1 
0 The latest title from developers and publisher Bad Vices Games is a psychological horror kitchen management game. Yes, you read that correctly. While We Wait Here has players running a small-town diner during a catastrophic storm. Run a business and learn more about the pasts of your patrons? Easy!
While We Wait Here releases today (October 23rd) available on Steam, Epic Games, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch for £4.49. For players who may be sensitive, please note that this game does have a Mature rating. The game contains scenes of violence, blood, alcohol consumption, and strong language. However, none of this is shown in this review.
While We Wait Here – Diner Dash Meets The End of The World
Some players may have tried the 20-minute demo on Steam and others may be experiencing this title with brand-new eyes. With that being said, will a kitchen-management psychological horror game be an essential title in your gaming library? Read on to find out.
Gameplay
As mentioned previously, While We Wait Here is a kitchen management game with psychological horror themes. The game has choose-your-own-adventure dialogue options and multiple endings. Players will either play as Nora or Cliff during the game. Players also get to experience the perspectives of the customers, experiencing their world and the stories they discuss when visiting the diner.
The opening scene starts with you playing as Cliff, who runs the Lone Glass diner alongside his wife Nora. The entirety of the game is played in first-person view, experiencing the world of each character from their point of view. Cliff is changing the batteries to the TV, which is reporting the news of a storm fast approaching. However, this just seems like background noise to everyone, and could be missed by players too. There are two customers in the diner; Hank, the local farmer and regular customer of the Lone Glass, and the other a stranger. Hank tells Cliff and Nora about the recent break-in at this farm and his missing cow. The stranger sitting at the booth brings attention to himself through loud cursing and erratic behaviour. At the behest of Nora, you go over to check on him.
Now the work begins
This is where players are introduced to the kitchen-management aspect of the game. Your first task? To serve this stranger a glass of whiskey (it’s 5 PM somewhere, I guess). Write a ticket of the order, grab a glass, then the whiskey bottle, and serve it. You are then introduced to the choose-your-own-adventure mechanic. Once you serve the stranger, Nora discusses the potential properties they are considering buying. This gives context to these characters whose dreams are to move on from the diner life and begin anew. After some more erratic behaviour from the stranger and serving of burgers, there is a sudden shift in tone and you learn there is more to the story than just some folks in a diner. It’s through some of these dialogue options, that the game decides if you play as Nora or as Cliff for your playthrough.
The Dining Experience
One thing that this game does well is remove the aspect of failing. The kitchen-management gameplay is fairly simple. You don’t have to worry about taking too long to serve a customer or burning a dish. The most you have to worry about is juggling inventory, as you only have access to 4 slots. As a result, this means you may have to put some ingredients back if you overcrowd yourself by being overly productive.
Bad Vices Games uses the kitchen management mechanic as more of a tool to learn about your patrons. It’s merely a device to move the plot along. It also allows players to act as a fly on the wall whilst the story unfolds in the background. Whilst some may think what’s the point of having this mechanic without it being a challenge, I found it to be a relaxing element to the game. It offers a welcome break from the strong themes, and further reiterates that these are just ordinary people going through an extraordinary phenomenon.
Graphics & Audio
For this review, I played While We Wait Here on PC via Steam. I experienced minimal framerate and graphical issues. In fact what shines the most in this game are its graphics. They are reminiscent of old PlayStation games, just with better lighting and atmosphere. The design captures the warmth of a small-town diner with the impending doom of the apocalypse swiftly approaching.
The music composed by Federico Manuppella, contains tracks that are both hauntingly eerie and calming, matching the overall theme of the game. The soundtrack comes in at very pivotal plot moments, creating an overall sense of unease. Throughout the game, players also experience the environment through the detailed sound effects. You can hear strong winds in the background, the electrical low buzzing of appliances, the clattering of cutlery, and the sizzling of food. All wonderfully immersive details that almost allows you to forget the world might be ending.
All the characters in the game were voice-acted, which was unexpected but a delight. The weight of the story would have been completely lost if players had to read through the dialogue. All the actors played their roles extremely well and really should pat themselves on the back for their respective performances.
There are a variety of settings available such as adjusting each audio track. Players can also adjust the visual graphics to their liking, such as the pixelation intensity and film grain. There are also colour-blindness options to choose from, as well as adjusting their intensity levels.
Longevity
While We Wait Here is not a long game; playing through the story will take under three hours. However, due to the choose-your-own-adventure aspect, players may find that they would want to replay the game to find alternate endings. As you’d expect, these alternate endings are dependent on the dialogue options chosen throughout your playthrough. There are 16 achievements to earn, with 75% being earned during your first playthrough.
Final Thoughts
While We Wait Here is an interesting combination of game genres that works surprisingly well. Bad Vices Games has done a great job in creating interesting well-written characters, all fighting their own demons and complex issues. The game tackles heavy topics, so players who might not have the best mental fortitude may want to take breaks from playing or wait till they are in a better headspace. The story and the themes can be quite bleak, with it having a Mature rating. The grainy and pixelated graphics are reminiscent of the nostalgia of horror games on the original PlayStation and PlayStation 2 consoles and are a delight to experience. This is seemingly becoming a popular choice in game design, as we have seen it in games such as Crow Country and the anticipated Sorry, We’re Closed title.
Final Final Thoughts
What I most enjoyed was the fact that you not only experienced the stories of Cliff and Nora, but also the other patrons. Getting to experience the protagonist’s plight but also the secondary characters reminds me of games such as Fahrenheit/Indigo Prophecy for the PlayStation 2. You experience everyone’s point of view, which aids you in the choices you make.
Without any spoilers, the game almost feels like you play through the canon events or core memories of the patrons, which range from a variety of emotions and personal traumas, and you offer advice in the hopes that it eases them. The idea of setting this story in a diner works extremely well, as whether or not you are a stranger or a regular, something is comforting in divulging the intricacies of life to random strangers you may never meet again. The world is ending, but everyone’s problems are bigger than that and it’s all-consuming.
For psychological horror gamers this is a must-buy. It’s easy to get into, and quick to complete but is also budget-friendly with a £4.49 price tag.
I am happy to award While We Wait Here a Thumb Culture Platinum Award.
Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this review.
If you would like to add more horror games to your library during the Halloween festivities, check out Alex’s review on FAITH.
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