Do what you like, they are saying, and also you’ll by no means work a day in your life. Within the indie recreation Ikeelya, I’m doing that by balancing my day job as a affected person, relentless murderer with my real love — crafting cozy residing rooms. Ikeelya mixes the enjoyment of searching an Ikea catalog with the stress of being a sniper. It’s virtually like two video games in a single, linked by the thread of our hapless protagonist and a well mannered however nosy neighbor.
In Ikeelya, you step into the footwear of Barry, a grown-ass man who lives in an empty house worthy of r/malelivingspaces. I’m broke as a joke, so I’ve to take an assassination contract. These contracts are fairly fast to finish. I sit and look forward to the goal to emerge, take goal, and fireplace. Each time I miss, my shadowy boss yells at me and deducts a few of my pay, so it’s in my greatest curiosity to make each job fast and clear.
The issue is that Barry is vocally sad about his empty house and unhappy life. The supply on a few of Barry’s traces, mixed with the absurdity of the scenario, cracked me up. My man is mendacity inclined on some high-up perch, ready for a cellphone name about his subsequent goal, then ready for hours for a man dressed like Santa Claus to become visible. And the entire time, he’s fascinated by how he has nowhere to retailer his shirts, which implies they’re at all times wrinkled. He doesn’t need this life anymore; he needs to arrange lamps and take into consideration the right place for a potted plant.
Enter his neighbor Betty, a mannerly woman who drops by with leftover lasagna and barely pushy recommendation. Ultimately, she admits she’s been trying by Barry’s home windows at his more and more good house structure, which is form of bizarre — however hey, she has an inside ornament job for me. After I rearrange her front room, she praises me endlessly, and gives me extra jobs. The following factor I do know, I’m avoiding sniper contracts so I can rigorously arrange a pleasant association on my eating desk.
Between missions, I watch over Barry’s dwelling, the place I can flip by a catalog, customise my decor, and take pictures of my candy setup. If I hang around, Betty will stroll as much as ask some private questions and supply me a contract gig, like overhauling a teenage lady’s bed room or revitalizing a stale household room. It’s like an isometric Home Flipper, however punctuated with Barry’s main occupation. Once I’m quick on money and wish a giant payday fast — for a cool new TV, as an illustration — I can decide up a sniper contract, the place I watch over a The place’s Waldo-style web page of colourful characters till I’m knowledgeable who my mark is, and line up the right shot.
Ikeelya is offered free on itch.io as a “identify your individual worth” Home windows recreation. It was initially created for a recreation jam, however co-creators Cukia “Sugar” Kimani and Henrike Lode polished the sport after the jam, placing out a brand new model that sands down the tough edges and giving it a bit extra depth. This recreation was a pleasant solution to spend a day, and the distinction between being threatened by my mob boss and painstakingly arranging my leisure middle makes every exercise sweeter.