Game Review: Billy's Game Show

By Al

Players: 1
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, XBox, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5

The spooky season is almost upon us, and that means plenty of horror-themed games for us to sink our teeth into. Billy's Game Show is a self-described stealth horror game that pits you against the titular antagonist that may or may not bear a slight resemblance to more animatronic-centered games. It's set to release soon on all major consoles by way of publisher Sometimes You, and we're going to be taking a look at it on the Nintendo Switch today. There's a lot to cover here, so let's get right to it!

I went into Billy's Game Show thinking that the story would be something reminiscent of Five Nights at Freddy's, or even Willie's Wonderland. I guess I have to admit that it does have elements of the aforementioned game and movie, but it really does its own thing as far as plot goes. This is usually the part of the review where I discuss what your tasks are, and why you're doing whatever it is that you're doing. The problem is that I'm still more than a bit confused as to what the plot of the game is. I know that there are generators you have to always keep running, switches you have to hit to unlock rooms, and Billy heads that you have to find in order to escape, but most of that I figured out on my own. There is an intro video from Billy himself that I can only assume explains most of this in a more direct way, but its audio is so garbled that I couldn't make out more than a few words of it at a time. Subtitles would've really helped, but I think the lack of direction is probably the least of this game's problems. Also, the game takes place in an industrial Saw-like area, not a play place/restaurant setting like either FNAF or Willy's Wonderland. Why this location is set up this way is something I guess left to the ages, but it's the first sign that we're going to be going on a very haphazard journey. Hopefully things get a bit more smoothed out by way of gameplay, which is what we're going to be discussing next.

Even though Billy's Game Show has the look and feel of a survival horror game, it barely plays like one. You're very limited in any offensive capabilities, and the game seems to want you to be stealthy, but it doesn't seem to be designed with that in mind. You also have a lives system, and there are no in-game saves at all. This is a one-and-done game, like classic consoles games of over three decades ago. Like I said earlier, your main goal is to acquire three Billy's heads, and you'll have to solve a lot of puzzles to get to them. This would actually not be all too hard of a task if it weren't for the need to keep the three generators constantly running. At the start of the game, and for every five minutes or so thereafter, you must go back to the generator room near the start to flip a switch. I guess the developers wanted to steal the energy mechanic from Five Nights at Freddy's, but created something that is absolutely annoying to keep track of. You also have a limited inventory, with you not really knowing what items you'll need for any specific situation. You can drop items, but I always feared that they'd disappear since I don't trust this game's stability. There also seem to be several useless items, like the starting lantern, that just seem to exist to distract you. The entire game feels barely put together, and I wouldn't be surprised to learn that many of its elements were created separate from each other.

I mentioned earlier that the game seems to be centered on stealth, but that's mainly because the eShop description says it is. I couldn't find a single moment where stealth actually mattered. Scattered throughout the game are lockers and boxes you can hide in, and you also have the ability to crawl and move slowly to escape from Billy. The problem is that the world is made up of a series of dozens of small interconnected rooms, with no actual indication of where Billy is until he starts attacking you. (Yes, I know the music changes, but you know what I mean.) How you're supposed to hide from him is something I never figured out, as he always pulled me out of whatever hiding spot I was in. This is probably due to the fact that you're locked into whatever area Billy found you in, so getting caught by him means almost certain death. After a while I figured that I'd just move as fast as possible and hope that RNG was on my side. You can eventually create something like safe rooms with the use of an item, or even attempt to fight him off, but it's annoying being armed in the very same way he is, but not being able to use your items to actually attack. Oh, and you do a life bar of sorts, with three hits available by default, but managing that is only important for traps as Billy will simply kill you once he finds you. There are also traps in this game of course, and some of the worst first-person platforming you'll ever see this side of Metroid Prime. Traps come in the form of saw blades, spikes, and bombs, as well as whatever nonsense is unleashed when the generators power down. Speaking of that eventuality, you respawn in the room next to them, but can still take damage while fixing the issue, this means you can actually die twice if your generators fail.

This review is about halfway done, and it's clearly going towards one that’s mediocre at best, or even slightly negative at worst. The weird thing is that my opinions seem to be in the minority. While trying to figure out how one is supposed to actually beat the game, I stumbled across reviews and playthroughs for the Steam version that apparently released earlier this year. Imagine my amazement when every review I came across was positive, sometimes even offering glowing praise. I'm not sure what game they were playing, but I even saw them use some of my same negative points as positives, and still die repeatedly through failed stealth mechanics during their own published playthroughs. I don't want to claim that anything nefarious is afoot, but it was really strange seeing people be head over heels for this game, and not seeing a single negative response. Anyhow, I eventually did beat the game thanks to looking up some of those playthroughs, and it was then that I realized that the entire experience is actually extremely short once you know what to do. Most of the challenge is bad Billy RNG, not knowing what you're supposed to do early on, and having to manage those damn generators. Though this review may seem like that "one dentist out of ten" that doesn't like the toothpaste, I want to state that I stand by everything I said so far, and will say by the end.

