Creepy Redneck Dinosaur Mansion 3: A Game for Lovers

     At the end of my review of the original HuniePop (HuniePop 2 review coming eventually I promise) I mentioned I didn't really have a lot of experience with Match 3 games. Since then, my girlfriend and I have accepted our place as a couple that plays puzzle games together, and I snagged Creepy Redneck Dinosaur Mansion 3 on sale. I haven't beaten the game yet, and it's slow going because we only play it when we're together, but this game is a gem so I wanted to give it a quick shout out because it might be your jam too.

I don't really have anywhere else to put this, but the soundtrack is delightful. Lots of banjos, and it feels Halloween-y.

The Plot

    First things first, you do not need to play Creepy Redneck Dinosaur Mansion 1 and 2 to understand this one. 3 came first, and 2 doesn't exist. So just start with 3, and then play Creepy Redneck Dinosaur Mansion 1 Re-Raptored. Got it? Got it.

    Creepy Redneck Dinosaur Mansion 3 is the story of J.J. Hardwell, an agent of the Department of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Super-science, as he investigates the third titular mansion. What starts out as a normal operation-fighting dinosaurs, picking locks, hopping fences, etc. rapidly goes sideways, however, when he realizes he's a character in a video game. A video game that was cancelled and left unfinished. Now it's up to J.J. to delve into the depths of the game's forgotten files to fix everything and launch Creepy Redneck Dinosaur Mansion 3 into the hands of the market!

J.J. explores an abandoned library. I'm trying my best not to spoil the best jokes, but it's hard because they're all so good.

    What follows is an adventure through depreciated assets, learning about the development history of the franchise, helping people with broken animation rigs, and speedrunning past a boss fight to get to its much easier version in an earlier build. Through it all, J.J. as a protagonist is delightful, exactly the kind of nebbish hunk that I need on a carnal level, and the cast of weirdos he meets is a good two-thirds of the appeal, which says a lot because the game plays great, too. 

 I love him so much

The Gameplay

    Creepy Redneck Dinosaur Mansion 3 describes itself as "Part match-3 metroidvania, part choice-based narrative, part survival horror parody, part joyful wheel-spinning nightmare" and it succeeds on pretty much all counts. The actual matching parts are framed as battles between you and whatever dinosaur/vegetable/evil clone you're facing at this particular moment, with both groups trying to gain symbols and deny their enemies symbols in order to fuel more powerful abilities. The game shakes things up a lot from this basic formula-sometimes you're trying to acquire progress, sometimes you're simply trying to survive, and sometimes it is just a straight-up fight, with knife symbols dealing damage to your opponent. No two encounters are exactly alike, especially as you gain access to new abilities and items that change how you interact with the board (my beloved Chainsaw, for instance, harvests an entire column, but in order to get it you need to take it off of the guy who's actively trying to separate your head from your shoulders).

I took a look at Puzzle Quest, and this seems to be that, but on meth.

    The Metroidvania part comes in as J.J. discovers more of the game's software, acquiring new Tags that let him take different paths throughout and get the aforementioned abilities-can't heal yourself until you remember your first aid seminar!

Part of the mansion exploration map. Some of J.J.'s Traits are on the right, his equipment is on the left.

    The one thing I would personally recommend is having a pen and paper on you to write down the areas you haven't gone to and what Trait you need-I still don't know how to progress my Developing Calf Injury so I can make it through the Clown Hall's landmines.

    As of time of writing, I've got about five hours in Creepy Redneck Dinosaur Mansion 3, and I look forward to playing through it and Creepy Redneck Dinosaur Mansion 1 Re-Raptored. It can be purchased on Steam.