Have you got fond memories of showering with your dad? Thank god there’s a game for that, thank god even harder that we were there to review it.
Willies are funny. Sorry, but dongs are inherently funny, just as long as they’re flaccid. Erections are a whole other business that we do not debase ourselves with at Ludotempus. But, yes, schlongs, flapping away, looking like a sock full of sand, are funny. Naked dads are funny. Thank god there’s a developer, Marben X, who understands this fact, and has given us the absolute treat that is Shower with Your Dad Simulator 2015: Do You Still Shower with Your Dad?
Like people who learn to disarm themselves and others by telling self-depreciating jokes about themselves, Shower with Your Dad Simulator almost takes the pressure off itself instantly with its comedic and light-hearted premise, and the (now-forgotten, but popular circa 2014-2015) trend of slapping “Simulator” on the end of your game’s title signals to us loud and clear: “please don’t take me seriously!”. Why should we, to that end? It’s a game about naked folk for the price of 79p/99c. The very idea is that we’re meant to expect nothing on our way in, and the virtue of this exercise is that even if we enjoy it just a little bit, we’re in profit. Let’s see if this game is about even that.
Shower with Your Dad Simulator 2015 is a simplistic arcade-style title that prioritises quick-fix gameplay over anything too deep or engaging. One might wonder if a project of this style would have been more suited to iOS, but it’s here now and that’s the important part. Gameplay varies across modes but the general goal is as such: you play as a naked boy (so wrong) and you must get in the shower with the “correct” dad – that’s determined by which dad looks similar to you; the blonde gets in the shower with the ginger, the black kid gets in with the black dad, and we’re just about going to throw up everywhere.
Okay, it’s a bit nasty and dirty, but that oddly twists around to make the game funny in a dark sense, but this aside, what this game boils down to is classic arcade action where you have a simple task and you must complete it over and over again, with the difficulty ramped up as you go – you’ll play as your chosen kid and you must navigate to your dad in the correct shower. However, the ground you walk on is essentially a big shower floor, and as you progress, it’ll get slippier with puddles, warning signs, and a plethora of other obstacles. Essentially, what we have here is the textbook recipe for an addictive game, and Shower with Your Dad achieves this handily. Yes, the game is about as complex as an Atari 2600 title, but this game doesn’t need to be complicated to be fun. For its basic and measured scope, this game crafts an experience that hammers the pleasure centres of the brain and keeps players coming back for more, and for such a cheap title, that’s all one can ask for. Forget Hideo Kojima and his multi-million dollar development costs, all you really need to have fun in games is three naked dads and a shower.
Other modes include “Dad Fractions”, which takes a cue from the early part of Frog Fractions where you must click to reach the correct father, and “Inglorious Bathdads”, a curious minigame unlocked at random where you fly through the air saving your own dad and killing others. The developers really wrung the “dad humour” cloth dry, but Shower with Your Dad is curious in that there’s much more to it than initially meets the eye; instead of being a one-note joke about nude daddies, it has a zany sense of humour lurking underneath, with its power-ups (you can unlock a rubber duck; no words needed), its mini-games before and during gameplay (one minute, you’re trying to jump in the shower with papa, the next, you’re flying a bathtub through space), and, of course, a healthy amount of dad jokes in loading screens. It’s crazy, but if you come in expecting nothing, you’ll likely be blown away by how silly and engaging this game is as a package. The bulk of the action seems to be unlocked via the “Dadathon” mode; this is the portal to the rest of the game in that it unlocks everything else, and is basically the standard game under tighter conditions.
Shower with Your Dad takes a nice but altogether unimpressive route with its presentation. It’s presented in faux-8-bit which is somewhat passe as half of Steam releases seem to take this tactic, but for all the game is, the graphics, which still look okay, are nothing to get worried about. What will strike players more is the unusually dazzling soundtrack – unusual in the sense of “what are you doing in a game like this?” – with some fantastic tracks to offer, such as the stellar bass-heavy opening theme, and the electro-inspired background tracks that really add to the intensity of matching naked dads to naked lads. Again, the “expect nothing” philosophy comes into play here, but Shower with Your Dad’s soundtrack is earnestly good. Much like the entirety of the game, which is what makes it such a big surprise.
Perhaps the best game about showering with your father out there, this is classic arcade action with slick controls, a great soundtrack, and wrapped up with an irresistible and funny framing device, Shower With Your Dad Simulator 2015 isn’t a game you can afford to miss, despite how much it self-deprecates itself. A side note, we made it through the entire review without a single Freudian slip. This one is wholly recommended – if you see it, pick up this game on Penis – Steam!
Verdict: Just trust on this one: Shower With Your Dad Simulator 2015 is addictive arcade action and a very good game indeed.
Score: 8.0/10
