Where Is The Button For Love: Mechamom
Mechamom might just be the Surgeon Simulator of Molyjam 2013. It's another tale of horrifically destructive ineptitude, except there's a better reason for it this time around. See, you play as an ordinary mom who's just trying to shepherd her daughter through this mad morass we call life, but she's hit a bit of a snag. One day everything was normal, and the next she managed to trap herself inside a gigantic weaponized mech suit - like you do. But nothing will dissuade this newly nuclear-powered mom from doing her duty. Nothing. So hug your daughter. Go on. Do it. WHY IS THIS SO HARD FOR YOU.
Oh, right. Because you're forever bound to the world's most unwieldy bipedal tank - your arms icy, bereft of blood, and capable of felling all except the most formidable of elephants. The concept actually comes from a Peter Molydeux quote - specifically, "You play as a single mother who accidentally gets trapped inside a mech that she has been building. She must now bring up her child as a mech" - but oh well. It's still wonderfully silly despite maybe not listening when the rules for this year's jam were announced.
Mechamom makes aligning and delivering a warm embrace nigh-impossible via an in-game control panel that makes incredibly little sense. Why are there, like, six movement buttons all scattered across its furthest reaches? Because life is hard, and- oh god, you just blew up your bookshelf. And your wall. And then you have an awkward hug. You monster.
Perhaps Mechamom is a metaphor for the incredible disconnect between a mother and daughter. Standing a few feet from each other, you're still miles apart. It's like a howling void, except the void is a giant robot suit. Or perhaps Mechamom is a criticism of how incredibly difficult it is for us to do anything constructive or emotive in modern games. Each controller is an instrument of death, tiny tools that orgasm murder no matter how you stroke them.
Or maybe it's just a silly joke about a mom getting stuck in a mech suit for no reason. Probably that one.
Regardless, there's fun to be had here - brief and fleeting though it might be. Mechamom's not quite on Surgeon Sim's level, but it's worth a couple minutes and a few laughs. Give it a go here.