Slendytubbies 3

There are certain amalgamations or crossovers that seem to make sense in the world—and, to some, Slendytubbies 3 is one of them. The twisted derivation of the children’s show characters Teletubbies merged with the horror of the conspiracy-theory-history made viral meme Slenderman—Slendytubbies is something all its own. With a fully written campaign, pieced out through point and click puzzles and ambient scares in the vein of early Silent Hill or Resident Evil; as well as a multiplayer mode that sets the hunters against the hunted—Slendytubbies 3 achieves a rare juxtaposition in gaming: that of kid-friendly horror.

Something Wicked This Way Comes

The opening of Slendytubbies 3 campaign sees the Teletubbies crew on a wonderfully sunny day going about their usual happy-go-lucky business.

And, in that essence, the game feels like the opening of Kingdom Hearts on Destiny Island before the darkness comes—and in Slendytubbies, that villainous dark fog rears itself in spades. What begins with mechanics similar to, as mentioned, early Silent Hill with a third-person limited view per room evolves into a first-person hold the camcorder and record all these paranormal hijinks more similar to the Outlast series. That change in perspective as the story progresses keeps the player on their heels. However, janky controls and some less than refined textures don’t always hold the horror aspect of the horror game very well. Oftentimes, the shear ridiculousness of Teletubbies encountering these events all while simply being Teletubbies rescinds the horror as the glitches make players laugh even more in this, rather sinister, fanfiction.

Hunt or Be Hunted

Beyond the campaign Slendytubbies 3 has a fairly popular multiplayer element. Something not too far removed from the fear inducing Phasmophobia, mixed with a more traditional Left 4 Dead monsters vs. non-monsters mode—it comes across more engaging than the single player campaign. With the first-person camera angle being used, just like Among Us, there can be some wild, talked about in the moment and later discussed, episodic games. This mode played with friends all laughing together at the absurdity of the concept and the tension of the gameplay can be an overall good time.

However, that isn’t, in itself, saying very much. This game falls under the graceful blanket that anything shared with friends, even watching grass grow, is usually a pretty good time.

Pros

• Original story through obtuse characters
• Interesting mechanics
• Multiplayer element

Cons

• Limited replayability
• Stunted graphically
• Buggy in campaign and multiplayer
• Generic mission design