Social Interaction Trainer
released on Nov 02, 2016
Learn how to conduct yourself in social situations with Social Interaction Trainer.
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This review contains spoilers
I gave up after getting stuck on the level where you have to repeatedly sexually harass your coworker.
still awkward did not work
YOU HAD ONE JOB
I still can't talk to people 0/10 bad game design
I still can't talk to people 0/10 bad game design
I can't rate this thing; just know I'm not a fan of it.
The worst part about Social Interaction Trainer is that all jokes aside, it's actually a really good idea. As someone who's on the higher end of the spectrum, I've grown up with adults trying to "fix" me in one way or another. I'm not going to go into detail, but it was only ever effective when I was being given basic advice that could have saved my sparse social life in the years beforehand. Giving a person like me at that age control of a virtual social situation without having to feel embarrassed about "not doing well" instead of having it be an imagined one would have worked wonders. If it's done well, it has the potential to let someone grow at their own pace.
That's not what this is.
Social Interaction Trainer is a cheap joke game that makes a jab at autism before you even have the opportunity to hit the "play" button. It's not an offensive joke, but it makes it clear right off the bat that this wasn't made in good faith. Social Interaction Trainer understands the basic, unwritten rules of socialization. It does not tell you them. By that definition, it fails at its job as something that might have an inkling of practical use. It expects you to keep bashing your head into a wall until you do things the way it wants you to. It will tell you "don't do this" when you fail when it would be more practical for it to say, "maybe try this instead." It's to the game's detriment that, viewed as the joke it's intended to be, it's not a very funny one. There isn't enough absurdity involved, and when things do get silly, it's exploring the minutiae of everyday life. I would normally be a fan of that, but it doesn't work out too well, given the circumstances. Perhaps it does get funny and goes to weird places. I wouldn't know. If it wanted to pack that kind of a punch, it had to be an immediate subversion of expectations. Otherwise, you've created an unfunny joke game with a barrier to entry for anyone who doesn't think and behave like you do. You're selling it on the pretense that somebody might be foolish enough to think it has any practical advice to give them. I normally wouldn't make a big fuss about the former, but when you're trying to form an audience that's either punching down or doesn't know they're the butt of a joke you're telling, you can go fuck off. It's dimwitted ideas like this that make the concept of radical honesty difficult to commit to. If I want to be in a better state of mind, I have to let go of my resentment. Easier said than done in a case like this.
About the best way I can describe this bland turd is that the funniest joke of all is the developer who, after making one of the Steam achievements require a Patreon subscription to get unlocked had a "disagreement" with Valve that led to them raising the price to over 100 dollars. Oh, but it's funny, right? He sure showed them! The game isn't on Steam anymore. But they got owned! The game isn't on the biggest digital storefront for PC gaming, not out of ignorance or malice, but misbehavior, lowering its visibility and ensuring that the developer will actively see fewer profits. Are you surprised that someone who made a game dedicated to punching down turned out to be a bit of a belligerent prick? I'm not.
The worst part about Social Interaction Trainer is that all jokes aside, it's actually a really good idea. As someone who's on the higher end of the spectrum, I've grown up with adults trying to "fix" me in one way or another. I'm not going to go into detail, but it was only ever effective when I was being given basic advice that could have saved my sparse social life in the years beforehand. Giving a person like me at that age control of a virtual social situation without having to feel embarrassed about "not doing well" instead of having it be an imagined one would have worked wonders. If it's done well, it has the potential to let someone grow at their own pace.
That's not what this is.
Social Interaction Trainer is a cheap joke game that makes a jab at autism before you even have the opportunity to hit the "play" button. It's not an offensive joke, but it makes it clear right off the bat that this wasn't made in good faith. Social Interaction Trainer understands the basic, unwritten rules of socialization. It does not tell you them. By that definition, it fails at its job as something that might have an inkling of practical use. It expects you to keep bashing your head into a wall until you do things the way it wants you to. It will tell you "don't do this" when you fail when it would be more practical for it to say, "maybe try this instead." It's to the game's detriment that, viewed as the joke it's intended to be, it's not a very funny one. There isn't enough absurdity involved, and when things do get silly, it's exploring the minutiae of everyday life. I would normally be a fan of that, but it doesn't work out too well, given the circumstances. Perhaps it does get funny and goes to weird places. I wouldn't know. If it wanted to pack that kind of a punch, it had to be an immediate subversion of expectations. Otherwise, you've created an unfunny joke game with a barrier to entry for anyone who doesn't think and behave like you do. You're selling it on the pretense that somebody might be foolish enough to think it has any practical advice to give them. I normally wouldn't make a big fuss about the former, but when you're trying to form an audience that's either punching down or doesn't know they're the butt of a joke you're telling, you can go fuck off. It's dimwitted ideas like this that make the concept of radical honesty difficult to commit to. If I want to be in a better state of mind, I have to let go of my resentment. Easier said than done in a case like this.
About the best way I can describe this bland turd is that the funniest joke of all is the developer who, after making one of the Steam achievements require a Patreon subscription to get unlocked had a "disagreement" with Valve that led to them raising the price to over 100 dollars. Oh, but it's funny, right? He sure showed them! The game isn't on Steam anymore. But they got owned! The game isn't on the biggest digital storefront for PC gaming, not out of ignorance or malice, but misbehavior, lowering its visibility and ensuring that the developer will actively see fewer profits. Are you surprised that someone who made a game dedicated to punching down turned out to be a bit of a belligerent prick? I'm not.
I only played the Itch.io demo of this game, but I wanted to make note that googum made two video games explicitly based on the Virginia Tech and Sandy Hook shootings. That is all.
Meh.