyberpunk themes were frequently criticized for lacking depth and originality, feeling more like a lecture than an engaging narrative.
- Short Length & Limited Replayability (weight 0.76): Many players found the game too short (2-4 hours per playthrough) and felt it lacked depth in story, character development, and thematic exploration. The linear narrative and inability to save or skip content make multiple playthroughs for achievements or alternative choices tedious and unrewarding.
- Immersion-Breaking & Tedious Experience (weight 0.73): Beyond specific mini-games, the overall gameplay experience was described as tedious, with slow dialogue pacing, awkward controls, and repetitive tasks. These elements, combined with technical issues like stuttering and crashes, frequently broke immersion and made the game uncomfortable or unenjoyable.
- Lack of Save Options (weight 0.73): The absence of manual save options and reliance on auto-save was a major point of frustration. This design choice hinders exploration of different narrative branches, makes achievement hunting difficult, and forces players to restart lengthy sections after errors or crashes.
- Difficult Puzzles & Lack of Guidance (weight 0.66): Some players found certain puzzles, particularly the phone call and early crafting sections, to be overly difficult or unclear without sufficient in-game guidance. This often led to frustration and reliance on external guides, disrupting the flow of the game.

Gameplay feedback:
- Narrative-driven with impactful choices (weight 0.42): The game is primarily a narrative-focused experience, often described as a visual novel or point-and-click adventure. It features extensive dialogue and branching choices that influence character interactions and story progression, though many players note that these choices ultimately lead to a single, predetermined ending.
- Core gameplay: Bartending & Mini-games (weight 0.28): A significant portion of the gameplay revolves around bartending, where players mix drinks to influence customer emotions and gather information. Other mini-games include pottery/sculpting for implants and making phone calls, which serve to advance the plot and immerse players in the world.
- Cyberpunk setting and themes (weight 0.12): The game is set in a dystopian cyberpunk future, exploring themes of corporate control, AI manipulation, and the impact of technology on human emotions and society. The 'Red Strings Club' itself is a central location for gathering intelligence and planning resistance.
- Puzzle-solving and investigation (weight 0.04): Beyond dialogue, the game incorporates elements of puzzle-solving and investigation, requiring players to uncover corporate conspiracies and deduce optimal solutions from character information. These puzzles are generally not overly complex but require thought.
- Minimalist pixel art style (weight 0.04): The game features a distinctive minimalist pixel art style. While some find it limiting in visual detail, others appreciate its artistic direction and how it contributes to the cyberpunk atmosphere.

Performance notes:
- Significant performance issues (weight 0.05): Many players report severe lag, freezing, and stuttering, making the game unplayable for some. This occurs even on powerful PCs, though some users found a specific file modification or restart could temporarily alleviate it.
- Low PC requirements (weight 0.04): Despite performance issues for some, many players note that the game generally runs well on very weak or 'potato' PCs, indicating low system demands.
- Achievements are bugged (weight 0.02): Players are experiencing issues with achievements not unlocking, particularly on the Linux version. This prevents players from fully completing the game's progression.
- Sound issues reported (weight 0.01): Some players are experiencing a complete lack of in-game sound. One user attempted a codec pack fix, which only worked temporarily.
- Steam Deck compatibility issues (weight 0.01): The game presents two noticeable issues when played on the Steam Deck, including difficulties with control configuration.

