Grandma, No! Preview

If I can only have one thing in a game, that’d be a grappling hook. If I could have another, it’d be pratfall-style physics. Grandma, No! has only one of those, but she’s looking after an infant, so it’d be pretty irresponsible to have a grappling hook. To be fair, her home isn’t very baby-proofed as it is…

Grandma, No! is a physics sandbox, where you control the titular Grandma as she attempts to complete chores… while also caring for her pre-toddler grandchild. The version that I played only had the living room with a few chores in it, and a five-minute time limit once those were completed, but it was a good slice of gameplay to show things off. I even played it a couple of times, because I didn’t quite fit everything in!

The story is that Grandma has to care for the grandchild because the usual babysitter is unavailable as she was murdered. And the parents are off to a nude beach, which appears to not be family-friendly. But, sudden babysitting duties shouldn’t get in the way of chores!

Grandma has to collect letters, put out fires, accidentally pick up hand grenades which cause more fires, and answer the phone, amongst other normal, everyday things. Put a real bird in the cuckoo clock, find and watch every VHS tape, listen to all of Grandma’s records, and keep pressing the dedicated fart button, it’s just like real life!

Okay, so it’s a little madcap, which had me laughing throughout as I played. Grandma being a ragdoll, the slapstick style of craziness that is her house, while the baby laughs and claps in the corner… Oh, and if you hand them anything, they will throw it, including if you give them a fruit to see if they want to eat it. But what do you expect from a baby?

The art style feels like it’s calling back to games like Family Guy Video Game! or The Simpsons Game, with chunky 3D cartoon characters, then other sections like some of the mini-games look reminiscent of Rocko's Modern Life or Ren & Stimpy. It’s really charming.

The music and voice acting are also really enjoyable, with the mute Grandma being the exception. It’s all over-the-top and fits the world very well.

What I played left a strong impression on me, and I’m really looking forward to the full release of Grandma, No! whenever it releases.