On paper, the life of a thirty-something punk rocker should be pretty glamorous, but for Gordy, it’s mostly just a bit of a mid-life crisis. She is the bassist for a failing band, she makes a half-hearted effort at her diner job, she still heavily relies on financial handouts from her parents, and her friends know she isn’t exactly the most responsible person in the room. Oh, and everyone is a demon living in New Void City, so it has that going on too. But despite the mess, Gordy realises that her band, Dead Pets, could actually be something special, and she decides to finally put the effort in to try and make it… enter Dead Pets: A Punk Rock Slice of Life Sim. 

Check out some screenshots down below: 

Dead Pets
Dead Pets
Dead Pets
Dead Pets

The narrative stakes of Dead Pets: A Punk Rock Slice of Life Sim are fairly low, but honestly, that’s fine. There is more than enough going on in Gordy’s chaotic everyday life to keep things interesting, and while some of the story beats aren’t always fully engrossing, the pacing moves things along in a way that means you won’t ever get bored. You’ll also get to make choices that directly affect various in-game stats – such as your social standing, your wellbeing, and your status within the band – with different endings available based on how you handle things. It adds a nice layer of consequence to your everyday conversations, and with certain events playing out differently based on these decisions, it brings a fair bit of replayability to the experience. 

A massive chunk of the fun comes from the mini-games scattered throughout the game. You’ll find yourself performing small little tasks for everyday things, like making a hotdog or watering a plant, but it also bleeds into the bigger things that affect your playthrough, like working your job as a waitress (where your performance determines your cashflow). It plays out a bit like a tamer version of Overcooked, with players having to perform tasks in a specific order and keep on top of customer demands… it’s simple, but it offers a fun little endeavour to break up the narrative-focused elements of the game. 

Check out some screenshots down below: 

Dead Pets
Dead Pets
Dead Pets
Dead Pets

The absolute highlight is the rhythm gameplay when you’re jamming with the band. It’s your standard rhythm loop, with players hitting buttons to strike and hold certain notes on a track, so if you’re familiar with the genre you’ll feel at home straight away. What makes it feel so rewarding here is the banging soundtrack, with every single track I’ve heard in my time playing fitting the punky, colourful vibe of the game perfectly. It makes the experience all the more enjoyable and adds that extra quality layer to the whole package, so much so that I found myself looking forward to each band practice. It gave off some Night in the Woods vibes, which can only be a good thing. 

So, has it done enough to keep me playing? Yeah, it has. As I said, it’s a low-stakes adventure, but it totally works for the type of game it is. Given how much of an absolute disaster Gordy has been in my time with the game (albeit largely through my own terrible choices), I really want to stick around to see her redemption… or watch how she completely falls apart, who knows? But if it keeps up the momentum with its satisfying mini-games and enjoyable storytelling, it’ll definitely make for a fun ride. 

Developer: Triple Topping, Akupara Games  
Publisher: Akupara Games  
Platform(s): PC (Played)  
Website: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1851720/Dead_Pets_A_Punk_Rock_Slice_of_Life_Sim/ 

What are our ‘Impressions’ features?
As a small part-time team with busy lives, we can’t always play every title to completion for a full review. Instead, our ‘Impressions’ features serve as a snapshot of our early experience with the full release of a game. We dive in for roughly 1 to 2 hours to get a feel for the mechanics, the presentation, the atmosphere, and the vibe of the game, all whilst offering our initial thoughts to answer the question: has it hooked us enough to want to keep playing?