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0 Debtors’ Club is a game developed by mecagames and published by indie.io. The game puts you in the shoes of a debt collector working to make business pay their dues on time in a very corrupt and ruthless world. This may be through peaceful or more frowned upon methods. This game will make you question every decision made but also make you rethink your moral compass at every turn. The game is available now on PC and you can grab a copy of this on Steam for £12.79.
If only the inspector did his job!
Gameplay
Debtors’ Club has a very simple premise and your controls consist of the ENTER key and your mouse. The aim of the game? Collect tax money from your local businesses and make sure they pay the amount owed in as full as possible. This is done through a variety of methods such as challenging statements. Players can interrogate characters about their government records, or even sending some Paci-Fists their way. The third option being the most frowned upon and did have quite dire consequences! There are different scenarios which will make you look differently at each business. Whether the business has got any dodgy side deals and if there are any weird noise complaints in the area.
The game does have a story, while not very in depth it does a little bit more to a game that is very simple in terms of gameplay. I was quite intrigued to find out more about the corrupt town and my very own debt collections boss.
Every business you come across will make you do a roll dice check for each decision as you have to meet a minimum requirement to “pass” this check. This felt very random and there is not much you can do to influence this. Which results in you relying on the luck of the dice to pass each day, which can feel a little unfair at times.
Another pitfall of the game is you are just thrown into Debtors’ Club. There is a quick tutorial screen but it isn’t very easy to understand. This caused me a little bit of confusion before I actually figured out how the game works. Having some other visual aids would really help get someone into the game quicker!
Graphics & Audio
The graphics of Debtors’ Club have a funky charm to them that really suits the tone of the game. The art style comes across like a news article or comic a lot of the time which is something I am very fond of! The jazz music is a great addition and I did find myself humming along frequently while convincing a dodgy zoo manager to give over £20,000 to a good government cause.
The news section at the end of the day is also a nice touch. A lot of the games’ charm comes via very funny dialogue which saves the game from monotony.
Debtors’ Club does not struggle graphically. Although I did come across a few technical glitches which would stop me from progressing. One instance being it would not enable me to click certain options which meant I had to restart the game a few times. This made the experience of the game slightly less enjoyable. As it had disrupted the flow of the game.
Longevity
I spent a good few hours playing the game. There is a lot of replayability if you are happy doing very similar things each day with not much variety, apart from the few minigames which for me did not kick in till about 50 minutes. I found the game very ‘samey’. However if you’re a fan of games like Papers Please and would prefer something simpler, then Debtors’ Club is perfect for you!
Final Thoughts
Debtors’ Club overall is a good game if you want some funny, quirky and mindless fun. The music, dialogue and mini-games do keep the game fresh. Even though some dialogue between you, the debt collector and the business does quite often repeat. This can be expected from a game with rogue like elements but still could have been improved upon. The game has its ups and its downs but overall, it proves to be a great second game released by this developer. I think they’ve done a great job and can’t wait to see what they do to improve the game or what projects they work on next with all the feedback!
With all that taken into account I will be awarding Debtors’ Club the Silver Thumb Culture Award!
If you enjoyed this review, why not check out my last review!
Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this review.
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