Interactive Buddy
- Genre Arcade games
- Players 1
- Session 5 min
- Price Free
- Updated
Interactive Buddy is one of the toys that came before the modern ragdoll sandboxes. The buddy is a little figure built from shiny grey spheres: a ball for the body, smaller balls for the head, hands and feet. He stands at the bottom of an empty grey room, thinks out loud in speech bubbles and changes the face in the top left corner depending on how he is treated. You decide what that treatment is. The menu bar along the top looks like a desktop application, with File, Skins, Items, Modes, Settings and Help. Under Items you choose the tool for your cursor: an open hand, a tickle, a fist, grenades, baseballs or a gravity vortex. Every interaction earns a few cents, the balance is shown in the bottom left corner, and the Item Store sells the rest of the arsenal, from hoses and bowling balls to fireballs and heavier weapons. Version 1.02 was released by Shock Value in 2005.
| Left click | Use the selected tool on the buddy: punch with the Fist, throw a grenade, drop a baseball |
|---|---|
| Click and drag | With the Open Hand, grab and fling the buddy around the room |
| Menu bar | Switch tools under Items, buy new ones under Buy New Items, change skins and modes |
How to play Interactive Buddy
- Close the pop-up in the top right corner with its X button when the game opens.
- Open Items, point at a group such as Hand or Explosives and pick a tool from the submenu. The current tool name is shown next to your money.
- Click on or near the buddy to use the tool. Punches send him flying, grenades land and go off near him, objects bounce around the room.
- Watch the balance in the lower left: every hit, poke and tickle adds a little cash.
- Spend it in Items, Buy New Items. Select an item in the store list to see its group and cost, then press Buy.
Tips
- The Fist pays faster than the Open Hand. Rapid clicks while he is in the air keep the money ticking up.
- Modes has an Open Ceiling switch and an FPS counter; more modes are sold in their own shop under Buy New Modes.
- Settings holds anti-aliasing, effects and motion blur options. Lowering them helps if the game stutters on an older computer.
- Cheap items come first in the store list. Buying a strong gravity vortex or bowling balls early gives you new ways to earn before the expensive weapons.
Questions about Interactive Buddy
Is there a goal or an ending?
No. It is a sandbox. The only progression is earning money and unlocking new items, skins and modes in the shops.
Is it violent?
The buddy is a cartoon figure of grey balls. You can punch him and throw explosives, and the store sells weapons such as a shotgun and a flamethrower. In the parts we tried there was no blood, but it is still a game about hurting a character.
Do I need a keyboard?
No. Everything is done with the mouse: the tools, the menus and the stores.
Does it work on a phone?
Not well. The tool menus open submenus on hover and the buddy is grabbed with a mouse drag, so a computer works far better than a touch screen.
