The Ministry of Silly Walks Review

To make a bit more money out of the big Monty Python reunion, Boondoggle Studios have created an app based around the famous Silly Walks sketch.

Despite being a big fan of Monty Python, I was dubious about buying this, as it didn’t look that exciting, but after a reading a lot of raving reviews and hearing all the Pythons bigging it up (well they would wouldn’t they) I decided I might as well try it. It was only 99p anyway.

The game comes with a warning that reads ‘Warning! Highly addictive’. I don’t know who made that up, but they must’ve been on something strong. The game is not addictive. It’s barely enjoyable. There’s nothing wrong with the game per se, but it’s just a generic game, there’s nothing that makes it stand out. Before we even got to the game, there was the loading screen, which took about 2 minutes to load, with only the image below to keep me enticed. Not even animated or any music, just that still image!

There’s only ever a few types of games on apps. Runner, strategy/puzzle and sports are the main ones. I usually find strategy games the best, because they make you think. Runners are often hard to get right, as you have to make them interesting and challenging, but at the end of the day it’s just doing the same thing every time. The only running game I’ve ever really stuck with is the Despicable Me game, because that’s got lots of different levels and characters, but I still wouldn’t call it addictive.

Anyway, back to the game. The premise of it is John Cleese walking in a ‘silly’ manner and you have to avoid obstacles. That’s about it. You can jump, duck and glide, that’s about as much movement as you’re going to get. The obstacles are pretty frequent and can be hard to avoid, especially the pigeons who suddenly appear from nowhere.

The background in the game is just one long London scene. There’s meant to be a few jokes in the shop names, but they’re not that good really. The best we get is a newsagents called The Daily Twoddle.

The music starts with some silly Wild West Bar type piano for the menu screen and then goes into the Monty Python’s Flying Circus theme on a never-ending loop for the actual game. Considering the great songs Eric Idle wrote for Monty Python, you’d think they would have enough to include something different in here. Part of the game is to collect coins to buy a few variations of the suit that Cleese wears, but again there’s hardly much excitement in seeing the character do exactly the same thing in a slightly different outfit.

The game features the voice of John Cleese, the actor in the original sketch. While this is a nice touch and adds a bit of authenticity to the whole thing, he’s recorded about 5 lines that are used repeatedly throughout the game. Considering the amount of work he’s done, you’d expect there to be a vast library of quotes he could have recorded. There’s no mention of Michael Palin, who featured alongside Cleese in the sketch.

Cleese has been tweeting regularly about the game and making remarks about people who have played it and updates to the game, but to be honest, I didn’t think Cleese was that into apps. It seems a bit forced to have these 5 old men trying to sell you this game.

Overall the game was a disappointment and very limited. Playing a python inspired game, I expected funnier jokes in the background, unusual twists in the gameplay, better voiceover lines and generally something more fun than what I ended up with.

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Our rating: (1 / 5) [divider top=”no” size=”1″ margin=”10″]