Table Manners

Table Manners is a dating game with intentionally wonky controls that tests your ability to impress dates with only one hand. It may seem like a butler simulator, but the reasoning behind your actions doesn't ruin the fun. Some people may get annoyed with the game's controls and design, but fans of Surgeon Simulator are sure to love it.

Table Manners is a joyful if simplistic, parody of modern dating. To its credit, while I never fell in love with Table Manners, I can’t stop considering places it might go from where it is now. What if other dates like movie theatres or walks in the park were similarly simulated with outrageous physics? What if hookups were simulated in this way? Table Manners is a lovely romp. My main complaint is that I couldn’t leave a tip for the waitstaff who cleaned the tables left in my wake.

Table Manners is designed to give you indigestion with its OTT gameplay bound to provide a few frustrated laughs, though its lack of polish and longevity mean it's a bit of an empty snack.

I really don’t think I’m the market for this game, there are no doubt some people out there that can get hours of entertainment out of knocking items on a dining table over time after time… I’m not one of them. If you like slapstick humour and don’t mind frustrating controls then this may be up your alley. For me, this is a hard pass!

Table Manners is disappointing and frustrating at the same time, and feels like a bit of a wasted opportunity to make something fun and different and entertaining.

As a single-player experience, Table Manners is very much like a bad Tinder date: after one awkward night, you'll probably never want to see it again.

There’s a fine line between playfully obtuse instructions and infuriatingly vague game design. Being unable to complete a task because it’s challenging is one thing, but not knowing exactly what the task is (and being blocked from doing it by bugs) is another. Table Manners has a brilliant premise and provides incisively funny commentary on modern romance but, just like when a Tinder date doesn’t match their profile and then proceeds to behave inexplicably, sometimes you just want to make your excuses and leave.

I’d have liked to have had more fun with Table Manners, but its purposefully-awkward controls ended up being just too awkward to bear. It’s a balancing act, and sadly I feel like developer Echo Chamber Games has missed the mark. It should be silly and entertaining – and it is, for a few minutes – but it quickly devolves into frustration. Maybe involving some friends might make it a bit more enjoyable. But by yourself, Table Manners just isn’t much fun.

Dating is hard enough, but Table Manners sets out to show just how ridiculous it can be. Unfortunately, the physics are too futile to be any fun.