It's exactly like Secret Santa except the object is to give a terrible game you think your person will hate.
Last year people thought the $15 pricecharting value was too high, so this year I am lowering it.
Your game must have a minimum value of $10 based on Price charting for a game in similar condition. (If it's on the cusp, take a screenshot for proof). That makes things interesting so that we don't just buy the cheapest craptiest game in the gamestop bargain bin. Note you don't necessarily have to pay $10, that just needs to be its pricecharting value. If you have a poop game already that fits the bill, by all means feel free to use it
You can send multiple games if you want, but at least one of them must individually meet that $10 threshold. (So a $10 game plus a $2 bonus game is fine, but sending five $2 games by themselves is not).
Creativity in packaging or sending bonus items may be fun and hilarious, but is by no means required. If you do receive something creative, please take pics and share, it will be more fun for all of us.
Games should be mailed by Friday March 24 (first class or priority) to ensure timely delivery. You can PM me the tracking number once you have sent and I will forward it to your recipient. It is recommended (but not required) that you not open your game until April 1 to enhance the surprise.
Then on April 1 (a Saturday!) we all play them and moan about how bad they are and laugh and commiserate together.
Post here if you are genuinely interested, and I'll add you to the list. If we get at least ten people, then we'll do it!
At that point I'll send a survey out to everyone to get addresses, the systems they have available to play, and other helpful info. Then I'll randomize everyone's names to make sure everyone has a Satan assigned to them.
My goal ia to get the surveys and send everything back out by May 10. That should give everyone about two weeks to find the perfect worst game for your target and mail it. Remember, be evil but not predictable.
Participants (The * means they have completed the survey) benstylus * Brian9824 * Nonamesleft * Heavyd814life * Oduomega * HEHEHATE * citizen_zane * Kevster * 3hitcombo * Kommie *
> I might be interested. Caveat is it has to be 10 hours or less. I refuse to play
> a 50+ hour crap fest like Death Stranding.
I've got the perfect game if I'm paired with you lol.
I'm glad we're doing this again this year. I'm going to try to do a bit of research this time around on whoever I'm paired with so I can hopefully pick a game I think they'll hate.
Surveys sent! Please get them back to me by Sunday. That way we can have about two weeks to shop and ship, and everyone should have their gift arrive by April Fool's Day
Maybe I'll join next year. The eShop closure and various game releases have wiped out my spending money for a while, but it could be fun in the future.
this $10 limit is pretty limiting for almost everything that isn't digital. And you can't exactly buy digital Switch/PS4 codes and send them to someone AFAIK.
> Do we get bonus points if we rig our package to explode into glitter when opened?
> That is pretty satanic
As someone who simply CANNOT abide uncontained glitter, I will say this is pretty freakin’ evil. If I were participating, I’d give you extra points. And a broom, ‘cuz I ain’t cleaning it up.
> Maybe I'll join next year. The eShop closure and various game releases have wiped
> out my spending money for a while, but it could be fun in the future.
I just want the fun of April Fool's, but without the gotcha crap.
These games are supposed to be miserable for sure, but it's 100% opt-in which makes it a kind of enjoyable pain. Especially when shared with the group.
>> |>> Obviously it's a minimum but not a max. Even at $20 it's hard to find a bad
> game
> |>>
> |>> I expect someone to go after the low-hanging fruit of Balan Wonderworld, lol.
>> Expect
> |>> to see it given at least once.
>>
>> Balan wonderworld has been continuously sold below $10.
>>
>>
> It's still charting at near the $10 mark (depending on the system), and pairing it
> with another terrible game isn't bad either. Double the headache!
Nah I don’t care what it’s “charting” that game is less than that in so many places I’d be insulted even worse if that was paired with another game. Doesn’t at least one have to be at the $10 mark? Not multiple to reach it.
I also definitely already have this game. So please whoever has me, just don’t…
Well I have my item to send out in hand. I just need to find if they sell sulfur scent in a spray bottle so i can give it a few squirts before mailing.
Whoever my giftee is, you got lucky. I found a seemingly terrible game for you, but it was bought before I could buy it. You lucked out... for now. Don't worry, I'll be on the lookout for another copy in the next couple days
I've been so wrapped up in devising and concocting evil schemes that I totally forgot that someone was going to curse me with a terrible game. I will be inpressed if it is worse than the one that I am sending. Since I've nevered played this game, I'm going to have to give it a try before I send it to it's final victim destination. It's kinda like how most police officers are subjected to being tased before they are allowed to subject others to such punishment.
