Three and Out – ‘West of Loathing’

Back in middle school, I came across a browser-based RPG, Kingdom of Loathing. For a brief time, I was hooked by its slapstick humor and simplistic charm, though it fell into obscurity and I had forgotten all about it. Years later, West of Loathing appeared on the radar, promising to reignite my childhood memories with the same minimalistic style. And so it did. West of Loathing doesn’t have a long playthrough, yet all throughout I felt like I was a kid again. Aesthetically, this game may be mistaken for a cheap flash game, but that is exactly what it was going for. The stick-figure-based graphics disguise a hilarious, well-thought-out game.

Upon starting West of Loathing, I was given the choice between three classes: the Cow Puncher, the Beanslinger, and the Snake Oiler. These represent physical, magic, and ranged classes respectively, but the names say a lot about the presentation – this is no ordinary RPG. As I generally go with the mage archetype, I went with the Beanslinger, though it seems like all three are well-balanced. From there, I headed out west to make a name for myself. Along the way, I had to deal with the likes of rattlesnakes and ruffians on my quest for meat. Combat is turn-based and basic for an RPG – take turns using attacks, though it takes a slightly more modern approach. Health and ability points get reset after each battle, which was much appreciated and allowed me to freely experiment with my abilities. I got to create a pile of beans to protect me from opposing guns and summon a giant bean to try to attack my foes. (It never succeeded.) Every move is specially crafted to simultaneously fit the world and is too absurd to be appropriate.

Comedy is out here in droves. Every NPC and object in the world has some kind of witty remark about it. Early on, I had the choice between a few “pardners” to join me in my adventure. I ended up choosing the doctor, a jaded alcoholic who was both cynical but also realistic. She realized that this world doesn’t make sense, considering undead skeletons are popping up everywhere and she’s, well, a doctor. Goblins are a recurring encounter, and speak in a broken kind of english that must first be learned. Each time I found a spittoon, naturally I wanted to investigate in hopes of getting a useful item. Generally in West of Loathing, there may be a short description of any action I may perform or any object I may obtain. But here, I was forced to go through multiple paragraphs (longer than any of our Three and Outs!) describing how foul the pot was that I was sticking my hand into, and urging me not to continue. By the end of West of Loathing, the game was sick of me foraging in the tobacco-infused receptacles, and told me nothing was in there, yet I still got a reward out of it. In a humorous twist, these saliva-fueled items were among the most powerful I obtained in the game.

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