SCREW YOU, BEAR DAD!

SCREW YOU, BEAR DAD is a pun-filled jape, full of jokes, slapstick, and a small amount of interactivity. there's no branching storyline, no puzzles, and no deeper meaning; you start the story by crashing through the skylight and landing in a remote, isolated (Spoiler - click to show)toy factory. the story is divided between your experiences as a bear and the antics of the factory's dysfunctional crew. this part of the story is hilarious.

SCREW YOU, BEAR DAD is a very serious exploration of the relationship between a son and his abusive father. it begins with a more recent memory of the father's inability to understand or relate to his son as an adult, but later goes on to a childhood memory where the father has a completely inappropriate reaction to (Spoiler - click to show)his son going missing in the woods and almost drowning. this part of the story is emotional and deadly serious, and shows how things between the two of them got so bad.

i have no idea how these two stories can coexist in the same place, but somehow it works. it feels sort of like the main story is the comic relief for the flashbacks, showing that the son grew up okay after all, even if his choices landed him in a ridiculous and dangerous situation.

This is a highly styled twine game that switches back and forth between two narratives about a bear, one set in the present where the bear is roaming a lab, and the other in the past where the bear confronts his father.

The game is full of bear puns (which are great) and occasional strong profanity (which I did not enjoy; I used a web-based profanity filter, though, so it wasn't bad.)

The story was funny (with one rather gruesome bit covered in other reviews). The deep backstory, though, was not compelling to me, as I didn't feel it was universal. It's a sort of classic Millenial story about fighting for the right to do nothing.

Emotionally powerful writing that lightens the mood with the humorous concept of putting you in the story as an anthropomorphised bear who communicates via gestures.

The story is linear, but the choices feel meaningful and deliver a sense of agency. My only negative feeling towards the work is that the UI forces pauses between sections of text, and prevents you from advancing, which slowed down my sense of pacing and urgency. I suspect the plot plays a part too, as it is predicated on moving back and forth through time in a way that usually works, but sometimes feels like it could use a little more attention.