I had to light a fire under the person that I ordered my "gift" from, so it looks like it will probably get here soon enough for me to get it in the mail.
Dang it! The seller from whom I have purchased this game from gave me a legit tracking number a few days ago, yet it doesn't appear to be in transit yet. Maybe he's afraid to send me such a terrible game and is having seconds thoughts on it.
Mine hasn't arrived yet, but I'll be sure to let you know when it has.
Even though I ordered a game for my victim from someone on Ebay on March 15th, the seller was being a pain and didn't ship it in a timely manner. It was supposed to get to me so I could specially wrap it and send it on it's way. Once I realized that I wouldn't get it in time, I went ahead bought another one, this time sending it directly to my victim in order for it to get there in time. So, today, the first copy of the game that I ordered arrived. I'm going to play it some, just to get a taste of the horror that the recipient will have to endure.
Have received. will be taking bites out of kangaroo jerky on monday and getting about as much fun out of bee simulator as i would listening to nails claw a chalkboard. You guys are sick, but i absolutley love it.
>> Have received. will be taking bites out of kangaroo jerky on monday and getting
> about
>> as much fun out of bee simulator as i would listening to nails claw a chalkboard.
>> You guys are sick, but i absolutley love it.
>>
> Did someone actually regift a game? Someone got Bee Simulator last year if you
> can beelive it.
When I said enjoy, I wasn't saying it was me who sent it. In fact it wasn't me who sent it. I was just saying that I got that game for last year's exchange and so I know what the game is like.
I actually was also sent the Bee Movie with the game :) Fun movie. Seinfeld as the main character fit well, imo.
> More people surprised about bee simulator given two years in a row and no one even
> mentioned how someone shipped kangaroo meat in their package 🤣🤣
>
>
Last time I had one of those "exotic" animal Jerry things, the package said it was part beef and part the other animal. Was very disappointed to find that out.
Almost as bad as the time I noticed the Swedish Fish candy was made in Canada
Race With Ryan - Satan was wrong. For free, this was pretty decent. You can auto accelerate and auto steer. Go into the options and disable narration and you remove the stupid pop up sounds of Ryan telling you stuff as well as other crap. Even on hard mode, once you're so far ahead of the AI it's an auto win. Took about 3 hours to get the Platinum Trophy. I mostly played it during downtime at work. Pretty okay he honestly.
> Race With Ryan - Satan was wrong. For free, this was pretty decent. You can auto
> accelerate and auto steer. Go into the options and disable narration and you remove
> the stupid pop up sounds of Ryan telling you stuff as well as other crap. Even on
> hard mode, once you're so far ahead of the AI it's an auto win. Took about 3 hours
> to get the Platinum Trophy. I mostly played it during downtime at work. Pretty okay
> he honestly.
Yeah this game isn’t bad. I remember it being better than the Nickelodeon racer. Wasn’t the worst mario kart clone. And you turned off his voice?? That’s literally the worst part. Satan dodged!
Finally opened up my gift. It's Unbox: Newbie's Adventure on the Switch. It has a Metacritic of 52 which is very generous because it's awful. I've played it for about an hour and it's torture! Nice work Satan lol. The controls are just so bad. It's a 3D platformer and the one thing you have to least get right is the platforming, but it's borderline unplayable at times and even when the controls work fine, it's just downright boring and repetitive. It has also crashed on my twice already so that's awesome. Really nice pick by my Satan because it's essentially a 90s-inspired 3D platformer and it's easily one of my least favorite genres. You play as a cardboard box and it's just pointless collectathon crap. I hate it lol. Howlongtobeat has this at about 5 hours and I'll do my best to get through it. But yeah, definitely done with this for the night.
@Heavyd814life, your honor as a Satan is being called into question.
Price Charting is showing CIB at $7.79 which is less than the $10 minimum value (which was in the OP and reiterated a couple of times when people had questions). I know prices can fluctuate but typically lower end games like this don't change a whole lot in just a few weeks.
Did you by chance get a screenshot of price charting when you bought the game?
Alternatively, maybe the seller you bought it from accidentally shipped the wrong game?
I hate it by the way. Tank controls were the standard at the time and this game uses them. Turning is abysmally slow. But the controls are consistent at least, even if slow. And the camera points downward when you jump to make landing easier (you also have a shadow to show where you will land). Other than that there is no camera control
Bubsy's one liners are annoying me less than I thought they would, mostly because they are fairly spread out. If he said something every time he bopper a woolie I would have gone to the options and turned voices off by now.
