Oh, Billy. The loveable blood-stained spawn of Kermit the Frog and Grover, known for his fondness of human flesh, has created a twisted game show and our plucky protagonist just so happens to be the latest contestant. To escape Billy’s compound, you’ll need to avoid sawblades strung to crude DIY constructions, hunt for items and switches, and keep three generators ticking over. It’s a task that doesn’t so much call for speedy reactions and lateral thinking, but simply a passion for searching rooms thoroughly. If you play Bethesda RPGs with a kleptomaniac mindset, you may have an advantage.
A three-story circular industrial building provides the setting, with Billy making his debut in a threatening manner while outlining the faux game show premise. The ground floor houses three generators – powered by gas, water, and electricity – that you’ll need to activate to progress. This entails nothing more than flicking switches and spinning handles, making for an opening that doesn’t exactly engage. You’ll need to occasionally return to the generator room to keep them operational. Fail to do so, and the adjacent locations will gradually fill with gas or water. Although this doesn’t do much to create a sense of tension or urgency, it does provide a much-needed diversion – because there isn’t much going on elsewhere.
The upper two levels feature six rooms of varying size and complexity, ranging from a maze to a faux supermarket, most of which are filled with arbitrary objects. Also found within these rooms are a bunch of items required to progress, including a hammer that can rip planks off doors and a screwdriver that can loosen air vent covers. You’ll need to locate every item available and use them appropriately to escape. This calls for backtracking, in addition to remembering what’s needed where. Assisting with keeping a mental note, each room is numbered. Switches are another thing to look out for, all of which must be found and flicked to unlock a room containing one of three keys required to unlock the exit.
While hunting for items – and coming across several dead ends and locked rooms – Billy will occasionally make an appearance, giving chase. Your options are to run, hide in lockers, or fight back – with a bolt gun added to the inventory after making headway. Escaping Billy’s clutches never feels crucial as a generous number of extra lives are given, especially for the short 1 hour (approx.) runtime. It seems inevitable that Billy will grab you at some point, and the fact that the room entrances close when he’s around makes survival negligible. You may as well succumb to his death grip and carry on. A few ‘jump scares’ feature, and Billy himself is appropriately menacing, but it doesn’t seem entirely deserving of the 18+ age rating.
It’s presented nicely enough – the lighting effects are decent, the UI is readable, and each item in the inventory has a pleasingly daft description. It still comes across as an odd proposition though, with zero replay value and no puzzle solving elements. Once you’ve discovered where each item can be found, it can be finished quickly and effortlessly – quite possibly without even having to reactivate the generators more than once. Nothing here is fundamentally flawed, but that doesn’t prevent it from feeling as limp as a puppet without a hand shoved inside it.
Billy’s Game Show is developed by CH757/Key and out 4th September on consoles. A PC version launched earlier this year. Published by Sometimes You.