“Dear Clicker” by Robert Pfeiffer.
“[An] atmospheric virtual art product. […] Prepare to click a lot.”
If you ever wondered what “Dear Esther” as a clicker game would be like, then “Dear Clicker” will now give you the answer to your question. Raise your walking speed to explore the low poly island, collect coins to open a closed gate, use your money to listen to pre-recorded poems, get upgrades for your gaming experience and unlock the ending for just tens of thousands points!
What might seem at first glance to be a malicious joke against atmospherical exploration games – which it surely is to a point -, is in fact primarly a very clever and pleasing metagame, as “Dear Clicker” shows how important specific elements can be to create an atmosphere. For example, by unlocking a higher movement speed, you might get through the game faster, but it you will also explore and sense less of your environment. The slow walking in games like “Dear Esther” is important for the decelerated exploration, because there is a higher chance for you to find certain hidden details about the world you are in which you would possibly not catch when you just run from one narrative checkpoint to another.
The unlockable poems are also interesting, as they do not really correspond with the story and feel like a dispensable accessory. However, in “Dear Esther” the audio bits were a crucial part to understand the setting. In a way, “Dear Clicker” reverses the main elements of its inspiration and by doing so it shows off why they were included at all. >>PLAY
