Dere Evil Exe is a platformer like no other – it works actively to irritate and confound you, but it’s incredibly open about it from the very beginning.
Starting as a very basic puzzle platformer with moving sideways and double jumps, the game has you follow the order or a helpful AI that the game developer personally assures you is not really intelligent, but you still have to listen to it.
After a few basic jumps and movements, navigating some simple obstacles standard to most puzzle platformers, you are suddenly presented with something a bit… different.
The ominous AI voice insists that you should not gather gold coins. Sure enough, a row of coins appears right in your path.
Of course, obviously, you pick up the coins because, well, they’re gold coins. How can you not pick them up?[sc name=”quote” text=”Of course, obviously, you pick up the coins because, well, they’re gold coins. How can you not pick them up.”]
However, on picking up the coins, you promptly explode and die.
Reloading to the previous checkpoint – which are represented as tombstones, for an ominous reason – and moving past the gold coins, text is posted on the map backing as you move forwards from the devs stating, essentially, “told you so”.
Dere Evil Exe is like that pretty much throughout the game. You need to listen to your helpful AI, but you also need to completely ignore your normal platforming instincts and just go with the flow.
The puzzles get progressively harder, even approaching close to utterly impossible, leaving you in a puddle of frustration after gently falling from your chair in sheer irritation. You lie on the floor, staring at your ceiling and question, softly to yourself, “Why?”
But the thing is that Dere Evil Exe warns you right at the beginning that you will be frustrated and fail, and that you will suffer. Is it really the game’s fault for upholding a promise? You signed the contract![sc name=”quote” text=”Is it really the game’s fault for upholding a promise? You signed the contract.”]
There is a surprising amount of quality humor in Dere Evil Exe; at one point, a character asks you to speak your name into your phone’s microphone, then repeating it after a moment to make sure they have it clearly.
Then it reveals that it was just messing with you; the game didn’t ask you for microphone permissions, silly! You’ll most likely find that you won’t remember the last time you laughed out loud at a joke within a mobile game.
Dere Evil Exe exists to challenge your patience and your sanity; you will forget your reason for existing, as why should someone live who makes such awful decisions as to play this game?
However, Dere Evil Exe is still fun, still funny and still challenging. You go into it knowing that it’s going to hurt your very soul, so how can you blame the game for your frustrations?
Don’t hate the game – hate the player.
[review pros=”Excellent style of humor and puzzle design. Addictive and fun gameplay.” cons=”There is so much frustration; but you agreed to it.” score=9]
[appbox appstore id1382655034]
[appbox googleplay com.appsir.dereevilexegp]
https://youtu.be/x9EZaiyZWXc
