Review for Pants Quest
We’ve all had one of those days where we just don’t want to get out of bed. Maybe we were having a particularly nice dream. Or perhaps we knew the day ahead was going to be a tumultuous one. Dave, the protagonist of Ghost Cat Games’ Pants Quest, is starting a day he wishes he didn’t have to. His adventure isn’t set in a fantastical medieval castle, a haunted mansion, or deep in the Amazon rainforest, and he won’t be looting any ancient artefacts or uncovering the plot of a grand conspiracy. Rather, this game takes place in a small, ordinary house, and all you’ll be searching for is cat food, a warm cup of coffee, and of course, your pants. It’s this grounded and familiar backdrop that ultimately makes Pants Quest so enjoyable, unique, and relatable. While its humour doesn’t always land, and the way things wrap up isn’t overly satisfying, it’s nonetheless a cozy, clever, and well-paced experience about facing your issues like an adult, and how overcoming even the little challenges in a day can be rewarding.
Pants Quest begins with Dave in the middle of a dream involving his cat, Nugget, who then wakes him up with a gentle “murp” right before his alarm is set to go off at 5:00 a.m. The muted patter of rain outside and the warm embrace of bed sheets hold him captive for a moment, but Dave knows it is not meant to last. He needs to get up and feed Nugget, grab a coffee, and then go to work so he can continue this cycle of mundanity to keep a roof over his head. Walking into his closet, Dave emerges with socks, boxers, a shirt, and tie, but no pants. Unsure of where his missing trousers could be, the aptly named Pants Quest officially begins.
A short tutorial of sorts keeps Dave in the kitchen fixing breakfast, teaching players the basic controls and actions before letting the protagonist loose in the house to begin his search. Finding his pants is only one of several tasks Dave needs to complete before heading to work, though admittedly it’s the most crucial. Despite Dave’s absolute sty of a house, the result of his obvious lack of organization, he keeps a detailed To-Do list of chores, which acts as a sort of quest guide. Some of these tasks can be done in any order you wish, while others are dependent on achieving different goals first, like finding the password to Dave’s computer so he can check his email. Other objectives, like tidying the house up by collecting garbage, can be done at your leisure as you go along. It’s a very short game overall, but its ups and downs feel like a proper adventure and the pacing of the story is quite good, despite having such a limited scope.
Pants Quest is a monologue-heavy game, with Dave frequently speaking to himself (or to Nugget) as he progresses through his morning. Unfortunately for him, each small victory is quickly overshadowed by a defeat, like when he makes himself a cup of coffee only to drop his mug when Nugget surprises him, or when the power goes out. The hassles all add up, and Dave slowly ramps up from sarcastic remarks to curling into a ball, having reached his breaking point. Of course, his stress goes deeper than the wayward pants, so you’ll discover a whole host of other pressures Dave is experiencing, like an overbearing mother, a thankless boss, and the fight he and Carla had over the phone the previous night.
I found the dialogue to be a bit too biting, however, and none of the lines overly funny, even though the overall setup is. Most of the jokes, whether in fake book names or expressed in Dave’s “why do I have to be an adult?” and “do all of the things” comments, incurred more eye-rolls than laughs. But then I guess everyone copes with stress in their own way, and other players may find a kindred spirit in Dave, even if I didn’t. I also wished the ending had provided a bit more closure regarding some of the implied stressors in Dave’s life, although even without a satisfying conclusion, the game still leaves an impression. Ultimately I felt for the guy, and really wanted to not only help him get on with his day but hopefully also begin to turn his life around.
The gameplay mirrors classic point-and-click titles of yore. You can left-click in a room to have Dave move around or investigate objects, with the options to Look At, Pick Up, Open/Close, and Use furthering the potential interactions. These commands can be activated with keyboard shortcuts, or just by clicking on the appropriate action button at the base of the screen, followed by the inventory item or desired hotspot. If you left-click an object without selecting a specific verb, Dave will Look At by default, though this can be toggled on or off in the menu. It’s a self-explanatory system, with Open/Close used for things like doors and drawers, Use for combining objects (like coffee and a mug), and Look At for things like pictures or sticky notes. Most required hotspots are in plain sight, with only one part of the game, where you’re forced to scour through piles of books, approaching anything resembling tedious pixel hunting. Though there is a lot of stuff packed into Dave’s messy house, it’s not unmanageable and piecing together where to go next is never hard.
That said, not every item on the To-Do list needs to be completed. I neglected to check Dave’s email as I couldn’t figure out the password to his computer. I also missed picking up a piece or two of trash from around the house (based on the Steam achievements), meaning there is a little extra content for completionists, as well as those just looking to breeze through.
Puzzles mostly involve finding and combining items, though a select few offer other sorts of challenges, like when Dave has to play with breaker switches to get the power back on, or figure out how to operate the washing machine. There are also several fun diversions along the way to mix things up. For example, Dave can take a break to play a simple Ecco the Dolphin-esque platformer video game or feed Nugget treats, just as fun distractions.
While the script didn’t resonate with me, the charming visuals and sound did, as they both do a great job of bringing Dave (and Nugget) to life. Pixels are big, giving the characters and rooms in the house that old retro VGA charm. There are other nice visual effects too, like being able to turn lights on and off, and the reflective surface of the kitchen floor. Animations convey a lot of personality as well, like how Nugget follows you around, or the way Dave raises his hands when talking to himself, stomps about the house with his wiry (half-dressed) body, and crosses his arms when reacting to bad news. Solving problems or correctly using items often spawns a short cinematic, even for the smallest of things like when Dave successfully combines his toothbrush and toothpaste. This makes interacting with the environment a lot of fun, and the detail packed into Pants Quest is one of its strongest points. Dave may be a slob, but thanks to the cute art direction, it’s a pleasure to spend time in his house.
Music is reserved for the beginning and end segments, but sound is still abundant. Like the circa-1990 visual style, the effects also hail from the same era, comprising a nice collection of synthesized bleeps and bloops to score Dave’s voice, Nugget’s meows, and every other noise in the game. While hardly realistic, the house feels like a real place thanks to the numerous hotspots and the audio/visual feedback they provide, like the microwave beeping or the gentle hum of the washing machine, all artfully recreated with simple chipsounds. I especially like the almost Charlie Brown-style “whomps whomps” connoting Dave’s speech, interspaced with meow responses from Nugget.
The only glitch I ran into was at the end after the credits had rolled, when the game did not reset to the title screen. I played through the whole thing in one sitting, as it’s only around 90 minutes long, but there is the option to quit and continue later, with your progress automatically recorded as you complete objectives.
Pants Quest is a fine emulation of classic point-and-click adventures, and for those of us who grew up playing them back in the day, it feels wholly relatable now that we face such grown-up pressures of our own. Whether you find the game’s unique style of humour funny or not is a matter of taste (I didn’t), but its message of struggling to push yourself even to get out of bed on the days you don’t want to (and maybe to clean up your house once in a while) shines through effectively and certainly made me reflect on how I deal with my own stress. It’s not long or particularly substantial, but ultimately, Pants Quest’s cozy environment, great pacing, and delightful retro presentation make for a charming little adventure to undertake while it lasts.
