Each edition of So I Tried… I will try a game that I have never played before. Will I find something new to love? Will I find something new to despise? I'll take a full half hour, no matter how bad it gets or how badly I do, to see if this is the game for me. This time around, I forgot to bring snacks with LAN Party Adventures!
What I thought it was
I’m old enough to have been around while Local Area Network, or LAN, parties were a thing. Before the magic of the modern internet, playing with your friends required gathering in one place, connecting your ancient computers together with cables and prayer, while also cursing at the horror that is IP configuration.
The game was recommended to me by one of my best friends, so I jumped in pretty much blind, though I had a few ideas on what was in store: for one reason or another, we’d be setting up a space to be used in some upcoming LAN revelry, being in charge of installing PCs, connecting wires, and figuring out why nothing works.
The general gameplay seemed to be very similar to the plethora of simulator games that Steam seems to be bursting with, so I’m assuming the layout and controls will be the same. I’m unsure if LAN Party Adventures will be more story-centric, or if we will settle into the usual loop of doing jobs, buying tools, and doing more jobs.
What it actually is
The game takes place in the CRT monitor-lit haze of the early noughties, where we play as a somewhat tech-savvy youth. As is the burden of anyone who can differentiate between a GPU and a CPU, our hero is tasked with being the one called if any issue or need related to computers arises. To their credit, however, our protagonist has managed to turn a small profit by using their skills preparing LAN parties for companies or helping customers out, which brings us to the start of our story.
Having saved a modest amount of cash, our tech guru has got their hands on a brand new rig and is eager to show it off to the gang, leading to the group congregating at one of their homes to host a LAN party of their very own. As one can expect, we are tasked with putting everything together before everyone shows up.
The gameplay loop itself is very similar to other Simulator titles: viewed from the first-person perspective, we have an inventory filled with bits and bobs, and are tasked with going through the routine duties related to installing a bunch of computers into the same network. You place the computer, monitor, and other paraphernalia, connect wires, and install software where needed. Having to manually run IPConfig on the terminal via a floppy disk sure brought back memories, though I’m not sure if I’d call them good ones.
In addition to the installation, there are a few puzzle elements involved: you may need to search the current location to find cables or extension cords, some computers may be locked behind a password you need to figure out, and some friends may have specific needs or requirements for the installation. You are also rewarded for exploring the space by gaining snacks and a bit of pocket change (I won’t tell if you don’t). My favourite part of the whole game was cable management, as each power or Ethernet cable had to be finagled and finessed to not drag over someone else's screen or keyboard… though the current build made this infuriatingly difficult for a guy that takes his cable-safety seriously, as you couldn’t really control how the many wires are laid out.
What surprised me the most, however, is that LANParty Adventures has a bit more of a story focus than I’ve come to expect from this kind of title. Instead of going through the motions of installation, the game has a meta-narrative about weird things happening in your neighbourhood, which culminates in one of your group, Pedro, disappearing altogether. Like any group of youngsters, our team naturally put on their detective hats and set off to unravel this mystery.
Will I keep playing
At first, I was a bit down on LAN Party Adventures. While entertaining, I felt the core loop would get tedious after a few times, as there are only so many steps installing a computer has. However, the meta-narrative did pique my interest, as it seemed like a fun little mystery to solve. Additionally, I liked both the characters and the world as a whole — a game using tongue-in-cheek parody names of existing games always has my attention. I am looking forward to seeing what else this title has in store, though I do hope they add more variety to the core loop.
