Well, I spent a lot of time last year delving into the world of indie gaming. Something I plan on continuing in 2022. So what better way to start the New Year than with an indie game released last summer? Yup, I’m a little late on this one. Developed by Stonewheat & Sons and published by Sold Out comes KeyWe.
KeyWe is a cute, co-operative postal puzzler starring Jeff and Debra, two small kiwi birds working in a whimsical post office. With no hands to help them, they must jump, flap, peck and butt-slam their way across an interactive landscape of levers, bells and buttons to get those messages delivered on time.
Encounter perilous postal environments and navigate seasonal hazards while waddling through the Telepost’s various mail rooms, and partner up with a pal to help these adorable kiwis complete their tasks, whatever the weather. Unlock new accessories to customise your kiwi and become the best-dressed mail bird in Bungalow Basin.
As I said, this was released last summer, August in fact. So I am several months behind with this. The synopsis up there pretty much covered what KeyWe is all about. You (or you and a friend) play as a couple of kikis (Jeff and Debra) and run a postal service. The game is made up of several mini/party games, covering a variety of tasks including typing out messages, putting labels on parcels and other mailroom shenanigans.
In each of the mini-games, you go up against the clock, with faster times earning you stamps. Those stamps can then be spent on numerous cosmetics for your kiwis. You can dress the little fellas up in new clothes, hats, glasses and the like. As I say, these are cosmetics and don’t offer any gameplay perks, it’s all just a bit of fun and nonsense. The controls feel a bit fiddly at first but you’ll soon get to grips with them.
KeyWe is really built around co-op play, which you can do both online with friends or even some good old classic couch co-op. But there is a solo mode where a quick tap of a button will let you switch between your two kikis with ease… though this really is best in co-op. For me, KeyWe really isn’t my type of game at all, I have never been a fan of party games at the best of times. Here, you really don’t get that many mini-games to play either. Some games are just slight variations on others too. I mean, there are only really four main types of games but multiple versions of those four types. Plus, there is really only a couple of hours or so of gameplay here before you’ve made your way through all the mini-games. There’s also an ‘overtime’ mode that offers a few more interesting mini-games. In fact, I found the overtime mode better than the main one.
£20 is how much KeyWe will set you back which for me is a bit steep for what you get. But as I freely admit, this just is not my type of game. If you are into your party games, you’ll most probably get a lot more out of this than I did. A game that really can be a lot of fun with a friend and one that will definitely test just how strong that friendship is, what with all the bickering you’ll be doing between each other to get the job done.
Little Bits of Gaming & Movies 