Be gay and do crimes, in the 90s.
Young 90s kid Ali comes home to her mom's video store to discover that loan sharks are threatening to possess the store and sell it to VideoVille/Blockbuster. Just as she's falling into despair over her sheer emotional helplessness, she encounters strange but charming con man named Ted. Seeing a kindred spirit, Ted quickly takes Ali under his wing and gets her to abandon band camp on a cross-country heist. Can she earn the money in time to save the video store and prevent corporate buyout??
I could see why someone wouldn't like the Big Con. Its jokes are sort of small chuckles and eye-roll inducing puns. The gameplay is pretty simple: walk around listening to people and then get them what they want. All fetch quests really, interspersed with short pick-pocket minigames. There were a number of glitches that made certain quest lines seemingly come to a halt. It could be perceived as weird 90s nostalgia.
But god, I adored this game. I was happy to get lost in its aesthetics and world. While each level only requires you to get a certain amount of money, I dedicated myself to completely clearing out maps (which can take a good hour or so). There's so much heart and care put into the entire game. As you sneak up on your victims, you can read little quips and jokes they'll casually spout off, usually complete nonsense. But sometimes, you watch an entire arc happen to these random colorful npcs. In one level, you have a happy couple. In another, you hear them both realize this relationship isn't working anymore. Finally, you pick-pocket one of them as he tries to get back out there. There's subtle character building through the mechanics too. During the train level, you can encounter two women in the (rich) dining car. One women with nearly $500 to steal asks if her companion can pay for lunch. The other, with $20 to steal, groans a little but gives in. That whole relationship is just instantly explained in seconds.
But the heart of the game is Ali. Even beyond the financial issues, you get this great picture of a young girl struggling to figure out the next phase of her life. On one hand, she wants to be taken seriously and take on bigger responsibilities. But she's also a kid who desperately craves someone to tell her everything's gonna be okay, while covering that up with dumb puns and jokes. You have different options to learn about her daily struggles too. Random payphones in game give you the chance for her to call various people. And watching her spiral into a mess of "look, I didn't mean to make things weird- I didn't ACTUALLY mean I love you" on her uncomfortably distant friend's answering machine is just so crushing and tells you so much about her. She's endlessly endearing on so many levels.
The 90s aesthetics work way better than anticipated. As much as its possible to fall into nostalgia bait (there IS a mode that adds a laugh track), the game leans into the goofiness when it needs to and doesn't let the aesthetic be the only thing the game has to offer. It would be easy for the game to try and feel nostalgia for Blockbusters, but instead it focuses on the Mom and Pop stores bought out by Blockbusters/Starbucks/etc. I think that distinction is really important. Its not just surface level vibes, its the heart underneath that matters. This is even apparent in the game's options menu. Various accessibility options are offered and the game lists off different accessibility organizations and mental health advocates among their staff. There's just good intentions throughout this.
I think what I especially appreciate about this game is how... complete it feels. So many games fall into the trap of getting too ambitious for their premise and end up with weird pacing or too quick an ending as the budget runs out. The steam page promises a 90s teen movie and it really feels like that. A standalone adventure with a beginning, middle, and end. I dropped six to seven hours into it and I bet most people could do it in four if they didn't do the extra stuff. Its a perfect little one or two afternoons game. Probably would've been on my 2021 game of the year list. I think its at least worth looking at.
Deep Rockapella voice: "Da Big Con"
Young 90s kid Ali comes home to her mom's video store to discover that loan sharks are threatening to possess the store and sell it to VideoVille/Blockbuster. Just as she's falling into despair over her sheer emotional helplessness, she encounters strange but charming con man named Ted. Seeing a kindred spirit, Ted quickly takes Ali under his wing and gets her to abandon band camp on a cross-country heist. Can she earn the money in time to save the video store and prevent corporate buyout??
I could see why someone wouldn't like the Big Con. Its jokes are sort of small chuckles and eye-roll inducing puns. The gameplay is pretty simple: walk around listening to people and then get them what they want. All fetch quests really, interspersed with short pick-pocket minigames. There were a number of glitches that made certain quest lines seemingly come to a halt. It could be perceived as weird 90s nostalgia.
But god, I adored this game. I was happy to get lost in its aesthetics and world. While each level only requires you to get a certain amount of money, I dedicated myself to completely clearing out maps (which can take a good hour or so). There's so much heart and care put into the entire game. As you sneak up on your victims, you can read little quips and jokes they'll casually spout off, usually complete nonsense. But sometimes, you watch an entire arc happen to these random colorful npcs. In one level, you have a happy couple. In another, you hear them both realize this relationship isn't working anymore. Finally, you pick-pocket one of them as he tries to get back out there. There's subtle character building through the mechanics too. During the train level, you can encounter two women in the (rich) dining car. One women with nearly $500 to steal asks if her companion can pay for lunch. The other, with $20 to steal, groans a little but gives in. That whole relationship is just instantly explained in seconds.
But the heart of the game is Ali. Even beyond the financial issues, you get this great picture of a young girl struggling to figure out the next phase of her life. On one hand, she wants to be taken seriously and take on bigger responsibilities. But she's also a kid who desperately craves someone to tell her everything's gonna be okay, while covering that up with dumb puns and jokes. You have different options to learn about her daily struggles too. Random payphones in game give you the chance for her to call various people. And watching her spiral into a mess of "look, I didn't mean to make things weird- I didn't ACTUALLY mean I love you" on her uncomfortably distant friend's answering machine is just so crushing and tells you so much about her. She's endlessly endearing on so many levels.
The 90s aesthetics work way better than anticipated. As much as its possible to fall into nostalgia bait (there IS a mode that adds a laugh track), the game leans into the goofiness when it needs to and doesn't let the aesthetic be the only thing the game has to offer. It would be easy for the game to try and feel nostalgia for Blockbusters, but instead it focuses on the Mom and Pop stores bought out by Blockbusters/Starbucks/etc. I think that distinction is really important. Its not just surface level vibes, its the heart underneath that matters. This is even apparent in the game's options menu. Various accessibility options are offered and the game lists off different accessibility organizations and mental health advocates among their staff. There's just good intentions throughout this.
I think what I especially appreciate about this game is how... complete it feels. So many games fall into the trap of getting too ambitious for their premise and end up with weird pacing or too quick an ending as the budget runs out. The steam page promises a 90s teen movie and it really feels like that. A standalone adventure with a beginning, middle, and end. I dropped six to seven hours into it and I bet most people could do it in four if they didn't do the extra stuff. Its a perfect little one or two afternoons game. Probably would've been on my 2021 game of the year list. I think its at least worth looking at.
Deep Rockapella voice: "Da Big Con"