Reviewed by Brandy Shaul
The people at ODD1 Inc. apparently really like their name, as the independent Montreal-based developer has designed an entire PC game around the concept of being ODD.
ODD Society saw its official launch at Gen Con Indy this past week, and I had a chance to go hands-on with this new adventure/RPG to see what makes being odd so inviting.
ODD Society tells the story of ODD Boy, who is a member of the species of ODDS, small nose-less inhabitants of a society filled with ODD materials. All of the ODDS used to live in Factory Tower, where they were the indentured servants of the Conglomerate, but, due to a random series of events have now found freedom.
You play as ODD Boy, who has apparently been separated from his ODD family, and must work his way through the landscape tracking down his ODD Mother, ODD Father, and so on, all the while helping the other freed ODDS to create an ODD Society. And no, I’m not making up the multitude of inclusions of the word ODD into gameplay.
The game plays solely as a point-and-click, with no support for keyboard-based movement. A right click of the mouse rotates the camera for a better view of ODD Boy, who is but a small character on an expansive landscape filled with a few varieties of interactive objects.
ODD Boy carries a knapsack, which includes an axe for chopping stray wood into lumber, a pickaxe for mining minerals, and a scythe-like tool for cutting plants (among others). Each of these tools allows you to gain supplies from trees, flowers, and stones, which are then used to build objects at the ODD Forgery or build new ODD architecture.
A variety of enemies also appear at set spawn points in the environment, and can be beaten with your tools to gain extra funds, once you defeat them. Unlike other PC based RPGs, there is no in-depth experience or leveling system here. I was told by the game’s main representative, Sophie Carle, that support for such a system might be included in the future, once the game has a chance to reach a sizeable market, but as of now, no plans were in place for such a system.
Presumably, this lack of real character development comes from ODD1’s desire to create a game that’s perfect for players of all ages, and out of the fear of bogging children down with the intricacies normally associated with such games. However, without it, the game seems to be much blander than I think ODD1 had in mind.
While the game apparently has a deep storyline, the hands on time didn’t make this clear, as I found myself wandering around the same isolated area, chopping lumber, collecting fallen berries from trees, and bashing on a few worm-like monsters.
New areas of the map would have been unlocked had I taken the time to find enough supplies to build bridges over the game’s river system, but even then, ODD Society as a whole seems to require some work in many departments.
While the visuals were cartoony, and, well… odd, the entirety of gameplay was too repetitive for my tastes. The menu system is also a bit skewed, and requires a few too many clicks of the mouse to do anything from changing a weapon to accessing the materials you’ve collected along your journey. Furthermore, the mouse pointer changes shape when you are hovering over something that you can interact with, but getting ODD Boy to interact with the very tiny objects on screen is a bit problematic, especially when two items are resting in very close proximity to one another.
That all being said, a younger child could presumably have a fun time with the game, as they wouldn’t expect the depth or polish adult gamers have come to demand from their games. And, with a price tag of $20 (or $9.99 if you get in on the Gen Con release sale), I suppose that assumption might be worth the risk.