Too many game shows focus on the answering of questions in a variety of ways. There isn’t enough actual threat-to-life in Jeopardy, Tipping Point has a distinct lack of cliffs, and I was shocked to hear that Survivor wasn’t actually a battle royale. Step up: Billy’s Game Show.
You are the latest contestant in Billy’s Game Show, a puzzle horror game for fans of Poppy Playtime and Garten of Banban. After waking up in a strange place you must find three heads, all so you are able to escape the clutches of Billy. Die too many times and you will be left to perish. And by finding the tools you need to locate the heads, you may just be able to escape with your life intact.
How you got there isn’t of concern, or rather, it was too much of an effort to come up with any plot. The rest of the game follows suit with disappointing animations and pointless mechanics to create a poor game all around.
But right now, your only worry should be getting out of the game show.
Firstly, you need to power-up three generators on the bottom level, yet Billy’s Game Show doesn’t look like your traditional TV studio. A lift in the centre can take you between three floors, with the upper floors containing various rooms. One has a maze in it, another is set out like a café. One even has a bathroom, and you can catch Billy in the buff in the bath, but more on that later.
The three generators need topping up throughout your planned escape. But having three is utterly pointless when you consider they are all in the same room. Two also power down a lot faster than the other; not at any point did that generator cause me an issue. If the generators were dotted around the map then it would make sense for there to be more than one. As it is though, if one looks a bit low you can recharge them all in the same room at once. And because they are just off from the main area, you will be returning to them so frequently there really is nothing to worry about.
To access these heads, you will need to collect a variety of items on your journey. Some are used to smash windows, or to act as a makeshift bridge, or to unscrew the vents off the wall. There is even a gun, and – for some reason – an onion and an egg. Only one of those is useful.
You have six slots in your inventory, so management of this isn’t too difficult. And Billy’s Game Show does a good job of automatically removing items from your inventory when they have been used. You will also lose the item you are holding if you perish. But when you wake up again it is literally next to the bed. Again, I don’t understand why.
The gun has a very specific use; shooting Billy. I’m sure he is described as a persistent threat, but the truth is he only appears at very specific points. And escaping him is near impossible. You can try and run and hide in a locker or a chest, but he is quicker than Mr. X from Resident Evil 2 and the xenomorph from Alien: Isolation, so actually escaping him is unlikely. He is far less scary though. The gun is the only way to stop him, but you can only use that once against him. You will be rewarded substantially though if you are able to stop him, albeit temporarily.
In fact, in order to escape the game show, you will need to use the gun against him. But at one point in the game you can sneak up on him taking a bath. You cannot shoot him at this point though, as the gun needs recharging and will conveniently run out of charge as you near him. But, as I decided to then leave him alone, he suddenly stopped appearing in the other sections too. So, whilst I was given free roam of the facility, I was unable to complete the game. So I had to go back, trigger him, and then of course, die, before being able to then trigger him again and use the gun. By this point I had truly had enough, and Billy’s Game Show can be completed within 30 minutes.
The only saving grace for Billy’s Game Show is the easy Gamerscore. Every object has an achievement associated with it so as long as you find everything, you will unlock all 1000G.
As for everything else, it is severely lacking. Billy’s Game Show may be short but it is full of frustrations and lacking any real scares. Things could be mixed up by randomising the rooms or object locations, but if you have completed this game show once, you will have seen everything there is to it. And frankly, that is more than enough in itself.
