HANK: Drowning On Dry Land is quite brief. It’s one main puzzle and cart riding sequence fits a single 10-30 minute session. A neat, highly polished experience, the feeling of playing through a small comic zine uses time itself to produce a distinctly video game short story.

One wrong move (or lack of moving) means certain death for our main drunk protag Hank. This brutally punishing approach is fully alleviated with the game’s signature rewind/fast forward mechanic. Particularly in the main puzzle area, the physical space to explore is limited, but the possibility space is wide. Deciphering the order of operations is the puzzle, be it forking at a branching path, uncovering a secret you couldn’t possibly know or simply waiting at the right time.

This mechanical function ties neatly into the hammy comic book Saturday morning cartoon vibes on display. Much like an episode of a random superhero kids show you might have watched as an 8 year old, there are themes touched upon that a full length experience could dive deeply into, but what’s here is in service of just having a good old gosh darn time.

And time is what it’s all about. Having control over time and exploring branching pathways is a mostly uniquely gamey concept, providing a safe space to test possible outcomes without fear of consequence. It’s length and relative cheapness give HANK room to explore without chaffing at the edges of frustration.