Hey friends! Hope you’re doing well!
I realize I haven’t made a single post about video games, which is super funny because they used to be the core of what I enjoyed for a very long time. Life happens and you just don’t play games like you used to when you were younger and had infinite free time, y’know? Maybe I’m only speaking for those who grew up with video games. So if you don’t relate to that, I understand.
I wanted to talk about Spy Party and how much I love it because I feel like it doesn’t get enough love. Especially nowadays since it’s been in early access beta for what feels like forever but has been covered by larger content creators in the past. It’s not as prevalently talked about today and I feel like that’s a crime. I get an itch to play this game every once and a while and the amount I play it is honestly not enough. So let’s get into the whys, shall we?
What’s the premise?
In Spy Party, it works a lot like a hidden role game between multiple players, except there are only just two people who play: The person who plays the spy and the person who plays the sniper. The premise of the game is that there is a party going on, and amongst the partygoers, there is a spy. The spy’s goal is to complete a set amount of missions within a time limit and not be suspicious. The sniper has one bullet and by observing the party, has to sus out the spy. If you aren’t familiar with hidden role games, everyone usually gets a specific role with a secret goal that is hidden from the other players. In this case, the only “hidden role” element is for the sniper.
Why I love it
Not only does it have hidden role elements, which I love, but it’s a two-player game. I do love group dynamic games, but when you just wanna have fun in an intimate setting, it’s really good for that. You can have fun with this game, whether you’ve known the person for five minutes or five years.
I’ve mostly played with my best friend, but we add a lot of other stuff along with it. Such examples being creating a fake love story with your seduction target and asking vague Guess Who? style questions based on their appearance like, “Does this person pretend to be handy and boast to all their friends, but everything they touch breaks?” or “Does this person commit tax fraud?” (actual questions we’ve asked each other in our recent session).
It’s complex enough to worry about a lot of things, but once you get the hang of it from both sides, you can add your own fun to it as well!
I also really love the new character models. I know they didn’t always look like that and they more or less used to look like the current bartender/security guard models. However, I do really like the direction they went with that. I think it makes the characters look more fun to pick and choose from when you’re the spy and attach your own little personality to each one of them and how they act. I love how inclusive the cast is as well. It includes not only people of different races/ethnicities but religions, backgrounds, and ages.
From the spy end of things, completing the missions are actually fun. Never mundane, and you can do them all in a different order and approach every single time so the gameplay doesn’t get old. I especially like the contact double agent mission where you get to say “Banana bread” as the code word. My friend group got a real kick out of that when we started memeing the heck out of it (mostly my best friend Liz).
Another mission I like is the purloining of the guest list. I don’t know why. It’s just fun and easy.
From the sniper vision, it is very hard to keep track of things, but lowlighting/highlighting people is the best feature of the game, I’d say. It helps you rule out people who aren’t suspicious and highlight those that are. You can also know who is the ambassador/potential double agents and that’s very helpful in keeping track of when the contact is called or missions relating to the ambassador may or may not have been done.
The maps are gorgeous. Every time I go into the game they add a new one since I don’t play that often, but I love the versatility and varying difficulty in each map. It keeps the game fresh and gives you some sweet new visuals to look at (when you’re not distracted by completing missions or shooting people).
The PC controls really aren’t that invasively weird. They all make sense. I’m sure you can change them but I’m chill with the defaults. I know this game is on Steam but is it on console? I doubt it since it’s still in beta but I’m sure controller compatibility would be easy for this game, especially for a joystick. That would be pretty optimal for moving your spy.
And I’ll wrap it up there. Now, for what I hope will be added/changed in the future! I don’t know if the developers will ever read this, but this is constructive criticism. I love the game already, and would be satisfied (mostly) with what we have! So take my suggestions as you can!
Future
I don’t know what the future of this game is, but here are some of my suggestions.
My #1 thing that I want, and that I think is totally obtainable and likely in the works, is slapping a character model on Toby and Damon. Gosh, they just look so out of place! Even if it’s just a bland character model so they still don’t stand out amongst the guests, I would be fine with that! Or even a rotating bartender/security guard character model so they’re not the same character at every party, like how the party is set up right now. Maybe like four or five? I don’t know.
I do think the swap statue mission is super hard for the spy to get away with. Maybe there should be a delay on when the sniper sees the switch instead of in real-time? Now that I think about that, it might be a dumb idea, but I’m thinking of both perspectives (kinda). I do like the interpret statues mission, though.
More maps = good. I think the cast is perfect. Maybe more missions? That is less so.
A cool idea I think would be awesome is a story mode or just a backstory for the guests, since I noticed they kinda have code names? Maybe it can be expanded to a full hidden role game with one person as the sniper and then roles distributed to each cast member who is playing with a certain backstory/motivation. That can even be expanded to the main game on why they became a spy if they are chosen, and the same for double agents/ambassadors. It might be a lot of writing work but I think it could be attainable with the right people involved. But maybe include a feature for it to be turned off because I know people like to self-insert.
Concluding Thoughts
Overall, I love this game. Eventually, I do want it to get out of early access beta and become a full game, but I know the team is quite small and they’re doing their best. I’m so proud of them! They made a kickass game so far and I can’t wait to see it evolve and become something more!
If anyone is interested, it’s on Steam right now and I believe it’s 15 or 20 USD? I can’t remember at the moment!
Let me know if you’re interested in this game! Have you played it? Are you not interested? Or is it something up your alley? I’d love to write more about video games, and I might for future posts depending on what strikes my fancy.
I hope you have a good day/night/morning/evening/afternoon or whatever time it is for you. Much love! Cheers!
mosaicboy's Interest Nook 