My Exercise captures exercising completely. There’s the initial enthusiasm, rush from doing something new, aligning mind, body and spirit, then after a few reps, you’re bored and head back to the cake and pizza. Or perhaps, cake pizza.
This game from Playables, who did the rather amusing KIDS, is in the same blink, and you’ll miss it casual category. There are four ‘official’ rounds, or sets, where you have to help a fatty-boom-batty do sit-ups with the assistance of his dog. It’s hard to have the motivation to do such a thing, but with the dog’s support, his clapping sister(?), random animals and even the Buddha, surely he’ll reach his goals and have abs so tight he can see his internal organs?
Like Do You See The Waving Cape, the interaction part is limited. More so in My Exercise, the spacebar is the only command required. Press it to sit up, release, and then repeat. That’s it. Attempting to go balls out and do as many as possible won’t count, literally, so pacing oneself is crucial. To give an idea of how long a round lasts, one of the achievements is to complete it within eight minutes.
Can you really press the spacebar in unison with Billy Five Bellies for eight minutes plus? Surely that’s monotonous? Yes, and yes. My Exercise is a chore/bore to repeat the action repeatedly, but through set milestones, new characters are introduced to egg you on. Perhaps the seal will motivate you or the flashing turtle? Or how about repeatedly backslapping an Eldritch tentacle? My Exercise is quirky, charming, and it’ll get your thumb’s BMI below average.
Without any music and minimalist sound effects such as the clapping of the sibling, and the occasional bark from the dog, there’s an absence of cheese cutting/trouser rips like many of us are accustomed to when overly exerting ourselves. So, with little to do for your earholes, you’ll want to cast your eyes on My Exercise‘s wicked illustrations and animations. Unsurprisingly, New Deer work in the world of independent animation, and boy are they good. They have this Japanese peculiarity to them, like in the Kuukiyomi series – which I tend to seek out, so it gets my seal of approval.
What you’re getting with My Exercise, or if you’re hasty, get this along with KIDS and Plug & Play for a steal, is a quickfire interactive animation. Whether you’ll stick it out, unlock all the challenges, and complete the sets depends on your patience bucket. Like KIDS, it’s not one of those games you’ll return to every five seconds but are likely to showcase to a friend. If you have one – maybe two, but no more than that. And also, like KIDS, this is incredibly accessible for all levels. Just press the spacebar.
Will you get much more than an hour’s gameplay out of it? That’s your call, but let’s just say that you can cover most of the game in that time. For me, it’ll remain in my library for shits and giggles, but be mindful that this isn’t a recommendation per se, as perhaps you’d rather spend that money on food – eat a cake, pizza or even cake pizza. If that’s the case, maybe this isn’t for you, fatty.
