The Thirstiest Time of the Year 0.0.2

You know that Sprite Cranberry commerical? You know, the one you get when you turn off your adblocker and browse youtube for a bit? The one where LeBron James pops up out of nowhere in the middle of a christmas celebration and asks "Want a Sprite Crabnerry?", and then the chorus of "It's the thirst, thirstiest time of the year" kicks in? Well, someone decided to make a game out of that one memorable bit.

The game's story starts simple. You're hanging out in your house alone on Christmas. Not too bad, when you think about it, apparently. All of a sudden, you hear a sound just outside your house. Being the safety-loving citizen you are, you go to investigate.

Then, it turns out to be the cranberry ghost - Lakh'Broan Jah'mes. He's coming after you armed with a need to force-feed you Cranberry Sprite and one voice line. Why this is such a threat is never really explained, so it's probably safe to assume that your character has a very deep allergy to Sprite and Cranberry, and drinking them will result in your death.

Your character quickly establishes a plan - get to the gas station just down the street and grab some Fanta. The Fanta will stun Lakh'Broan when you throw it at him, making it fantastic for defending yourself. It appears that Cranberry Sprite and Fanta are diametrically opposed - one cannot exist in the same space as the other.

And so we have our main...or only, gameplay loop. You must run out of the house and to the gas station, avoiding Lakh'Broan. Lakh'Broan runs faster than you do. so if you only rely on running, you won't be able to get far. So, you must turn and chuck your Fantas at him every once in a while to buy yourself time.

As you can see, this is a horror title, but not the traditional kind of horror. This is more...comedy horror? Lakh'Broan's appearances comes with very traditional scare chords and the game features many gameplay loops similar to the horror genre, but the presentation suggests it's anything but. After all, how can you take a game too seriously when the main antagonist is constantly asking "Want a Sprite Cranberry?" as he's chasing you?

The two tones clash and make up most of the entertainment value of the game. Luckily, the game doesn't last long enough for it to wear off, so the game will stay entertaining throughout. As for the actual gameplay, it's very one dimensional. That's to be expected, of course, because it was created as a Game Jam. As stated before, the game doesn't drag out so long that it becomes tedious to play.

The graphics are also shockingly well put together considering the tight time window it was built. The textures for the house are solid, and Lakh'Broan himself has a distinct art style that stands out nicely from the rest of the game. The touch they added where he's wearing the same Christmas outfit he was in the commercial. The house itself is rendered great, with a surprising amount of detail on each furniture. The street outside is also surprisingly rendered well, but less detailed and more bland. Luckily, the lighting covers up a ton of the shortcomings, and with Lakh'Broan hot on your heels, you won't have much time to stand around and criticize the textures (unless your job is to criticize these things).

You can download The Thirstiest Time of the Year right here on Rockybytes for free. If you're in the mood for something short and silly, then give this game a download!