Beer Machine is a free Horror Game on Steam, in which you play as a child, who has to continuously get more beer for his father, whatever it takes. The game combines Horror and Alcoholism and there are even Mascot Horror elements present. This in my opinion is a very interesting premise for a Horror Game.
The game consists mostly of beer getting missions for the alcoholic father and flashback dreams. Those flashback scenes often mix what could be real memories of the protagonist with Mascot Horror sequences, where you get chased by a dog person. It’s not entirely clear if those scenes are real or just part of the imagination of the player. It is possible that he just developed those dream like sequences as a copying mechanism to deal with the abuse he faces from his family. I however like the idea of having those Mascot Horror sequences without committing to it fully and leaving it up to the player to decide what kind of Horror Game he sees this as.
Beer Machine consists mostly of atmospheric Horror and rarely uses jumpscares to create a threatening atmosphere. I do think that direction fit the game and its theme well. It’s mostly a very linear game. There was only 1 mission that allowed you to choose one of two alternative paths, which however lead to the same result. Beer Machine also doesn’t feature multiple endings, but it offers 3 relatively easy Steam Achievements.
I did like the atmosphere and theme of the game, but let’s also talk about the weakspots of this game. Item interactions in Beer Machine are too clunky. You often have to stand at exactly the right point to interact with objects in this game. It feels very unprecise and frustrating.
Additionally the pace of the game is also too slow. The game might only be around 30 minutes long, but unfortunately there are a couple of glitches present. The game has no checkpoints. I once got stuck permanently in an object and another time my game just crashed. This meant I had to replay the same sections of the game multiple times and it painfully showed me, that the walking speed of the protagonist is simply too slow. It makes sense to not want to break the immersion by being able to run too fast, but the protagonist unfortunately moves at a snails pace across the world. The same goes for the TV sequences. I don’t dislike their inclusion, but you can’t skip them and sometimes you have to watch for 10-15 seconds without anything actually happening on screen. That’s just bad pacing.
The Visuals are also nothing special, but comparable to a lot of other Indie Horror Games. I did like the voice acting, however. The father in particular was voiced quite well.
Result:
Beer Machine has a very interesting premise. You don’t often see a Horror Game mixing themes like Alcoholism and Family Abuse with Mascot Horror sequences. It’s the kind of thing you probably only get to experience in an Indie Game. That being said, the gameplay unfortunately holds Beer Machine back. The Walking Speed is simply too slow, interactions are too clunky. The pacing overall isn’t good and there are too many glitches present. It might still be worth a look, if you also find the concept of the game interesting. Beer Machine is only an okay game, but it had the potential to actually be good.
5.5/10
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