There’s nothing I love more in indie games than when they surprise me not just once, but pretty well continually throughout. Whether that’s having a smart story, interesting gameplay set pieces, or great puzzles, some games just know how to keep the experience feeling fresh and exciting. What’s pretty amazing about American Arcadia is that it’s more of a rare example of a title that manages to do all of these things over the course of play, sporting a smart storyline, exciting action, and some creative puzzles that mesh with that action incredibly well.

Not wishing to ruin the surprise, I’ll just say that I applaud the game’s story and overall sense of style. While this isn’t a unique concept by any means, the game’s spin on it is smart and often quite amusing. Part of what makes how the story plays out work so well is the fact that you’ll continue to move between two characters, with your main character being the one typically engaged in the more exciting and often cinematic action, and the other working as their support. Working from a control room, they’ll be able to move between security cameras to keep an eye on the action, and then provide help by activating different elements in the environment. What makes this all a bit more fun is the banter between the two main characters as they learn to work together.

All that said, not everything plays out perfectly. There are times where your ability to coordinate the actions between the two characters could be a little less of a mess. You’ll always be able to get through tougher sections after a few tries, but there are times where it can be hard to understand what sequence of events the game expects you to go with, and others where even when you know what needs to be done, it can be hard to pull off mechanically. While this isn’t typically an issue, there are some spots where timing is critical and it can feel like the game’s controls are conspiring against you to make everything harder than it needs to be. Thankfully this doesn’t happen often, and depending on the player you could find it all very doable. So if you’ve been looking for something that pretty well has the full package, mixing together a great story with a string of smart and often exciting gameplay moments, American Arcadia is absolutely worth a look.