When you look up the meaning of the word “game”, you will receive the answer, “an activity one engages in for amusement or fun”. To call “Cricket Through the Ages” a game is such a stretch that I have seen thicker rice paper. Developer Free Lives with publisher Devolver Digital has released what feels more like a test product of them playing with a physics engine, rather than what would be considered a game.

When I first looked at “Cricket Through the Ages” it appeared to be a funny take on how an American would try to explain the sport of cricket. Free Lives is no stranger to funny games with them giving us games like “Broforce”, “Genital Jousting”, “Gorn”, and upcoming games like “Anger Foot”, and “Stick it to the Stickman” being prime examples of absurd fun Free Lives is capable of. As I chuckled at the absurdity of the concept, I was eager to start playing.

There is no plot to this experience per se, as it calls itself “Cricket Through the Ages”. It becomes more of an exposition of going through whatever motions the experience offers until it moves on to the next delivery of dialogue from the eloquently spoken gentleman.

The experience you partake in, (which some would call gameplay) is a one-button affair. You begin with only one starting option called “Cricket Through the Ages”, which presents itself as one chapter of eight. When you begin the chapter, the gentleman will tell an absurd story about cricket and explain the rules to progress forward to the next chapter.

This only takes time as there is no failure state because you can continue doing the presented task until you are deemed victorious. Every chapter plays the same way with you tapping or holding one button to make your character flail about, resulting in either throwing an object or swinging a bat.

Points are accrued with your success and if you reach the goal points before your opponent, you move on to the next stage and the next absurd tale about cricket from the gentleman. Once all stages are completed the next chapter will open allowing you to complete the same one-button flailing but in a different setting with different tools to throw or swing. A local co-op is available but good luck having anyone play with you longer than five minutes.

I managed to convince someone to play with me and after only a couple of rounds they laughed and asked, “Is that it”? My response was yes, they laughed again and promptly stood up and walked away.

Graphically “Cricket Through the Ages” is simplistic with its low detail, two-dimensional, paper cut-out looks. The colouring is distinctive on all the items so you can easily identify everything.

All the sound effects, music, and ambient noise are pleasant but not overly exciting, which in a way matches the whole lot of nothing going on with this experience. The entertainment comes from the voicing of the gentleman as it adds well to the absurd nature of where I believe “Cricket Through the Ages” was aiming.

I hope Free Lives was using the development of “Cricket Through the Ages” as a test for a physics engine. I loved playing their previous titles and remain excited to play their yet-to-be-released games. “Cricket Through the Ages” however in my opinion is an unfortunate misstep in an otherwise entertaining portfolio.

Written by: Ashley Barnett-Cosgrove