I'm going to cover both visuals and audio together, as I don't really have a lot to say about either. Billy's Game Show somehow manages to look more boring than scary, as much of the world is made up of similar-looking rooms and hallways that are filled with a random assortment of junk. There's a definite "asset-flip" look to most things, and nothing ever feels "real" or lived in. Why is there a room that has two toilets in it side by side? Is that supposed to be a bathroom? Why are the party and game rooms among the smallest to be found in the game? Why do the central walls seem to be moving at all times? Why does the game lack falling animations and instead simply places you on the floor where you would've landed? These questions are never answered, but they all come together give the game a cheap look that has nothing at all to do with the dated graphics. Sound isn't any better, as the music is so forgettable that it might as well be non-existent. There wasn't a single time it set the right mood, and it actually ruined the atmosphere more than once. I'm not even sure it was created specifically for this game. Then there's the lack of subtitles I mentioned earlier, as I wasn't able to clearly understand a single line of dialogue the game threw at me. Even the game's menus and title screens look basic and boring, and it almost feels like they're trying to make the game not look good at that point. It's honestly hard to find anything positive to say, except for maybe that it ran fine on the Nintendo Switch.

I promise that I'm not trying to be particularly hard on Billy's Game Show, but I'm finding it difficult to think of things about the game that worked for me. There isn't even much horror as the sound design in general doesn't really allow for it. The music builds tension, and there were several potential jump scares that were ruined by bad music stings. The sheer variety of ways the developer dropped the ball is actually somewhat impressive. Then there's the fact that you can't even save the game, so each playthrough just becomes a game of min/maxing only what needs to be done. Never mind that learning what needs to be done will take a run or two of mindless trial and error. I guess that can be enjoyable to some players, but I personally didn't find it to be fun at all. There does seem to be a good game here, and it's sad that it never comes close to its potential. Some subtitles for the spoken bits, a retooling of the generator mechanic, and some changes to your character's offensive abilities would've done wonders for the game, and that's just for starters. As it stands currently, this feels like a broken and/or incomplete game that probably can't be fixed by patches alone.

You can easily beat Billy's Game Show in under an hour if you know what you're doing (or if you look up a walkthrough online), but you'll spend far more time wondering where you're actually supposed to go, and what it is that you're supposed to do. The lack of a save system means you'll always be playing from the game's starting point, and I personally think that limits the game's replayability. Why go back to something that keeps no record at all of your previous runs? I'd be far more forgiving if this console release retained its Steam price point. There you can get the game for a very reasonable $3.99. Asking $9.99 for this, simply because it's on consoles, just feels wrong. This game lacks anything resembling polish, and there are plenty of games at that price point that offer for more bang for your buck.

At the end of the day, I don't think I can give Billy's Game Show any sort of recommendation. It's not really a survival horror game, it's not really a stealth game, and it's not very fun either. It's a budget title that somehow feels overpriced, and it's full of odd gameplay choices that seems to rely on RNG and the patience of the player. I don't think there was a second of my time with the game where I felt I wasn't wasting my time, and I only completed it for the sake of this review. My advice is to skip it altogether, or at least only pick it up if it's on a steep sale. See you in the next one.

Check Out Billy's Game Show on Nintendo Switch:
https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/billys-game-show-switch/

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Story: C
Gameplay: C-
Graphics: C
Music/Sound: C
Value: C

Overall: C

Pros:
+ The concept of the game looks great on paper, and it does deliver on some of the puzzle-based aspects.
+ Billy as a character seems like he could head a decent game.
+ It runs well on the Switch, and there is a charm of sorts to its visuals.
+ Isn't all that difficult once you know what to do. One can probably speedrun it if they have the patience.

Cons:
- Not really a survival horror game, and not really a stealth game. This is a title that doesn't really get any of its genre influences right.
- The generator mechanic seems pointless tacked on, and managing them make an otherwise short game feel extremely padded out.
- Though the core game is very short, you'll spend plenty of time wandering around lost and confused as to what to do next.
- I'm not joking when I say that the game's dialogue is near incomprehensible, and the lack of subtitles doesn't do it any favors.
- Billy being able to basically insta-kill you once he shows up feels very cheap.
- The presence of a lives system, and the lack of any in-game saves, make this feel like retro hard game in all the wrong ways.

A copy of this game was provided to us free-of-charge by the publisher for the purpose of this review. This did not affect our review in any way.

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No I don't want to play a game...

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