Thirsty Suitors

Thirsty Suitors oozes style and personality, and is also viciously funny. Outerloop Games frames the Scott Pilgrim evil exes conflict within a South Asian cultural lens. It follows Jala as she returns home after having left a lot of bad relationships, both romantic and familial, behind. What follows is a lot of everyday interactions portrayed in an over-the-top, stylized way. Reconciling with an ex takes the form of a turn-based battle. Cooking with your mother to try and clear the air is a cooking minigame where the smallest action is scrutinized and made into a resource to manage. Thirsty Suitors excels in how well it captures the subtleties of human interaction, in and of themselves, like a game. You can’t make a small gesture without someone reading it one way, and even as it revels in its own excess, it’s all meant to capture the subtle nuances of how we talk to each other. Also, its soundtrack is full of bangers. — Kenneth Shepard