Capsule Review: Little Party
A twenty-minute game about being a parent. You play as a mother occupying herself and occasionally checking in while her daughter hosts an all-night art party. Mechanically, interaction is limited to walking around and hitting spacebar to interact with certain prompts - primarily, talking to the kids. This is surprisingly effective in putting the player in Mom’s mindset, as she’s surrounded by interesting activity but is mainly on the outside, and can choose to what degree she wishes to try to insert herself.
The story is revealed through interactions with the kids and the results thereof. The dialog is handled a bit clumsily (tiny text on black screens) but the personal and interpersonal dynamics are compelling and believable, and the game does a good job creating similar motivations in the player and player character. I found the story and ending bittersweet and satisfying.
I Stopped Playing When: I played through the game twice.
Three Stars: Good. I liked the game enough to finish it (or just play it a bunch, for games that don't end). I recommend it to most genre fans.