Oh Panic, what have you done this time? From the people who gave us Untitled Goose Game, Thank Goodness, You're Here and the Playdate, a Game Boy like device, we have a TV Cable watching simulator. It's as weird as it sounds and a novel idea in Panic's stream of nonsense.
We'll go over what exactly this experience is, the differences between us and another world and hopefully some straight up real talk about the latest season of Werf's Tavern.
If you've ever used the TV Guide, some people might not have at this point; on a cable TV, you'll be familiar with the Blippo+ layout to navigate from show to show. Except, you won't be too familiar as everything will be a bit off. As you might linger from
Confetti Cowboys to
The Rubber Report with some familiarity, as it seems like a program or clip you've seen before. You might pause and go,
"What the Blip is this!" Blippo+ is making fun of streaming services, with the name alone, but more so. It's parodying cable....Ancient cable that once was shown around the Earth. So, not the cable of today, but cable of the past, well before the 2000's. Oh, and apparently it takes place on another planet.
Yeah, Blippo isn't just a name, it's also a world, named Blip. A crazy world I want you to explore by watching. These are live action shows with the effects of early TV, so it can look pretty iffy. Heck, they even managed to put in stop-motion when I think about it and some really weird workarounds to normal live-action. You'll start unraveling this place somewhat like ours, though trapped in the 80's, early 90's. Oh, and there's scores of different shows to see and reveal more and more about Blip as you watch.
On top of that, there's an early version of a message board/Discord called Femtofax that let's you read people's opinions on the news, find love and just straight up complain. It's kind of crazy how much you get out of it. Shows stars start intersecting and so the world starts to connect more and more.
A show, I was immediately laughing at was
Werf's Tavern. A clear parody of
Doctor Who, but centering on a bar that travels through time and space. It's truly terrible, but I can't look away from this weird, almost F U to sci-fi. The actor who played Werf, totally a jab at Worf from Star Trek, suddenly appeared on a talk show when I was watching random shows and then he got mentioned on gossip show. So, you'll see how everything slowly builds a freaky world.
Without getting too far ahead, something does connect all the shows as a big event takes place on planet Blip and for reasons you'll understand watching, television is a major part of Blippian lives. Blippo+ seemingly might be in charge of that worlds version of NASA.
Trying to figure it out and thinking there was more than watching was my problem with Blippo+, that's really all it is. There's no hidden password to put in or secret channel to find. Still, it can get addicting to watch enough to get the next data packet to download. Something I'm told people would do with Satellite television. It's how you progress to new episodes and updating Femtofax. You gotta unlock next week episodes by watching.
What Blippo+ really is was an enjoyable public access channel that had a broad story that kept me engaged and wanting more. Calling it a game, would be a hard sell, it's more like a fun strange watching experience.
I don't think the experience sticks the landing though, it ends with credits and leaves the main story open-ended, which was anti-climatic to me. I see there was a real world ending (more on that below), hopefully that can be incorporated back in or something else can be released because to the average person it just abruptly ends on a cliffhanger.
Learning it took a year to film it all and a year in post is also disturbing, but I'm not sure if the people making it really needed it to be done that quickly or what sort of payment they're getting in return. The funniest bit is, of course, that it was all filmed in Glendale at Telefantasy Studios. Where else, but Glendale?
Sadly, missed out on the series finale, apparently at the Bob Baker Marionette Theater on August 7th via
LA Times and
from Reddit "There were basically three parts- -a section with lots of
demo stations set up to play the various ports of Blippo on steam decks,
computer, and PDs. -a small shop and 1-bit photo booth. -an exhibit of
original costumes and props. As well as a short presentation mostly
consisting of a Blippo+ trailer and a puppet fashion show from the folks
at the Bob Baker Marionette theater."
Blippo+ is out now on
Steam and Switch
*It was funny hearing the guide voices chime in everyone once in a while, saying everything's fine in times of crisis.
*Did a channel gain sentience?
Game provided by publisher for review purposes
