When the TV decides to Murder your Girlfriend - The Game

A title like this is meant to be catchy and a bit gonzo, and, well, it may be the best GrueScript game I've played that isn't by Robin Johnson, who created it. Not that I'm big on rating stuff, but t's pretty clear the author knew what they were doing as the writing is relatively clear and funny, with the usual ways to die that should make you laugh, and it's pretty clear what roughly to do without being duh-obvious.

The main mystery is that you have a television who doesn't like you. It just simply wants you to plug the cable in, so you can get cable channels, but that kills you. Big problem. Guess it's not just the cable fees that are brutal! To make matters worse, your girlfriend has disappeared. You want to rescue her, but you've hit some hard times lately.

The big hitch is, you have to negotiate with other machines, like a vacuum cleaner and a microwave and other things, first just to get out of your apartment and then to navigate Amanda's. The machines have their own personalities and aren't completely cooperative at first. Your vacuum needs a vacuum bag before it steps aside and takes an item of yours. Amanda's microwave needs to be cleaned. (Both of yours complain about the icky things you put in them.) Amanda's appliances are generally suspicious of you, and the telephone which misses her talking to her friends because she is calling you a lot is particularly demanding. You need to make up for what you've taken, so to speak.

What with your television able to kill you on the first move of the game when you plug the cable in, and the game title, well, it's no surprise that Amanda's disappearance/avoidance has to do with a hostile television of her own. Your apartment and hers are really quite different, but neither is terribly big, and while they have a lot of amusing squalor, there isn't a lot of already-done My Lousy Apartment stuff. The puzzles are also lampshaded, like the utility pole outside her apartment you can't climb, and having to fiddle with your TV in your apartment nicely foreshadows what you need to do with Amanda's. And since GrueScript directs you to the verbs you need, there isn't a whole lot of unnecessary fiddling, and the clicking through isn't particularly tedious. So it's well paced, and I found the climax dramatic and still pretty funny.

This was a really good entry, worthy of its long name, not one of those where it just posted on a long crazy name that makes you laugh for a few seconds and hoped it would coast on jokes you heard before. it also effectively uses the device of, well, people think you're crazy because you talk to machines, but actually you're not, without going overboard or making you yourself look or feel like an idiot. On finishing, I sort of missed the machines I had conversation with, as well as the ways the author asked, hey, how would machines they feel about their roules in a human's life? About being used too much or little? It's wise and clever and gives good laughs.

This game is based on a book by the same author.

It’s written in Gruescript, and is one of the better Gruescript games I’ve played; I didn’t encounter any bugs or missing descriptions.

You play as a young man with the ability to read the minds of appliances (or at least communicate with them) and to see the hideous tentacles coming out of those machines. You are convinced that your girlfriend’s TV is out to get her, while she’s convinced that you’re being a paranoid conspiracy theorist.

You have to get advice/help from all the appliances in your apartment and in your girlfriend’s as well, devise a plan, and take down the TV!

The story is amusing, and in general felt paced well. I was surprised by how readily helpful Amanda was given the issues we had at the beginning of the game.

Puzzles are engaging while being fairly straightforward; if you just explore everywhere and carry out requested tasks you can win pretty easily.

You just wrapped up explaining to your girlfriend Amanda that ever since she plugged her TV into the cable its been plotting to kill her.

Problem is, she thinks you're crazy.

And has now gone back to her apartment...

...where her TV is waiting.

Only you can save her.

Gameplay
When the TV decides to Murder your Girlfriend - The Game is actually an adaptation of a book of the same name. It’s also a submission to Ectocomp 2025.

We begin in our own apartment. (We're Todd, by the way) The first half of the gameplay takes place here, and its puzzles center on the objective of leaving your apartment. The second half is set in Amanda's apartment (Spoiler - click to show)where we prepare to duke it out with her evil TV.

Gameplay primarily consists of interacting with household appliances and enlisting their help. It doesn't take long for us to notice that these appliances are A, sentient, and B, haunted. Possessed, maybe?

"Hey, Todd. Who's your favorite appliance? Just kidding. We all know it's me. So, what can I zap up for you?" Slender gray tentacles, like the finest strands of spaghetti, snake out lovingly from behind the control panel.

It did take me a moment to piece together that we're the only ones who can see this. No wonder Amanda thinks we're crazy.

Puzzles are straightforward and evenly distributed throughout the gameplay. They engage without being too difficult. However, that means if you were hoping for a puzzle-fest, you feel may underwhelmed by what the gameplay has to offer.

Mechanics
Made with Gruescript, this is a choice-based game that behaves like a parser. Instead of imputing commands on a keyboard, the player clicks on buttons to perform an action.

You can also see:
- [Your Television] [talk]
- [Cable Cord] [connect]

Exits and anything with interactable content are listed at the bottom of the screen along with your inventory. If you’re holding something that has an immediate application, the game will list it for you. No guess-the-verb here!

You're holding:
[Your Trusty Philips Head] [drop]

This format felt streamlined and easy to use. I adapted to it quickly.

Story
The game’s strengths are grounded in its writing and characterization because, truth be told, (Spoiler - click to show)you can predict the ending way in advance.

In her apartment, (Spoiler - click to show)we find Amanda hypnotized and held captive by her TV. We appear, fight the TV, and escape with Amanda. No unexpected plot twists or developments. And the game doesn’t need any of that. I was satisfied with this trajectory. I think that’s largely thanks to the witty, household appliance characters. If their characterization were lacking, I’d probably feel otherwise about the story.

I do have one complaint. I wish our interactions with Amanda had more depth. (Spoiler - click to show)She’s been hypnotized, so I understand that she’s not going to be particularly alert or responsive. But something about her portrayal feels overly “damsel-in-distress.” Her character doesn’t extend beyond the role of “the girlfriend.” Who also needs to be rescued.

Then again, the game is an adaptation. Perhaps it’s like that in the book as well.

This game vs. The Little Toaster
The storyline of sentient household appliances immediately reminds me of The Little Toaster. Except, I’ve never liked The Little Toaster. Too disturbing. This game? I can handle.

Characters
Characters are the best part.

The toothbrush's yellow tentacles point at its power button, then your eyes. "I'm watching you, Todd."

Particularly, the sentient appliances.

The writing reveals them to be humorous NPCs (a feral vacuum cleaner?). They are fun to listen to and fun to interact with; Important considering their role in nearly every puzzle.

Asphalt, lines, and cars. *Lots* of cars. You find yours cuddled up next to a sexy red scooter. You get the impression the scooter isn't a huge fan but is too kind to roll away.

Characterization-wise, the appliances offer plenty of attitude. A blend of stubborn snark and an eagerness to assist Todd in saving Amanda. And while some of them view you as Amanda’s oddball boyfriend, they all agree that her TV has gone too far.

Todd’s cool, too. After all, he can communicate with household appliances and see when something is haunted. According to the (Spoiler - click to show)car’s dashboard, he has “mind powers,” but aside from that, we get no further explanation. However, this suits the game’s purposes just fine.

Visuals
The game has a clean appearance with a black screen, white text, and orange links set into dark purple buttons. Reminds me of Halloween!

Final thoughts
I had fun with this!

While I haven’t read the book, the overall premise of saving-your-girlfriend-from-a-bloodthirsty-TV certainly piques one’s curiosity. But when taking a book’s concept and turning it into gameplay, there is risk of that concept losing its essence and feeling contrived. Not the case here.

When the TV decides is a well-rounded adaptation that strikes the right balance between gameplay puzzles and overarching story, and the NPCs’ humorous dialog brings it all to life.

Great option for Halloween.