Recommendations:
- Highly Recommended Experience (weight 0.46): The game is widely recommended by players for its unique and meaningful narrative experience, often described as a masterpiece. Many suggest it's worth playing multiple times to fully appreciate its depth and diverse dialogues.
- Niche Appeal: Cyberpunk & Philosophy (weight 0.36): The game strongly appeals to fans of cyberpunk aesthetics, philosophical discussions, and deep, narrative-driven stories. It's particularly recommended for those who enjoy ethical dilemmas and pondering complex themes.
- Best on Sale (weight 0.34): While highly recommended, many players advise purchasing the game during a sale rather than at full price. It's considered excellent value when discounted, especially given its relatively short playtime.
- Comparison to VA-11 Hall-A (weight 0.08): Players frequently compare this game to VA-11 Hall-A, suggesting that fans of one will likely enjoy the other. However, some reviewers express a preference for VA-11 Hall-A for a more relaxing experience.
- Initial Slow Start & Mini-Games (weight 0.05): Some players found the initial segments, particularly the pottery mini-game, to be boring or clumsy. It is recommended to push past these early parts to get to the core experience, with some suggesting guides or watching playthroughs for these sections.
- Bartending Gameplay Mixed Reception (weight 0.03): The bartending aspect of the game receives mixed feedback. Some players enjoy it and even recommend a dedicated DLC, while others advise against the game if not interested in this specific gameplay mechanic.
- Consider Other Studio Titles (weight 0.01): Players who enjoyed this game are also encouraged to explore other titles from the same studio, such as 'Gods Will Be Watching', suggesting a consistent quality in their narrative-driven experiences.

Other player notes:
- Themes of Fate and Predetermination (weight 0.07): A central theme is the concept of predetermined destiny and the 'red strings of fate,' leading players to question the significance of their choices. The narrative often suggests that outcomes are unchangeable, creating a sense of unavoidable tragedy.
- Artistic Value Over Gameplay (weight 0.04): The game is highly valued for its artistic merit, including beautiful visuals, immersive music, and strong writing, often prioritized over traditional gameplay mechanics. It is seen as an unconventional and artistic experience.
- Akara's Hypocrisy Challenge (weight 0.03): The character Akara's accusations of player hypocrisy deeply resonated with many, forcing them to confront their own double standards and the complexities of human nature within the game's moral dilemmas.
- Expectations and Personal Choices (weight 0.02): Some players approached the game with very high expectations, which sometimes influenced their experience. Personal choices made during the game, such as the final 'I love you' option, were deeply felt and reflected upon.