Got through the first two levels so far. They are just so bland. Checkerboard floor tiles with occasional texture patches, random floating platforms with no textures, and lots of collectible atoms to grab.
One cool thing is that if you hold square while collecting an atom you can shoot it at an enemy or a wall. Hitting some walls will break them to reveal secret areas! You know, so you can play MORE in each level!
Probably the best part of the game is when bubsy dies. It shows a silly CG cutscene of him getting popped, shattered, electrocuted, etc. depending on what killed you.
It's not the worst PS1 game I've ever played but it's pretty rubbish.
Oh boy. I just got home from working a twelve-hour shift last night, only to see that a package arrived. I have not one, but two ways to be punished! The first selction that I've been cursed with is The Smurfs 2 for the Wii. I have to say, I grew up in the 80's and watched the Smurfs religiously. Hell, I even went and saw The Smurfs on Ice! In my pantry, I have Smurf glasses from the 80's. I'm afraid to play this game. I don't want my view of the Smurfs to be tarnished. Luckily, I won't have to suffer until Monday because I have to go back to work tonight....Oh wait, yes, I will have to suffer, because Satan, in all of his infinite wisdom, gave me a DS game - Yogi Bear. Now I can take my punishment with me tonight to work to hold me over unitl I can get home on Monday to play the Smurfs.
At least Satan provided me with mints to settle my stomach, so I guess he isn't comletely evil.
@benstylus That's on me. I didn't even check Pricecharting. I ordered a brand new copy directly from Amazon. It cost me $14 and some change and I figured it'd be fine. But yeah let me know and I can just order another game.
@3hitcombo I chose it because I went through your past posts and saw one you wrote about Death Stranding where you said "walking from place to place is literally one of my least favorite things in gaming". That's literally Syberia 3. You're walking around and it's unbearable because the controls are hella clunky and the camera is literally the worst. I can't count the number of times I had to reload a previous save because of some bug I encountered or because my character got stuck in the environment. I think it's an awful game and one of the worst adventure games I've ever played. Felt like it'd be a winner
> @benstylus That's on me. I didn't even check Pricecharting. I ordered a brand new
> copy directly from Amazon. It cost me $14 and some change and I figured it'd be fine.
> But yeah let me know and I can just order another game.
>
> @3hitcombo I chose it because I went through your past posts and saw one you wrote
> about Death Stranding where you said "walking from place to place is literally one
> of my least favorite things in gaming". That's literally Syberia 3. You're walking
> around and it's unbearable because the controls are hella clunky and the camera is
> literally the worst. I can't count the number of times I had to reload a previous
> save because of some bug I encountered or because my character got stuck in the environment.
> I think it's an awful game and one of the worst adventure games I've ever played.
> Felt like it'd be a winner
You can work out something with him - whether it's a different game, some sublime, etc. I just don't want anyone to get a bad taste in their mouth from participation.
Except, you know, from playing the game. Just not from participating.
> @benstylus That's on me. I didn't even check Pricecharting. I ordered a brand new
> copy directly from Amazon. It cost me $14 and some change and I figured it'd be fine.
> But yeah let me know and I can just order another game.
>
> @3hitcombo I chose it because I went through your past posts and saw one you wrote
> about Death Stranding where you said "walking from place to place is literally one
> of my least favorite things in gaming". That's literally Syberia 3. You're walking
> around and it's unbearable because the controls are hella clunky and the camera is
> literally the worst. I can't count the number of times I had to reload a previous
> save because of some bug I encountered or because my character got stuck in the environment.
> I think it's an awful game and one of the worst adventure games I've ever played.
> Felt like it'd be a winner
>
>
I am always a sucker for subtime.
That is so interesting how you got that idea though. Weird thing is though I don’t mind it in “the medium” or other story based games. I just can’t handle the open worldness of the game. I love story games, so it’s not bad for me.
It is definitely clunky, broken, and crashes sometimes. I don’t think I’ve played such an actually broken game in a long time
My Satan kinda missed because of my tastes, this is a blast of nostalgia from the late 90's, when the trend was in full force. I didn't even know this existed, tbh. It is indeed a situation in which you might need
a paramedic on standby.
A great time-waster for bus rides, train trips, et al.
Brian I think the scorpion would be easier. at least you know what it is can see it and its dead. you could add flavor to bring it out you could prep it into a dish as well if you'd like. As far as prepping I'm sure it would work really well with a grain bowl crushed up. I'd prolly cut off the tip of the tail and remove the pincers and just dive in. don't think I'd go for a second one though.
