Welcome to the Thirst Trap
If you are of a certain age like I am then I am sure that you can remember back in 99-00 when we went crazy for dating TV. Shows like Real World, Big Brother among others where groups of strangers come together to live in a house with no outside interactions allowed. Of course this led to drama, fights and even some late-night hook-ups, it was a mess; yet strangely addictive. The Crush House tasks players with living and participating in a dating show; not as a contestant but instead as a producer/cameraman.
In The Crush House players will play as Jae Jung; the new producer who is tasked with filming the interactions of four young thots who get to live it up in a Malibu mansion. Players will get to pick the cast for each season, each castmate has a list of likes and dislikes, as well as other info. Of course, the goal is to not put people that will all act like humans and be good roommates, no you want people who will cause drama, fight and f%#k. Its funny because I always assumed that the casting guys for the likes of Big Brother did just that, and now I am certain of it!
MSRP: $16.99
Platforms: PC
Price I’d Pay: $16.99
As the game begins and Jae picks the cast its explained that he is to never, NEVER speak to the talent. Weird rule, but I rolled with it; the first task was to film the cast emerging into the mansion. The game is played in a first-person perspective and honestly filming things (which is the main thing players will do in this game) feels a lot like the game Content Warning. Players will be able to zoom in and out as well as lock on to something to keep it in frame while rotating the camera for added effects. This is important because as Jae is filming players will have to appease various viewer types. Which means that certain things need to be in frame for the ratings to go up, if a player can get multiple types in the same shot, they will get an ‘on fire’ boost in ratings.
The various viewers are crazy, of course there are the ‘housewives’ but then there are the ‘wine moms’, plant lovers and even my favorite demo the butt lovers. The more ass that’s in frame the more points from those viewers, are the housemates drinking, well then, the ‘wine moms’ are sitting forward in their chairs. There are A LOT of categories but thankfully players will only have to work toward a few of them per episode. Which reminds me a season of The Crush House last for 7 days, and players will have to make sure they meet the objectives of keeping the viewers happy.
Players will have no control over the house mates themselves and instead will be able to earn money for running ads. These ads will run whenever the player isn’t actively filming and this money is important as it allows Jae to purchase props around the house. Things that you have all seen your favorite reality stars doing on those shows, a set of weights to work out, a frying pan for those that want to cook, but you can also place things to piss off housemates too. It’s actually really fun being able to mastermind a fight and then turn around and film it. Granted the fights here are all the typical ‘reality tv’ slap fights but they were funny each and every time.
The only thing that I really didn’t like about The Crush House is the fact that the contestants don’t have voices but instead players will have to read the speech bubbles. I get it, I understand why there is only text but I missed context to some fights and kisses because I didn’t get there in time. Also, when you are filming and keeping track of all the comments from the audience and trying to appease them that also doesn’t leave a lot of time to be able to really keep track of the contestant’s story. Even that wasn’t a big deal because The Crash House had its hooks in me.
The Crush House isn’t what it seems though, there is something sinister going on within the walls of this mansion and as players progress, they will quickly begin to see that something is amiss. I don’t want to give anything away but if you can’t meet your objectives the series is cancelled, Jae is told to film each of the castmates departing. But not by limo, no after each person sums up their experience in some vapid speech, they depart by jumping down a slide. Where does it go, well no one knows; but after each cast member leaves Jae is told that he is fired and is told to leave via the same slide. Upon waking up, players are treated as if everything is new to them, and if you pay attention there are a ton of footprints in the employee area but Jae is the only one there…very curious.
I can’t wait to be able to talk about this one in detail, it surprised me how much I liked it. Even if it kind of feels like a roguelite, I don’t care; being able to mastermind this show by picking the cast and placing things around to evoke emotions was fun, every. single. time. If you like dynamic games where you, the player will kind of set up the dominos and watch them fall I feel like you will be hard pressed to find a better game than The Crush House. Not only was it fun setting up the various shots and seeing things unfold amongst the various castmates but the mystery here is the real draw. Go into this one as blind as you can, you will thank me for it.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
