I'll Take You To Tomato Town!

Game: I'll Take You To Tomato Town

Developer: adamgryu

Download Link: https://adamgryu.itch.io/tomato-town

Shopping is fun... I guess? I don't know how to start this. I guess I could start with some commentary on people getting quarantined due to COVID-19, but eh, I don't really feel like going all-in on that joke as that horse has been beaten to death faster than a Reddit meme template, but I digress. Instead, let's reminisce the moments of shopping for your buddies, who need arbitrary shit stuff from the store and it is your responsibility to get said stuff. Which is the premise of I'll Take You To Tomato Town.

I went shopping for myself today and it was somewhat relaxing despite the hysteria right now. Tomato Town, however, is anything but relaxing. You have 3 minutes and change to find all the items your friends are looking for and leave the store in a reasonable amount of time. It's like a reverse retail worker's nightmare, where instead of trying to maintain your sanity throughout the day of taking care of customers, you're trying to maintain your sanity by finding the mustard in Tomato Town, which if you don't know the layout of the store by memory, is going to be near impossible unless you look in a very specific spot :/.

But what are the nice parts of I'll Take You To Tomato Town? There are quite a few things that can be said like the graphics were nice and colorful and the in-game physics are hysterical, wherein whenever you pick an item off the shelf, all the other items next to it go flying and make a huge mess. I also like the informal way your friends on the phone tell you to pick up their stuff from the supermarket. The informal tone and irreverent nature of it add some level of mockery towards you as you feel like you're being tortured in some way by your friends.

I do kind of wish that the game had more space to work with and that the placement of items didn't feel so arbitrary, but the game is free to play so I can't really complain too much, even if the other customers like to push you around and obstruct your movement and vision. I definitely feel like this game likes to push you around as if it's supposed to be some form of torture for the shopper as some form of catharsis for retail workers. 

So once you get all the items your friends need, they call and tell you that the card they lent you has no money on it! Aw shucks, those darn rascals! So now you have to steal as much inventory as you can without getting caught and then leave the store. If the store closes before you leave or you get caught by the security guard, it's game over for you.

The game isn't super deep or an allegory of shoplifting or hoarding or friends who lack envy for the torture they put you through. However, it is a simple fun game to play during the time that you may be sitting at home during potential quarantine or you come across this blog by poor chance and have to put up with my mediocre writing ability. Whatever the case may be, do give this game a shot and have some fun!

Verdict: Would Strangle My Friends Over the Phone/I Finally Found the Mustard!!!