Emotions:
- Satisfaction (weight 0.19): Players felt satisfied by the game's compelling and thought-provoking story, well-developed characters, and immersive atmosphere. The high-quality writing, music, art style, and philosophical themes, often with impactful endings and replayability, contributed significantly to a rich and enjoyable overall experience despite its concise length.
- Frustration (weight 0.1): Frustration stemmed primarily from poorly designed and repetitive mini-games, particularly the pottery and phone call segments, which often had clunky controls and lacked clear guidance. The absence of a free save system, especially for achievement hunting or replaying choices, and perceived deterministic narrative outcomes also contributed to player annoyance.
- Disappointment (weight 0.09): Disappointment was largely driven by the game's short length and a perceived lack of depth in gameplay, character development, or thematic exploration, often failing to meet high expectations. Players also expressed dissatisfaction with the single, predetermined ending despite branching choices, and a feeling that the narrative or philosophical discussions were shallow or preachy.
- Reflection (weight 0.06): Players experienced reflection due to the game's profound philosophical themes, moral dilemmas, and difficult choices that prompted self-examination. The narrative's exploration of concepts like free will, fate, love, human nature, and the implications of AI encouraged deep thought about personal values and societal issues, often leaving a lasting impact.
- Thoughtfulness (weight 0.05): Thoughtfulness arose from the game's complex philosophical questions, ethical dilemmas, and narrative choices that required careful consideration. Players engaged deeply with themes of human emotion, purpose, societal control, and the nature of truth, often leading to introspection and a re-evaluation of their own beliefs.
- Excitement (weight 0.05): Excitement was generated by the game's overall high quality, engaging plot twists, immersive world-building, and impactful choices. Players were thrilled by the compelling narrative, excellent soundtrack, and unique cyberpunk aesthetic, often leading to a desire for multiple playthroughs and strong recommendations.
- Admiration (weight 0.04): Admiration was directed at the game's masterful storytelling, philosophical depth, and artistic execution, including its pixel art, music, and atmosphere. Players praised the clever integration of mechanics with the narrative, the well-developed characters, and the game's ability to provoke profound thought and emotional resonance.
- Sadness (weight 0.04): Sadness was primarily caused by the game's predetermined tragic ending and the unchangeable fate of its characters, particularly the emotional impact of Brandis and Donovan's relationship. The melancholic atmosphere, themes of loss, and the inability to alter outcomes despite player choices contributed to a profound sense of sorrow.
- Appreciation (weight 0.04): Players appreciated the game's cool concept, evocative atmosphere, and deep, well-written story that explored complex ethical and humanistic themes. The concise yet impactful narrative, excellent music, unique pixel art, and thoughtful dialogue were highly valued for creating a memorable and thought-provoking experience.
- Love (weight 0.03): Love was expressed as a strong emotional connection to the game's narrative, characters (especially Donovan), and its core themes of human connection and romance. Players were deeply moved by specific emotional declarations and the overall impact of the story, leading to profound affection for the game.
- Awe (weight 0.02): Awe was inspired by the game's profound story, philosophical depth, and impactful ending that left a lasting impression. Players were stunned by plot twists, the artistic quality, and the game's ability to challenge their perspectives and evoke strong emotional responses, often considering it a masterpiece.
- Confusion (weight 0.02): Confusion arose from the jumping plot, unclear character relationships, and ambiguous philosophical themes, particularly regarding the ending and certain character motivations. Players also struggled with difficult puzzles, like the phone call segment, and internal conflicts regarding the game's moral dilemmas.
- Surprise (weight 0.01): Surprise stemmed from the game exceeding expectations, often due to unexpected depth in its story, philosophical themes, or romantic elements. Players were also surprised by significant plot twists, the high quality of the game, and the unexpected enjoyment derived from its unique elements.
- Enjoyment (weight 0.01): Enjoyment was derived from the game's engaging story, interesting mini-games, and overall cinematic experience. Players appreciated the cozy atmosphere, cyberpunk aesthetic, gorgeous pixel art, and great music, finding the bartending mechanics and character interactions particularly pleasant.
- Engagement (weight 0.01): Engagement was driven by the game's immersive atmosphere, philosophical themes, and interactive storytelling that compelled players to think deeply and explore the narrative. The impactful choices, intriguing mysteries, and desire to uncover the full story kept players hooked, often leading to multiple playthroughs.
- Melancholy (weight 0.01): Melancholy was a lingering feeling after the game's ending, caused by its themes of fate, loss, and the unchangeable, often tragic, outcomes. The melancholic atmosphere and the sense of a 'doomed but gentle elegy' contributed to a profound and lasting sadness, particularly regarding the characters' destinies.
- Regret (weight 0.01): Regret was felt over specific choices made in the game, particularly those that led to negative outcomes or missed opportunities to express love to characters. Players also regretted not playing the game sooner, dismissing it initially, or rushing through their first playthrough, especially due to the lack of a save/load system for exploring different paths.
- Emotional impact (weight 0.01): The game delivered a strong emotional impact through its compelling story, poignant ending, and profound themes. Players reported crying, feeling deeply empathetic, and experiencing a 'rollercoaster' of emotions, with the narrative leaving a lasting impression and causing deep reflection.
- Boredom (weight 0.01): Boredom was primarily caused by repetitive gameplay, especially during multiple playthroughs, and tedious mini-games like pottery and phone calls. The slow pace, old-fashioned gameplay, and perceived superficiality of themes also contributed to players losing interest towards the end.
- Introspection (weight 0.01): Introspection was prompted by the game's philosophical themes, difficult moral choices, and narrative elements that challenged players' beliefs and values. The game's ability to 'call out' players for perceived hypocrisy and its exploration of free will and self-discovery led to deep personal reflection.}