By Lewis Holmes
And other words that Clive Palmer doesn’t seem to understand
“The Humble Meme Merchant” (THMM) is a side-scrolling adventure classic, drawing from the gameplay of Super Mario Bros 1998 and the graphics style common to some of classic naughties platforms Kongregate and Newgrounds.
The only incentive to complete the 10 Stage Story Mode, is unlocking “High Score Mode”, which I believe is poorly named because it does not actually track your high score in any meaningful way, nor is there a leaderboard of others (solidifying that I really might be the only person to have ever finished the game).
The decision to have separate appendages from the body of the Clive Palmer sprite creates very unpredictable interactions with the enemies in-game, creating very frustrating moments where you “Definitely didn’t hit cockroach Shorten”.
THMM is not a good game. I am embarrassed to admit that the first few levels were engaging, the art style was creative and, in the same vein as my favourite game of all time (Portal), each level appeared to introduce a new type of challenge. Moving blocks, SeeSaw like platforms, interactive but non-fatal enemies are introduced in Adelaide – I really thought this game had potential. Any ingenuity is totally absent by the fourth or fifth stage (out of ten!)– and I can’t blame the developers, I really think they wanted to make something fun but knew that the first few levels are all the sane public would be likely to engage in.
If this game was meant to be a platform to present election commitments, which you get at the end of every level – it does it poorly. Levels are hard and unforgiving which disincentivises the easy spread of the election commitments and (sometimes) regional criticism based on the level and the area it relates to. If that’s what this game was meant to do, I give it 2 Tim Tams.
Gameplay: 0 Tim Tams.
If this game were, heaven forbid, just a propaganda machine to create some chatter and downloading of a silly app then I obviously give it the maximum score of 18 Tim Tams, a whole family pack. This game has got people talking. Whether it’s about data safety concerns, the unflattering and genuinely rude of prominent public figures, or just how it’s a bad game – it has people talking. But Clive, the game’s about you, sit down be humble.