The jerky you've just got to go in and take it for what it's worth. Really all i could do to it is over power the flavor/mask it or add it to something like a stew probably could work. I actually like jerky though, but i just don't ever order it for myself or really eat it often.
It's really the thought of kangaroos for me I've never even considered it so i can't imagine it in the least. I don't expect it to be more gamey than one would think as opposed to it being really tough like i expect.
I think the craziest animal I've had to date was gator or venison which i enjoyed both surprisingly.
I plan on eating really nice this weekend. doing two fantasy baseball auctions both nights and have steak marinated for each. So i should really have a nice comparison of both flavors and textures.
Plan is to not spoil one flavor with the other and jump into this monday night/morning when im off.
Taking the first bite describing the taste and flavor. Laying down in the upstairs room on the big tv and playing this one until I'm all buzzed out and over it or out of Kangaroo Jerky.
@3hitcombo was my Satan. Included a few other items as well I'll post when i have the time monday. Packaging had stickers on it including a rick and morty one which was pretty dope, but i no longer have as it was taken out during trash night.
@Oduomega I was your satan and one thing i really wanted to hit with your request was the import mark. Considering i don't have much available regarding that i first typed in worst Japanese import game for ps1. London Seirei Tanteidan (PlayStation) turned up so i tried trading for it waited too long on a reply only to find a dead end. pressed for time and low on funds on a payment plan and feeling i wouldn't make the deadline i knew this would take you back down memory lane, but also let you realize how far this one has come from where it began
I'm curious as to what @Kevster was talking about. Something about a Dining menu? Wonder if he was the one who got sent the concession stand's worth of candy this year.
So I've started playing Yogi Bear on the DS. It's apparently tied to the movie, which I haven't seen yet, so I hope there are no spoilers in it. It's a side-scrolling platformer. In each level, there are 100 pieces of pie to collect, three picnic baskets, and gears that I guess I will use at some point to create contraptions for some reason. What's interesting is that there is an element of stealth in this game. I don't really have a health bar, but I do have these five ranger badge looking icons that fill up every time something happens to me, like having nuts dropped on my head by a squirrel, a tourist taking my picture, a skunk spraying me, etc. If those ranger badges fill up, then I think I will get caught. I'll have to get caught on purpose to see what happens.
While it's a bit of a clunker, it really isn't all that bad for a kid. I'll have to play it some more when I get some free time. It sucks that I have to work all weekend. Tomorrow is when I get a chance to dive into the Smurfs game. I have a feeling that it won't be as good as this Yogi Bear game.
I started house flipper. At least there's nice music when you start.
"Welcome to house flipper." This game will allow you to buy, sell, renovate, decorate, and sell houses.
For now, however, you need to be content with this shack that you can call your office and the laptop that is your command center!"
You start off in this small messy house, that's your house/office space.
Your first client is someone whose ex stole the radiator from her house
"Hello, I'd like to hire your company to put my house in order! I know from photos posted on Facespam that my ex broke into my house, made a huge mess, and stole the radiator. It is possible that something else is missing."
"Please, make order in the house and replace the missing devices. I would ask you not to inform the police about the whole matter, I will settle it myself with my ex after returning from a business trip!"
Regards, Sara Lewis
You gotta clean it up first. There's a mess of stuff. You get a mop too. The mop is kind of comical in that you actually mop messes off the wall and table. I actually had to mop right near the TV on the TV stand.
The controls aren't great. You need to land the cursor on objects to interact with them, but it's not so simple to do. And to switch to the mop isn't as simple as the supposed ZR button. It says to hold ZR to switch to the mop, but it doesn't seem to work. I'm fiddling around with the controls trying to get the mop out.
I just beat the first mission, cleaning up a house and buying/installating a radiator. Installing the radiator was kinda fun. You mount it on the wall and actually interact with it a little, attaching the pipe, and connecting the valve. Kind of neat.
After finishing that mission though, I wasn't extremely compelled to start another. The game isn't that bad, but it's not drawing me in and not making me not want to put it down. Maybe I'll try another mission tomorrow.
So I finally started Smurfs 2 on the Wii. I have to say that it's actually not that bad! I mean, it's easy as hell and the boss battles are the easiest I've ever seen in a game, but given the audience for whom this game was intended, I feel like it's a competent platformer and an ideal game for a young person. I've just finished The Enchanted Forest, which consists of a handful of levels and a boss battle. The story so far is that Smurfette was Smurfnapped buy a Smurf-looking creature named Vexxy. Gargamel is behind this, as usual.
