A very bare-bones game for a very bare-bones price, 60 seconds! Reatomized is something I bought on a whim and somewhat regret for it.

The looting segments are terribly un-fun. The movement feels awful, what and where you can grab things is a bit unclear, and the movement scheme is wildly oversensitive tank controls. Even with the sensitivity turned as far down as it can go, your turn radius is super fast. The sense of momentum building is a bit un-needed since furniture doesn't slow you down nearly enough to matter unless it gets caught on something thanks to unpredictable physics.

The survival element, similarly, is quite stale and shallow for a game in this genre. In other games (even free flash games, I might add) there's more to the survival than yes/no questions and bare-bones resource management.

Let us take the 2011 flash game Rebuild 2, a free game and closest I can find to a direct competitor, as a point of reference:

Rebuild 2 has the following:
-palatable music that sets a somber unsettling tone through grungy droning guitars and buzzing

-interesting base-management mechanics

-multiple varied win conditions (Conquer the whole town? Solve the zombie crisis through science? Defeat zombie satan? etc etc.)

-risk/reward events where you can often get bent as easily as you can profit from them, manageable through the use of specialist party members

And this is a pretty pared down list. While not a perfect game, it's a good case study I recommend the devs play through to get some ideas or even just to have a fun time.

Compare to 60 seconds! Reatomized:
-Music sounds cheap and basic, to the point I suspect it may actually be stock music they never bothered to replace

-a startling lack of depth to the mechanics (all choices are binary yes/no options and, as far as I can tell, completely static in terms of outcome

-unpolished gameplay (seriously, I hate to harp on this, but the main gameplay gimmick where you loot your house is NOT IN A PLAYABLE STATE. It detracts from the experience and I often select challenge modes just so I can avoid it.) (But this also extends to the survival scene being largely static and uninteresting.)

-the writing, normally the high point in these games, is kind of stale. It feels like it's going for kind of a fallout/aperture science dark comedy kinda vibe, but it can't quite nail the concepts and doesn't do enough to sell the gags.

-risk/reward mechanics seem largely static, though I admit this may have just been the dice gods being unfavorable I always got the
same result whenever I picked yes or no on specific recurring choices.

-performance is unacceptable for a game THIS basic. it took a full restart to run this game properly and load times were still strangely long for what you actually get for 'em.

-Survival mode is incredibly boring to look at, read, and endure. There is no plausible reason to play this game more than 3 times as the writing, gameplay, and sound are all mediocre enough to make it not worth staring at a static screen of a suburban family staring at a bunker.

So, to recap:
-unpolished game-play
-bad audio
-buggy with poor performance
-a lack of depth to keep me playing
-survival aspect is frankly kind of dull to look at.

How I would improve it:
-more win conditions. This doesn't just mean more arbitrary waiting periods and luck factors. Maybe the family could recruit other family from outside the bunker, like the aunt mentioned in the photo? Maybe supplies are handled a bit different, with food being used more as a currency? Perhaps drop the "haha all they eat is soup" gag and let it just be a simple abstraction unit? Post around your community, find some good ideas that seem doable and start implementing them.

In its current state though, it's not worth the 10 dollars I paid for it.


HOWEVER, though this is an overwhelmingly negative review I do not want this to discourage you from making games. I only want to see you try harder here.

If you make any improvements to the depth of the game-play to make this worth revisiting, you can rest assured that I will.

A very bare-bones game for a very bare-bones price, 60 seconds! Reatomized is something I bought on a whim and somewhat regret for it. The looting segments are terribly un-fun. The movement feels awful, what and where you can grab things is a bit unclear, and the movement scheme is wildly oversensitive tank controls. Even with the sensitivity turned as far down as it can go, your turn radius is super fast. The sense of momentum building is a bit un-needed since furniture doesn't slow you down nearly enough to matter unless it gets caught on something thanks to unpredictable physics. The survival element, similarly, is quite stale and shallow for a game in this genre. In other games (even free flash games, I might add) there's more to the survival than yes/no questions and bare-bones resource management. Let us take the 2011 flash game Rebuild 2, a free game and closest I can find to a direct competitor, as a point of reference: Rebuild 2 has the following: -palatable music that sets a somber unsettling tone through grungy droning guitars and buzzing -interesting base-management mechanics -multiple varied win conditions (Conquer the whole town? Solve the zombie crisis through science? Defeat zombie satan? etc etc.) -risk/reward events where you can often get bent as easily as you can profit from them, manageable through the use of specialist party members And this is a pretty pared down list. While not a perfect game, it's a good case study I recommend the devs play through to get some ideas or even just to have a fun time. Compare to 60 seconds! Reatomized: -Music sounds cheap and basic, to the point I suspect it may actually be stock music they never bothered to replace -a startling lack of depth to the mechanics (all choices are binary yes/no options and, as far as I can tell, completely static in terms of outcome -unpolished gameplay (seriously, I hate to harp on this, but the main gameplay gimmick where you loot your house is NOT IN A PLAYABLE STATE. It detracts from the experience and I often select challenge modes just so I can avoid it.) (But this also extends to the survival scene being largely static and uninteresting.) -the writing, normally the high point in these games, is kind of stale. It feels like it's going for kind of a fallout/aperture science dark comedy kinda vibe, but it can't quite nail the concepts and doesn't do enough to sell the gags. -risk/reward mechanics seem largely static, though I admit this may have just been the dice gods being unfavorable I always got the same result whenever I picked yes or no on specific recurring choices. -performance is unacceptable for a game THIS basic. it took a full restart to run this game properly and load times were still strangely long for what you actually get for 'em. -Survival mode is incredibly boring to look at, read, and endure. There is no plausible reason to play this game more than 3 times as the writing, gameplay, and sound are all mediocre enough to make it not worth staring at a static screen of a suburban family staring at a bunker. So, to recap: -unpolished game-play -bad audio -buggy with poor performance -a lack of depth to keep me playing -survival aspect is frankly kind of dull to look at. How I would improve it: -more win conditions. This doesn't just mean more arbitrary waiting periods and luck factors. Maybe the family could recruit other family from outside the bunker, like the aunt mentioned in the photo? Maybe supplies are handled a bit different, with food being used more as a currency? Perhaps drop the "haha all they eat is soup" gag and let it just be a simple abstraction unit? Post around your community, find some good ideas that seem doable and start implementing them. In its current state though, it's not worth the 10 dollars I paid for it. HOWEVER, though this is an overwhelmingly negative review I do not want this to discourage you from making games. I only want to see you try harder here. If you make any improvements to the depth of the game-play to make this worth revisiting, you can rest assured that I will.