Manual Samuel Reviews
Better responding controls would do a lot of good, but for £6.40 you’ve got a lovely idea, often delivered very well.
While it's not going to set your world alight with flashy features or ground-breaking mechanics, we enjoyed our time with Manual Samuel enormously. The joke risks wearing thin, but Sam's adventure is brief and self-aware enough to hold your interest. Co-op play is surprisingly fun with a willing accomplice and Time Attack offers some longevity, although for most players it'll be a short ‘one-and-done' affair. For our money, it's a pleasant amuse-bouche of a game – a welcome little treat between the larger courses being served up on Switch this summer.
There are some great ideas in many of the mini-games and the humour is great, but the controls are frustrating and detract from the fun.
The game is very fun, you catch love as fast as you hate it because of the frustration it brings. It's a short experience, too. And maybe the fact that it comes to an end as soon as I know a little.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
More than most games, I would urge potential purchasers to watch the trailer and see whether the sense of humour in this game appeals before buying. It is a lot of fun while it lasts and it provides a really interesting alternative to the increasingly automatic and cinematic fare of many AAA games, but it’s not for everyone. I can’t think of many more niche games than Manual Samuel, but it’s great that such projects still exist.
Manual Samuel is a fun game with its quirky humor and innovative concept.
With an attractive art style, generally fun gameplay, catchy music and some fantastic narration, Manual Samuel isn't just another clumsy physics-based simulation game - it stands alongside Octodad and Surgeon Simulator as the cream of the physics-based crop.
Simply put, Death is annoying and Sam is easy to hate.
Manual Samuel is a short but interesting title, however its gameplay gets very repetitive and infuriating quickly with the constant blinking and breathing. The game's controversial approach to humour also dampens the experience and makes it difficult to enjoy the best bits without feeling guilty for laughing at something you feel like you really shouldn't.
Because of its topic and to the absurdity of having to perform countless everyday acts, the game ends up becoming a hilarious act in itself. Unfortunately it doesn't quite achieve the same success when it comes to its short lifespan. Its strange motion controls make it feel very unusual and a high price tag means that this is not the most recommended piece of gaming at the moment, despite the marvelous humour and overall presentation.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Like a hybrid car, Manual Samuel starts slow, but once it kicks into high gear, there's far too much charm to not enjoy yourself. Controlling Samuel is a daunting, but incredibly rewarding task for anyone who can master the button-mashing physics this game relies on. If there's room for PC adventure games in your heart, you'll be right at home with Manual Samuel.
Madder than a box of frogs, Manual Samuel is surreal, a bit dark and slightly sadistic, but will bring a smile to your face. There are annoying bits, sure, but overall, Manual Samuel is an enjoyable QWOP-alike that will put your dextrous digits to the test. Holy faeces!
I can’t recommend Manual Samuel to anyone, it’s an awful game. A comedy game devoid of a sense of humour that is only interested in sucking all potential fun out of itself and replacing it with outright frustration. I mean, the game works and all but it’s never good, it’s a bad experience.
Manual Samuel sets out to make sure you have an unusual but highly amusing time, and at that it succeeds every step of the way.
Manual Samuel remains a must-have on Nintendo Switch, especially if you've not already played it. [OpenCritic note: Richard Seagrave separately reviewed the XB1 (9) and Switch (8) versions. His scores have been averaged.]
For the masochists in our midst there are time attack runs if you want to perfect your time in each of game’s eight or so chapters, but I do genuinely believe that’s a big ask of anyone. Manual Samuel is perfect Twitch streaming fodder then, but there isn’t enough quality or variation there to make me want to see it through to the end, despite developer Perfectly Paranormal’s best efforts to mix things up. Sadly, the execution isn’t as strong as the idea is on paper. It’s sad to see because there’s a lot of potentially good ideas tucked away here and some fantastic artwork, so I’m keen to see what the devs can crack out next.
Manual Samuel sounded great on paper, with the weird and wacky control scheme promising a tonne of potential for some fun gameplay elements. Unfortunately, the misses really drag down the overall tone. From the unresponsiveness of some button presses, to the cumbersome deaths caused by forgetting to breathe out while trying to control a manual car, to the humour-filled moments that seem to forget the humour - it just seems like a frustrating experience from beginning to end. The story is also weird, with each character playing a caricature of a usual stereotype found in other stories, but they do not seem to come together well at all. The only thing that does flow from scene to scene is the aggravating control scheme, coupled with the equally as annoying characters, and, as such, Manual Samuel is a tough game to sell.
The narrative and characters here are some of the funniest of any recent game I’ve played and the challenge of having to perform all of these normal day to day routines in a new and innovative way was fun as well. If you’ve played and enjoyed other games with challenging and different control schemes such as Octodad or others then you will feel right at home playing Manual Samuel.
A decent little budget game with a unique mechanic, but fix those crashes guys.