Summer Girl is a mildy lewd desktop pet.
At-a-glance
(Adult) Content?
No.
Censorship?
Not applicable.
Hours of Game-play?
Thirty minutes.
Modding Support?
No.
Patch Available?
No, not necessary.
Foreword
I was sent a free copy of this game by the developer. Discouraged by a less-than-successful horror game, the developer has chosen to create an erotic “desktop pet”, an interactive character that is overlayed on your desktop. There are not very many adult-desktop pets on the Steam store, so there’s a lot of room of innovation. Let’s see what sets Summer Girl apart from the competition!
Gameplay
. . . in a nutshell
A below-average desktop pet.
out the shell. . .
Once Summer Girl is booted, a scantily clad woman will appear on-screen. She acts as an overlay, and will be displayed over your other applications. She can be resized and repositioned anywhere on the screen. By clicking on select portions of her body, she will briefly react in shock. Though Summer Girl is technically an interactive desktop pet, the most she’ll do is track your mouse cursor and play “dress up”.
Speaking of which, this pet features unlockable content. That’s new!
You can unlock new clothes, hair, and poses simply by moving your cursor. In theory, you can unlock everything Summer Girl has to offer just by using your like normal; in practice, I suggest violently shaking your mouse for a few minutes. If you’re like me, it’ll be the most exercise you’ve had all week. This is the first desktop pet I’ve owned that beefs your arms! And believe me, I need Mister Righty to be in tip-top shape.
You know damn well why.
Unfortunately, the unlockable content is poorly executed. For starters, it encourages the user to exploit the system. I think that having a movement-based unlock system is a cool idea on paper, but it doesn’t work as well as one would hope. I think that to make it work, there needs to be more interactivity on the avatar’s behalf. It’s not fun to browse the internet with a next-to-lifeless avatar. Some desktop pets I have played with will dance when music is played, or walk about the screen on their own volition. Summer Girl could be replaced with a few GIF images.
Story
There is no story, moving on.
Visuals
While there is a splash screen, it’s otherwise straight to the action; in other words, there is no title menu. Language preference can be adjusted by a small button that appears when your cursor hovers over her legs. It’s extremely tedious to navigate to your choice language, as each option must be clicked through one-by-one. You may alter the appearance of the avatar through an always-active menu, but it suffers the same flaw as the language button. The interface (to my knowledge) cannot be hidden, and as a result detracts from the in-game experience.
The avatar projects a shadow on an invisible surface, which causes it to appear distorted as she is rotated. I think her shadow should only project against the desktop, or be toggleable.
The Goods
There isn’t much to see. The avatar looks decent, though she often moves unnaturally. I didn’t see any nudity or sexual content. Although, the way she sucks down on a mango popsicle is awfully provocative.
. . . expect almost female nudity.
Verdict
I can’t recommend this game. Before booting this game, I told myself that I was going to take it easy, and to be lax on my negative opinions. I don’t think this is a fun game, and I think it misses its mark, even for the intended audience.
