Table Manners

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.