[Review] Robothrapy

Every now and then, we run across a game that challenges the way we think and presents us with new ideas and outlooks on life. These games are special and while most tend to feature a grand plot full of adventure, there are few games who can achieve these feelings without it. Robotherapy presents itself as a comedy about a snarky robot who can do no wrong in his lenses, but the overall themes are so much deeper than that.

Smokes is a robotherapist and the protagonist of our story. He is a self-absorbed robot who sees himself as the best robotherapist, often going out of his way to remind others just how great he is. A Lot of the dialogue we get from him involves insults being thrown at his patients as well as the other therapist out to help him, named Back. Over the course of the story, we are introduced to other characters that help Smokes learn more about himself as both a therapist and a robot.

Quantum is a security guard robot who wants to step away from a violent life after participating in the war between robots and humans, instead wanting to pursue his dreams of being a poet. Whatever is dealing with emotions brought up by the fact her girlfriend cheated on her. As for the little cube named ‘R’? Well, he just had the idea that the robots should kill all the humans, so therapy isn’t really his thing. After all, it was just his idea.

While the story brings up the conflict between robots and humans, it isn’t the main focus of the story here. We know how the war ended, and the robots don’t feel bad about how it happened. Our story is focused on Smokes and his journey. He has a dark sense of humor and uses it to hide the things that bother him from his friends. When we get moments with him alone in his room, we can see bits of that cold exterior cracking. This is where the game truly begins to shine. With very little “gameplay” to keep things interesting, it is up to the story to carry us through to the end, so thankfully Robotherapy succeeds in that department.

With simple yet elegant pixel graphics paired with a calming soundtrack, this game understands that it is a story forward experience. Quantum and the rest of the cast have issues that they are dealing with, and we can see their growth over the course of the short story, but Smokes is where most of the character development is placed.

I was proud to see that he was able to learn from Back about what it means to be a therapist, while also learning how to appreciate himself and those around him more. Animations are kept to a minimum so the only bits of personality we are able to see is taken directly from the dialogue, and the writing here does a wonderful job of helping us understand the cast and see their growth.

As stated before, there isn’t much to say in regard to the gameplay, since you will spend most of your time going through dialog with the occasional decision to be made. As you make these decisions, dialogue will change accordingly, but in my two playthroughs, I did not see any major differences in the ending. There is a section in the beginning moments that felt like they were going to be a core part of the game, tasking you with maneuvering cars along the highway in order to avoid negative thoughts, but that moment was just another part of the story. Gameplay revolves around you reading dialogue and progressing to the next scene. There is no need to worry about moving characters or remember map locations because you will spend the majority of the game reading. This leads to the game feeling more like a short story or a small interactive film, and that’s where it shines.

I cannot express enough just how strong the writing is, for example, Quantum is striving to be the best poet he can be, throwing him into a state of depression and constant worry about failing at being the best robo poet there is. He even gets upset because another author was able to put ketchup in one of their poems. During our time with him, he eventually comes to understand that he doesn’t have to be the best poet, but instead he should focus on just enjoying what he does. “It’s so heavy when I tell myself I have to do great” is a wonderful line and not one that I would have expected from a robot in a comedy game. Each robot’s personality shines in the dialogue, which can be hard to achieve in a game with no voice acting, but Robotherapy makes it work wonders.

Robotherapy understands that it is a story heavy comedy and does a great job of not hiding that away with unnecessary mechanics. The game took me a little over an hour for my first play through, but this is a story that will definitely stick with me. Smokes and his friends face issues that are real problems that some of us deal with in our everyday lives. While there are jokes thrown around to keep things from getting too heavy, it is nice to see these issues handled with real self reflection and therapy as opposed to a magical adventure.