Time travel’s place in human history is as convoluted as the concept itself. From the iconic Back to the Future’s DeLorean time machine, it’s evident that our fascination with a concept that’s so familiar yet utterly strange has stood the test of time. warmkitten brings us Justin Wack And The Big Time Hack — a tale as old as time.
You start the game as the eponymous Justin Wack, a deadbeat worker at a dead-end job. He’s still not gotten over his ex-girlfriend Julia, who at this point, wants nothing to do with him. Hunger overcomes him and in the kitchen, he warms a frozen pie in a microwave. It would have been fine if the frozen pie was in a ceramic bowl, but alas, aluminium and microwaves produce impromptu time machines.
Justin Wack And The Big Time Hack is a point-and-click game, and allows you to switch freely between three perspectives — Justin, Julia, and Kloot, the rather opportunistic caveman who takes Justin’s place. Justin, now caught in the Stone Age, is soon captured by a robot from the future whose sole task is to eliminate any illicit time travellers.
In the first few minutes, I was exploring every nook and cranny of Justin’s tiny cubicle and the surrounding office pantry. The artwork is simple yet distinct, and the gameplay was intuitive. As this is a point-and-click game, I found myself interacting with various items and people to further goals, get items, and most importantly, get juicy details.
The demo version was pretty short but it offered a neat glimpse into the game and left us at a point that not only served as a teaser to what’s to come, but also a fun fourth-wall-breaking way to promote the Kickstarter!
Justin’s journey isn’t quite over yet, and by the looks of it — still has a long way to go.
Justin Wack And The Big Time Hack is estimated to release this year. You can wishlist the game on Steam or find out more at their website.