The graphics aren't the best and the soundtrack isn't anything special, but I do like how you can choose which Smurf you want to use and they all have different abilities. Each level has three challenges, which I thought was pretty cool. There are also a few coins on every level that you can collect to unlock Smurfs in your village, which acts as a hub to access other worlds from. I have to say that I am pleasantly surprised by how well the game controls. Bouncing on mushrooms is actually pretty easy. I just wish they had included the ability to run. Another thing that sucks is that you have to use a Wii remote on it's side. You can't use a classic controller for some reason. Since you only need two buttons on this game, I guess the developers didn't bother to add classic controller functionality. There are also a lot of Smurf berries to collect. One thing that sucks is that if you get hit by an enemy, you lose all of them! This sucks when you are trying to achieve one of the goals of a level. Not a big deal though.
One feature I have yet to test is multiplayer. I'm going to try to get my daughter to play with me this weekend. I'll be off this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, so I will definitely have completed it by then. It's actually not that bad at all! After I finish this one, I'll begrudgingly go back to Yogi Bear. It's a rather lame game.
I've just finished The Smurfs 2! There is still plenty of replay on this game. I've unlocked all of the playable characters, but now I have to get the coins from the different levels that I haven't obtained yet to unlock the Smurfs that occupy the village. Right now, I only have 16 out of 27. Now that I've finished the game, I've unlocked "Smurf change" mode, which allows me to swap Smurfs at any time, which will help me to collect all the remaining coins and complete all of the level challenges. Some of the challenges require two players, so I will have to rope my daughter into playing along with me sometime. Overall, not a bad game! The graphics are very bland and grainier than they have any right to be. the soundtrack is not bad, but forgettable. Level design is okay for a kids game and the controls feel very tight and responsive, which makes this game very playable.
Now I gotta finish Yogi Bear on the DS, which is becoming a chore to play. The more I play, the less I like it. I take back what I said the other day about it not being "all that bad for a kid." I think this game is rather short, maybe I'll just plow through it tonight and be done with it.
I just did another mission in house flipper, cleaning up a messy garage. Had to sweep up, throw out out lots of boxes and old tires, and clean the windows.
The game isn't that bad, but it's just very repetitive. So far, it seems that you clean up and/or buy/install appliances for clients. I could see how this game night be therapeutic for some.
But there's not much in terms of keeping the player interested. I just cleaned up the garage and I'm totally satisfied :)
I have little desire to do another mission right now after the garage one.
Maybe tomorrow.
I doubt I'll 100% this game, probably not even close. There's just not much to keep me motivated to continue playing it. Again, not a terrible game, but just not much in terms of grabbing my attention and me wanting to play more.
The controls could be better. They're not that fluid at times, which isn't something you want here, since you need to move things around and clean.
So i played the New Gundam Breakers, and its not bad persay, but more average and generic. Kinda fun collecting parts and building gundams, but it gets old VERY fast.
Whoever gave me House Flipper made a great choice. The game is not that bad, yet it's really not making me want to play more. In my opinion, it's repetitive with not much to keep the player interested. But at the same time, something about it makes me want to play it more. Even though it's boring, it's strangely tempting in a way. Hard to explain. So basically you're making me want to play a boring game. Well done 😅
Well, I've rescued all 27 Smurfs, but the game doesn't acknowledge my acheivment. Perhaps it will give have something nice to say once I complete all of the challenges. One of them is to complete a level with four active players, which is going to suck. I mean, I can technically do it, but it will require me getting my wife and kids involved, which is probably the biggest challenge yet!
I can't get myself to play more House Flipper. Like I mentioned, it isn't that bad, but it's just so plain. Do I really want to throw out a bunch of boxes, install appliances, and mop up the messes? In a strange way, I kind of do want to though. Sometimes there's satisfaction in something very plain.
Well, since @Kevster hasn't posted, I'll go ahead and reveal that I was his Satan, and this is what I sent him. Kev can post pictures and thoughts when he's able to:
Welcome! To your carefully curated collection of potent potable poisons! A connoisseur such as yourself has a fine variety to choose from tonight. As it is restaurant policy, we ask that you document your experience with us tonight in whatever manner you wish with the rest of the tasters if you would be so kind. Just remember...your resistance is futile... Sincerely, Your Satan Sommelier
Your Sommelier's Selections for “Secret Satan Sampling - 2023”
So what you're confirming is that your recipient is indeed receiving a terrible game?
Ryan is banned in our house, had no idea you could turn off the narration in the game, none of the research or stuff I did mentioned that 
