Not Tonight

Social commentary delivered with baseball bat subtlety, Not Tonight owes a huge debt to Papers, Please, but finds its own voice in the bit-parts of post-Brexit Britain.

Not Tonight is a surprisingly deep and engaging game that will suck you in. If you let it. Of course, the politics aren't to everybody's liking, but the game more than makes up for it with great wit, as it tackles - to an extent - deep subjects. The gameplay can be artificially difficult at times, but is still as engaging as the obvious inspiration: Papers, Please. Should you play Not Tonight? Yes, yes you should.

Some could critique it as being too on the nose, but the lack of subtlety feels genuine in this moment. I don't have enough of a personal insight into Brexit to know whether this is an accurate portrayal of Great Britain's current trajectory. Nevertheless, as an American I've been firsthand witness to enough radical injustices, prejudiced speech, and discrimination toward the least well-off among us to make what I've played believable, and to me that makes it a success in immersive storytelling.

Not Tonight is a simple yet effective game that is sure to resonate with anyone living through the chaos of Brexit.

Not Tonight is a bold puzzle game that's unafraid to shy away from very serious issues while delivering a strong narrative, cathartic gameplay loop and consistently pretty presentation

I was concerned with the game’s ability to establish its own individuality, and while I find that it has succeeded in doing this, that’s not enough to outweigh its many flaws. By the time I died at the end of the second chapter and realized I had to restart the game, I completely lacked any motivation or reason to do so.

Papers, Please in Brexit Britain, but at a higher price and not as fun. Feels like an opportunity wasted

Not Tonight is a good, solid game. The mechanics are fun, the characters are memorable, and the setting is well executed. However, for its satirical approach, it should have gone a few steps further, and taken the risk in order to become the truly biting, funny, and meaningful social commentary that it wants to be.

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Not Tonight is Papers, Please-like set in a post-Brexit GB; it sounds good, but it misses some points