Skin Deep is absolutely absurd and I already love it

digitaltrends.com:

Back before I had a proper gaming PC or even a Steam account, I remember a friend at the time sending over some games that would run on my MacBook at the time. That was well over a decade ago, but I still remember the very first game I booted up from that batch. It was an oddball game called Thirty Flights of Loving by developer Blendo, a studio I’d never heard of. I was flabbergasted by its experimental structure and block-headed characters initially, but it stuck with me. Games come and go, falling into a memory hole to make more brain space for new ones, but you never forget a Blendo game.

Well over a decade later, I’m happy to see that Blendo is still making unforgettable games. Its latest is Skin Deep, which will launch on April 30 for PC. The project perked my ears when it was first announced three years ago, but I’ve been in the dark about what it actually is until now. Ahead of its release date reveal during today’s Annapurna Interactive Showcase, I tried its new Steam Next Fest demo out. I’m pleased to report thatSkin Deep is already every bit as strange and alluring as the Blendo games that still stick with me today.

Flush the heads

Skin Deep is a first-person stealth action game (if I had to classify it) starring Nina Pasadena, a once great bounty hunter who now collects insurance debts. She finds herself back in action when her company’s ships are taken by space pirates. Now, she must use her particular set of skills to take out her enemies, pop their heads off, flush them down the toilet, and save a bunch of talking cats trapped in lockboxes.

Yep, it’s a Blendo game alright.

Let’s back up and start with the simple stuff. I get the basics down in a quick tutorial that teaches me how to navigate the ship and use my scanner to read fine print instructions on every item I can interact with. Soon enough, I learn how to pick up and store a handful of objects that I can swap between with my mouse wheel. I can pick up anything from books, to