Manual Samuel Reviews

Manual Samuel is ranked in the 20th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
6 / 10
Dec 24, 2018

Manual Samuel is a unique little adventure with some good moments and a bizarre (to its benefit) control scheme. It's notably short, and some levels do lean on the repetitive side, but it's rare to see something quite like this. It has a lot of soul to it, much of which is due to focusing so heavily on comedy. It's enjoyable overall and is worth looking into if you don't mind playing something a bit different than usual, even if it could have been executed better.

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7 / 10.0
Sep 19, 2018

Manual Samuel is an adventure game for a specific type of player, who is fond of dark humor with a huge dose o absurdity. With brilliant dialogues and unique characters set in a grotesque world, the game manages to give some good laughs throughout its very short game time. Entertaining local co-op makes Manual Samuel a perfect addition to games for Switch.

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8 / 10.0
Sep 13, 2018

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.

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6 / 10
Sep 9, 2018

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

7.5 / 10.0
Aug 30, 2018

Given the likely polarizing nature of the game's controls, Manual Samuel gets a highly conditional recommendation. If you're willing to roll with the punches, there's definitely a unique good time to be had here, just be very aware of its intent to make controlling just about anything more challenging than you'd ever imagine.

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6.3 / 10.0
Aug 30, 2018

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

60 / 100
Aug 29, 2018
8.5 / 10.0
Aug 20, 2018

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.]

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7.5 / 10.0
Aug 17, 2018

What story there is over the handful of hours you’ll play tends to be odd as well, but the strange characters and the ever-present narrator commentating on what you’re doing (complete with celebratory hashtags for mundane achievements like taking a leak) do a good job of rewarding your continued efforts. If you can see the amusement of nearly killing yourself while simply trying to drink some water or narrowly avoiding running over little old ladies while struggling to control your car (of course complete with a manual transmission) the experience has its silly rewards. Given the likely polarizing nature of the game’s controls Manual Samuel gets a highly conditional recommendation. If you’re willing to roll with the punches, there’s definitely a unique good time to be had here, just be very aware of its intent to make controlling just about anything more challenging than you’d ever imagine.

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8 / 10
Aug 16, 2018

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.

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4.5 / 10.0
Apr 17, 2018

Manual Samuel has some enjoyable moments and for the first hour or so, you will really enjoy it. The combat ultimately becomes the games downfall. The great humor, clean visual style or the madness of having to control body functions manually can’t be saved by how terrible the combat is. The game quickly goes from fantastic to frustrating. Although I had a lot of fun at first, I really couldn't recommend this game to anyone.

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7.5 / 10.0
Nov 24, 2016

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.

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Cubed3
Top Critic
4 / 10
Nov 16, 2016

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.

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6.5 / 10.0
Nov 2, 2016

A decent little budget game with a unique mechanic, but fix those crashes guys.

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USgamer
Top Critic
Oct 21, 2016

Manual Samuel is a good-looking, genuinely funny button-pressing test of dexterity that starts out well, but unfortunately becomes increasingly complicated and frustrating as the game wears on. It's a nice idea, but one that will probably only appeal to those who enjoy games like QWOP.

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Unscored
Oct 18, 2016

Better responding controls would do a lot of good, but for £6.40 you’ve got a lovely idea, often delivered very well.

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35 / 100
Oct 18, 2016

Simply put, Death is annoying and Sam is easy to hate.

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7.3 / 10.0
Oct 16, 2016

There are a few animation quirks, but for the most part the 2D style looks great and the games simple control scheme means almost anyone can pick it up. It’s just unfortunate that the momentum Manual Samuel builds in its earlier levels can’t be maintained for the entire course of the game.

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Unscored
Oct 16, 2016

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.

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Game Debate
Joffy S
Top Critic
4.5 / 10.0
Oct 15, 2016

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.

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