Toilet humour is often described as the lowest form of humour. In the case of Men’s Room Mayhem, it’s nothing short of fantastic.
The premise might not sound like much, but it’s the subtle humour that will hook you on and drag you in. The game plays out as a line drawing game, much like the many airplane games available on the Android market and iOS App Store. You know the ones, the games where you have to land the planes without them colliding.
Men’s Room Mayhem could be described as a knock off of the aforementioned games, maybe it is, but it’s done it a damn sight better than anything that’s come before it.
You’re the janitor and your job is to guide patrons to the urinals/poop cubicle before they make a mess all over your lovely clean floors. However, don’t let the patrons get in each others way or a scuffle with occur, losing you points in the process.
The gameplay is simple and friendly, just draw a line from the character to the destination and they’ll follow it like an obedient little pixel-man should. Each time you successfully navigate a patron to their desired destination (clue: a yellow drop above the head means they need a pee, toilet paper means they need to drop a dirty bomb,) you’re awarded with points. For an extra bonus you’ll need to get them to wash their hands, and for mega-points you’ll want to practice some typical men’s room etiquette. That means if there are three urinals available and two patrons come in looking to make a splash, make sure they have a urinal dividing them and you will have successfully avoided that awkward silence, only broken by the sound of warm urine splashing the urinal cake. Once a round is complete, it’s time to tidy up after your mucky buggers. This is where you can see a big boost in points, you’ll need to be quick though, you only have a short amount of time to scrub the urinals and poop cubicles as well as the wash basins clean, all done with some nifty finger work.
You’re not just confined to the one dirty bog either, there’s a total of 7 different toilets to manage, each larger than the next with a more diverse clientèle to look after.
Gameplay is simple yet frustratingly addictive. If you decide to take your PS Vita to the toilet for a sit on the throne, be prepared to wallow in your own filth for a bit, because Men’s Room Mayhem will have you hooked with its ‘one more go’ gameplay.
Graphically, it’s as charming as you could imagine a game about men and toilets could be. The bright and well detailed levels all blaze out from the PS Vita’s screen. It’s got that charming aesthetic that makes you forget you are basically directing men where to relieve themselves.
It’s not completely without its faults though. As fun and addictive as it is, the difficulty curve is pretty steep. Just when you think you’re a pro at hanging around in men’s toilets, you’ll fall flat on your face in a puddle of piss once those tiny bladdered patrons come barging through one after the other. That being said, it’s more about personal preference. I like to take it easy with my games, have a bit of fun and relax. If you’re after a challenge, you’ll be sure to check out the ‘Blitz’ mode. You have three minutes to get as many points as you can whilst those looking to splash some urine come lugging in thicker and faster than a hot Thai curry can leave your anu-, um, body…
Summary
Men’s Room Mayhem may be tredding on old ground (maybe even slipping on the wet floors at times) but it’s a perfect time killer whether you’ve got five minutes before a meeting, an hour to kill at home, or just a trip to the dumping ground.
Gameplay: Simple, yet addictive. Not much of a learning curve, but once the difficulty is ramped up you might find yourself going back to the earlier stages for a breather. 8.5
Sound: Lovely music that potters along, minding its own business. Thankfully we don’t have to hear the splash of pee on urinal nor the straining sounds of little pixel-men in the poop cubicle. 8.0
Presentation: Nice and easy to navigate, all done via the PS Vita touch screen. You won’t get lost on the way to the men’s room. 8.5
Graphics: Simple animations and nicely detailed backgrounds make hanging around in the men’s room more fun that it could ever be in real life. Unless you are George Michael. (Could not resist.) 8.5
Replay Value: It’s one of those where you’ll be coming back for more, even once you’ve reached your peak and can’t get a higher score, it won’t stop you from trying. 9.0
Overall: 8.5/10 – More fun than you might think. Just don’t try directing men where to pee in real life, you may find yourself eating urinal cake and dirty bog roll.
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Have you played Men’s Room Mayhem? Think the review was a fair representation of it? Or do you completely disagree and think toilet humour should never be allowed in video games?
Release Date: May 22nd 2013
Publisher: Ripstone
Developer: Sawfly Studio
Genre: Casual/Line Drawer
Platform: PS Vita, Android, iOS
Version Tested: PS Vita
Review Disclosure: Review code provided by publisher.