The novelty of a fake browser game is that you're using a computer to use a computer (imagine that!) which helps offers a deep level of immersion... now that I'm thinking about it, maybe the deepest level of immersion a game can offer. Other games use the computer as proxy for an experience you cannot actually have but in a browser game, there are no character models or mechanics between you and the experience. Your mouse is the player's mouse, your actions are their actions, your body BECOMES their body.

And in Dum-Dum, you become an idiot.

That's really the root of the fun of the game, stepping into the role of this hapless "dum-dum" who's wandered into a game between geniuses and has to stumble their way through it with pluck and a bit of creativity. It's a really charming setup that they have a lot of fun with, and it adds some nice flavor to the standard "hacking and creative program usage" gameplay.

In fact, I wish that they had taken the gimmick of using "dumb" solutions to problems further. Like the opening gag of it is really funny but halfway through the game it starts to feel like you're being gaslit when the game keeps telling you how wAcKy you are for basically just using the programs as they are intended, and since everything is pre-scripted there isn't a ton of room for the player to really feel like they're expressing their creativity in the problem solving.

Fortunately, the straightforwardness of the gameplay puzzles is balanced out by the incredible depth of the fake OS system as a whole, which is jam packed with content and does a great job of rewarding exploration and careful observation. I found all sorts of side quests and hidden pages and programs by digging around and I ended the game with a bunch of achievements still locked so there's probably more out there to find if I feel like spending a bit more time on the game.

This attention to detail extended to the story as well, a quirky cyber-espionage narrative about unraveling the secrets of a mYsTeRiOuS tech company that was way more fleshed out than I expected. I can't say I was ever too surprised by the game, but that didn't mean I wasn't invested, and I actually kinda devoured the whole thing over the course of a few days because I was having such a good time with it.

So yeah! To quote the game: 👍❤️😀⭐

Edit: Although one really WEIRD thing about the game is that the Steam page seems to indicate that they made a special "Halloween episode" expansion that was only available in October 2021 and then they haven't updated since so it's like... I dunno, I'm assuming plans for future events fell through and they just moved on but it's weird that this existed but is unplayable.

É comum em puzzle design comentar sobre o momento em que o jogador descobre o que deve ser feito e se sente inteligente por isso - é praticamente o momento de ouro em qualquer puzzle. Quanto mais tempo depois disso você demorar pra chegar no próximo, torna-se uma lamúria.

E eu acho que esse é o problema desse jogo? Muitos puzzles repetidos e obtusos, que ainda demandam um trabalho manual gigantesco mesmo com você já entendendo o que fazer. Não, eu não preciso de 10 labirintos diferentes com exatamente as mesmas mecânicas.

Eu entendo que a estética era pra ser de hackear e usar um sistema antigo (e toda essa parte - incluindo o FMV - funciona muito bem), mas a forma como isso se traduziu em gameplay não me agradou. Uma pena.