Reviews

• gamedeal user

  Oct 1, 2021

  Overboard! is a reverse whodunnit choice-driven game and it is incredibly fun to play. After killing your good-for-nothing husband in the middle of the night you must now avoid getting caught by any means necessary, regardless of who you have to frame or kill to get what you want. Despite being the murderer of this case, the game sets up an excellent mystery and each success you earn reveals yet another layer to unravel, drawing you deeper and deeper into the depths of its story. Everyone has a secret and Veronica is strangely self aware of her many second chances, allowing the player to easily go back and make new choices. It's a very stylish looking game. It looks fantastic and sounds just as good, truly immersing you in the time period that this game is set in. If any of this appeals to you, I full-heartedly recommended it. I’d love to see more games like this, as it’s just the type of game I want to get lost in for hours on end. 10/10 Would kill my husband again.
• gamedeal user

  Oct 30, 2021

  There's a scene in overboard where you get raped. There is no warning.
• gamedeal user

  Dec 3, 2021

  [h1]Not a [i]great[/i] branching-dialogue game, but a very good one[/h1] If you're looking for a quick, bite-sized game that you can tear through in less than an hour with the help of a guide, [i]Overboard![/i] has you covered. If you want a rich story full of layered characters that you can spend ten hours on or more - without a guide - it's got you covered there, too. But here's where I must caution you - if you want a complexly-branching narrative with several different endings, hyper-specific context-sensitive dialogue, and a game that will constantly surprise you with how the developers anticipated every outcome... You need to dial back your expectations. [i]Overboard![/i] is a small-scale indie title that is $15 at [i]full price[/i]. It has not been polished to a mirror shine, and it has a relatively limited scope. What's there is very good - the characters are charming and memorable, and the story is well-told. Although the game usually railroads you into only a few types of major ending states, they are generally very effective and the small flourishes are endearing. In the end, I suppose saying "it left me wanting more than it had" is a compliment, of sorts. That said - I still recommend it.
• gamedeal user

  Dec 6, 2021

  After a long day of working retail in December, it's nice to come home and repeatedly murder my philandering husband and get away with it.
• gamedeal user

  Dec 14, 2021

  I'm generally positive on Overboard! There's a lot to like about it. It's got that signature Inkle flair that jazzes up its simple visual novel interface with colorful art, period-appropriate big band swing soundtrack, and snappy writing. While there isn't a lot of depth to the narrative in its pulpy detective story and two-dimensional characters, it's got enough intrigue and charm to pull you into discovering its secrets, puzzling out the steps to cover up your not-so-perfect crime, or just making fun choices to roleplay your femme fatale fantasies. Also, it touches on the politics of the time with a deft hand, reflecting the regressive ideas of the 1930s while approaching it with modern sensibilities without being ham-fistedly finger-waggy. It's important to note that your choices are limited to the character you are playing as. Veronica Villensey is her own woman; she's a film starlet, conventionally beautiful and confident, and she can wield those assets as gracefully or as bluntly as you desire. But you're no agent 47, so you can't just go around killing people then easily hide their bodies if things go to shit. At least, not without a lot of effort or facing immediate consequences. I 100% appreciate the limitations and the conveniences of these mechanics. Veronica's character is well-realized in whichever dialogue option you choose, revealing different sides to her that coalesce into a believable sexy thriller protagonist you can sympathize with and root for. The rewind feature gives you some leeway for mistakes without completely robbing decision-making of any weight. However, I can't deny that the shiny veneer of the aesthetics and writing wore thin at times, as I bumped up against the walls of what you can do and discover on my way to the ending that gets you credits. Even with the breezy runtime and ways to speed up sequences, I found myself getting impatient while stumbling through the "right" way to beat the game. Comparing it to other time-loop games like Outer Wilds or Deathloop, I find that even when I'm repeating actions in those games, the more direct control you have makes the moment-to-moment gameplay more engaging than skipping through the same lines of text. Comparing it to other detective visual novel stories like the Ace Attorney series, the more intricate logic puzzles and wilder plot twists in those games make for more satisfying rewards than the straightforward obstacles that give way to soap opera reveals in Overboard! Maybe it's unfair to compare this small indie game to more ambitious titles with bigger productions, especially after finding out that Overboard was made during this pandemic in only 3 months! But yeah, there were moments when I was working towards the "true" ending where I felt like I just wanted it to be over. Funny thing is that after the credits rolled, I saw in the achievements that there's actually a way to kill all 7 cast members, which I hadn't even really thought was possible. Turns out I had as just a devilishly good time solving that murder puzzle as I did for the first quarter of the game, as the possibility space in this tiny ocean liner was bigger than I initially thought. Of course, I am such a typical gamer that doing six more murders was the thing that left me on a high note in a game with the setup of just getting away with one. It does help that the ending for getting a septuple homicide left me hootin' n' hollerin' in absolute bewilderment! [b]TL;DR[/b] Overboard! is not a bad way to spend a couple of hours doing light reverse crime investigation. The premise is novel, which in itself is something I find praiseworthy in this medium, and the pizzazz carries the proceedings for a handful of playthroughs. Just lower your expectations for what's possible with its structure and short development, and you'll have a good time... or be a real sicko like me and try to murder everyone for a totally unexpected ending.
• gamedeal user

  Mar 24, 2022

  It's like Groundhog Day meets a Poirot episode, but from the perspective of the murderer.
• gamedeal user

  Apr 19, 2022

  A fun reversal of deduction games. You have to cover your tracks and make it impossible to solve the case. Lots of fun writing in this one.
• gamedeal user

  Jun 13, 2022

  Fun little graphic novel-type game and a fun twist on the detective games I usually play since you're trying to get away with a crime instead of solve one. There are many different achievements you can unlock which are fun and don't necessarily even mean going trough the entire game again - once you get that achievement you can reset to the start of the day (and you can also get multiple achievements in one run). I recommend trying to get away with the murder once, then after that, look up what the achievements are and try to get them. Only downside is the game can get tedious when you're constantly repeating conversations and restarting over and over again. (You can reset to the start of a scene once each scene though if you don't like the choices you made, which helps). I stepped away from the game from a while before coming back to it to get the rest of the achievements, and that definitely helped it feel fun again. Overall, fun and kind of unique concept. Would play another game like this if they made one in a different setting.
• LyreeD

  Jul 2, 2022

  I love the concept of this game. It's a simple yet cool graphic novel game where you play as the killer and you have to make sure you get off the boat without being arrested. The game itself is quite short (~20min per run), but it is designed to be replayed and discover new ways to get away with murder. Sometimes you think you've got it all figured out and covered, but in the end you realise you've missed something and get framed. You have to plan your timing and actions to get the perfect murder. This game offers a multitude of endings and clever, well thought out and funny moments/dialogues. The only downside is that replaying the same dialogues can be tiring, although there is an option to replay your previous choice. I recommend this game if you are looking for something original, short and exciting
• gamedeal user

  Nov 6, 2022

  a dazzling little reverse-whodunit. like all of the best video games ever made, it takes place entirely on a boat.