From the beginning, Do Not Feed The Monkeys lets the player know that they're about to play a very strange game. There's a secret organization, perverts, a deadbeat in a bathrobe who keeps asking you for money, and it just gets getting stranger and stranger.
It's been out on PC for a little while now and recently made the jump to the Nintendo Switch. These types of games are always a little weird on Nintendo's little machine, but Do Not Feed The Monkeys is such a unique experience that it's almost worth getting on the Switch even if the PC is a better fit.
You Filthy Voyeur You
The premise of Do Not Feed The Monkeys is that you have been accepted into a secret society known as The Primate Observation Club that spies on various subjects - who are referred to as "primates" - for unknown reasons. On your computer is a surveillance program where you can look at multiple screens known as "cages" and you need to uncover information to give to the club. Spying on people is apparently such an addictive activity that you could begin to neglect your health, so you also need to pay attention to your diet and your sleep schedule while also having enough money to buy even more cages and pay your rent. Failing to do so will get you kicked out of the society, leaving you penniless and homeless.
There's a lot going on in the game in terms of narrative. There's all manner of political conspiracies, corporate shenanigans, and general creepiness going on. There's actually so much happening all at once that it can be difficult to keep track of what the main plot is supposed to be. Often, something would be revealed about the secret organization or the presidential candidates, but I'd been so busy trying to pay my rent or eating some fruit that I'd have no idea what was transpiring.
The game's tone is kind of all over the place, as one second you're watching some Oprah-like talk show host yell at her underlings, and the next you're watching a David Bowie proxy whose storyline is perhaps a little too uncomfortably close to how that famous singer's final days played out. It's fairly entertaining, but at times I wasn't sure if I was supposed to pity, hate, or be amused by the people whose lives were unfolding before me.
The art style is very reminiscent of old LucasArts adventure games. There's plenty of colorful characters and locations along with a lot of weird scenes to switch between, and the background is filled with little details and hidden secrets. It's a shame that you have so much to focus on since it means you'll likely miss out on most of the action happening in the cages.
I Don't Want To Sleep, I Just Want To Spy!
It's hard to determine exactly what genre would adequately describe Do Not Feed The Monkeys. It's a point and click adventure game mixed with a camera surveillance game in the same vein as Five Nights At Freddy's, with a little resource management and even some survival elements thrown in for flavor. Regardless of what genre this title falls under, it's a good way to generate anxiety as there are so many balls you have to keep juggling in the air.
The player spends a lot of time in front of a computer screen looking at secretly installed cameras that track the daily lives of various weirdos and strangers. As the game progresses you are given tasks through your email to uncover specific information about the people you're spying on, such as their home address or full name. You cycle between all the scenes while trying to solve whatever question has been sent to you in an email. Clues will show up as yellow words during conversations or as pieces of scenery in the background. You gather everything in your notebook, try to find answers using this world's version of Google, and submit your solution to the shadowy organization. You have to buy more of these screens or "cages" in order to move up the ranks of The Primate Observation Club, which gives you even more secret cameras to gawk at.
Of course, while that is the most exciting part of the game, resource management tends to frequently intrude upon the mystery-solving. If you don't pay your rent or wind up in the hospital due to your health failing as a result of sleep deprivation or malnutrition, then the game is over. The game also ends if you can't buy enough cages to continue rising through the ranks of The Primate Observation Club. You constantly need to find new ways of making money, which means you need to leave the house to go to work. You also need to eat right and sleep well, which means trips to the supermarket and getting a good night's rest.
This bogged things down for me as I would be watching something truly interesting only to be interrupted by my stereotypically grumpy landlord or my gurgling stomach. I know that's what adds challenge to the game, but frankly, I wish they had found another way to insert some difficulty without removing me from the surveillance aspect. I just think it would have been more engaging to focus on being a spy rather than having to take a break to walk a dog or work in a warehouse.
The game can be pretty brutal with its resource management. You need to somehow have enough money to buy cages, pay your rent, and keep yourself fed without passing out. This is done by solving the emails or taking part-time jobs. However, sometimes a solution would take days to present itself or some jobs would be off-limits. For example, you can't become a warehouse manager unless you were a warehouse worker previously. As a result, you could sometimes find yourself stuck with no way of making cash leading to a slow and painful game over screen.
The Switch port performs pretty well, although there were a few occasional loading hitches. It plays fine, but this sort of game is still better suited for PC. The cursor is controlled with the thumbstick and seemed pretty slow, which meant you might miss a clue during a pivotal scene. A point-and-click game like this just seems like it would feel much better with a mouse and keyboard. Despite that, this is still totally playable and enjoyable as a Switch title.
It'll Be Our Little Secret
The camera surveillance genre is certainly not something I expected there be much of beyond Five Nights At Freddy's. Yet, games like this and Not For Broadcast are finding new ways to make looking at multiple screens exhilarating without jump scares. Although these games tend to work in some existential dread in exchange for the frights, so your mileage may vary.
While I think it relies on dumping too much resource management on the player and it's definitely a game meant to be played on PC, Do Not Feed The Monkeys is such a weird and original game that I can't help but enjoy it on some level. If you can only get it on the Switch, it'll be a fine addition to your collection of portable indie game oddities.
A Nintendo Switch copy of Do Not Feed The Monkeys was provided to TheGamer for this review. Do Not Feed The Monkeys is available on Nintendo Switch and PC.
Do Not Feed The Monkeys