Jazz Furniture: Home Improvisation Out On Early Access
This is hell
I liked freeform cooperative Ikea furniture-building game Höme Improvisåtion [official site] in its game jam prototype form enough that I showed it at an event I helped organise. Obviously I'm delighted that its makers have continued development, expanding upon the idea of failing to assemble flat pack goods and creating jazz furniture.
The expanded commercial version is now out on Steam Early Access, bringing a whole tool box to customise your creations more, and planning things like online multiplayer.
Home Improvisation's assembly is relatively simple, in that pieces have pegs and holes which slot and snap together with a fair degree of computer assistance, but also fiddly and awful. Trying to actually assemble furniture correctly is a grim task, though, as it's more a freeform sculpture kit. The commercial version brings new tools that let you create holes and pegs wherever you jolly well please, as I've often wished for when assembly cheap flat pack (hilarious "What's the deal with flat pack furniture?" jokes from the '90s aside, Ikea's stuff always seems fairly simple to me). You get a hammer to knock pieces out of slots too, and glue to fix fragile things you might break.
It also brings new rooms to build in, new kits to assemble, and a new challenge mode where you need to create furniture which actually serves a practical purpose - say, a stable trophy cabinet.
Developers The Stork Burnt Down plan to have the game in Early Acccess for 3-4 months while they respond to feedback and add things like online multiplayer, Steam Workshop support, more rooms, more furniture, and more challenges. That's the plan, anyway.
You can still download the old prototype for free from Itch. If you're into the idea, it's £6.99 on Steam Early Access.
