The Mr. Rabbit Magic Show review

Rusty Lake, the developer behind surreal and unnerving adventure games like Rusty Lake Hotel and Cube Escape, has turned 10. In celebration of this achievement, they put out a free game called The Mr. Rabbit Magic Show. While I am no expert on Rusty Lake's output, this game seems like a low-bar entry point to see what they are all about, which seems to be inspired tone-work, some absurd humor, and middling puzzle design.

As mentioned in last month's games roundup, The Mr. Rabbit Magic Show is an adventure game that is mostly structured around resolving individual magic tricks in a way similar to hap inc.'s Hidden my game by mom, or perhaps even more directly Mr. Success. The game revolves around a magic show starting a humanoid rabbit, and you largely progress through the game by tapping around to help this performer perform.

Everything starts out more or less how you'd expect a magic show to go. There's waves of the wand, tips of the hat, and even other rabbits that make an appearance. It doesn't take too long, however, for The Mr. Rabbit Magic Show to start gesturing and moving down a darker, weirder path that fits what most folks have come to expect from Rusty Lake titles.

The Mr. Rabbit Magic Show challenges you to complete 20 different acts, most of which can be completed within a few seconds (provided you know what is being asked of you). As you complete these acts, though, it becomes clear that this isn't just some set of disconnected mini-puzzles. Something else is happening, and you get some opportunity to discover what's really going on.

A big part of my enjoyment of The Mr. Rabbit Magic Show came from the surprise and discovery that came from progressing through the game, so I won't spoil any of it here. I will say that you will spend more time with the game than just completing magic trick puzzles, though, and that the overall experience of playing The Mr. Rabbit Magic Show is remarkably worth the nonexistent asking price.

A big part of why I am not more familiar with Rusty Lake's work is because the games I have tried and/or completed by them all seem to have the same problem. I love looking at and experiencing the vibes they give off, but most of the puzzles tend to either be bland and obvious or incredibly obtuse and frustrating. Out of the two, I prefer the former, as at least that lets me keep the train of strange stuff to see moving, and The Mr. Rabbit Magic Show happens to have more of that going on than the latter.

That said, when this game decides to get arcane, it really goes for it and there is little recourse outside of looking up a guide. There is no hint system of any kind, nor is there a way to see what you are able to interact with on the screen, which can lead to situations that I found myself in where I'm just aimlessly tapping on the screen to just see what I can even do as it is not especially clear sometimes.

All this makes The Mr. Rabbit Magic Show sound like a game you might prefer to watch someone else play, but I've never recommended someone do that and probably never will. The experience is interactive for a reason, after all, and it is best taken in that way. That said, if The Mr. Rabbit Magic Show wasn't free, I'd have a harder time excusing its propensity for obfuscation.