Hush Hush High Preview – No gossip, girl

thesixthaxis.com:

Everyone loves a bit of gossip, no matter how much they deny it. Sometimes you just want someone to spill the tea, or maybe you are the gossipmonger yourself? In Hush Hush High, you are that gossiper, called Mochi, but you have been told you cannot gossip. It is your worst nightmare, and as the school day progresses it just gets harder and harder to keep the secrets to yourself.

The Monday gossip was that a girl called The Influencer claimed she had got a new bag from Paris, but that is a lie. Scandalous! And yet, you are sworn to secrecy and have to try and navigate the school day. The school day starts with picking up your ID and checking your task list, which includes things like lessons and optional tasks like handing in some work. Sounds simple enough, right? Sure, except every task you complete raises the eagerness rating. The higher this rating goes the faster gossip spreads. But for the gossip to spread, you need to spill the beans first.

High school is an absolute minefield of people you can talk to. Every few steps is a test as you are tasked with holding Mochi back from gossiping. This is represented by a bar in which you have to button mash a letter, or if you want to change the setting hold the letter down, to pull her back. Some challenges are easier than others, but there will be tough ones and if you fail that gossip starts to spread. On the screen is a grade meter, which is grading Mochi on her ability to hold gossip in, and not her schoolwork. As gossip spreads that meter starts to drop, and if it hits the bottom then you fail the level.

In addition to avoiding trying to spread gossip, you are also trying to avoid getting stuck in a conversation with a student who just talks about themselves. This is a quick time event, where you press buttons to slowly back away from them. If you miss a hit, then you get dragged right back in again. It is pretty easy to pass this though.

Towards the end of the day, you run into the boss, and in this case it was The