Our team member Iris (aka scrutiny) has recently tried a fun postal-themed game, and we thought this could be an interesting topic for a blog post, as I bet there are a lot of other gamers in the community. 🧑💻 So here she is, to tell us all about it!
"Have you ever wondered what it would be like processing mail in a post office if you had no hands? Specifically, if you were a pair of exotic birds with no hands? This is the premise of a video game named KeyWe, that was first brought to our attention by postcrosser Nathalie (aka Ezri). She mentioned it on the forum the day the game was released, back in August 2021. I finally had the opportunity to play it, and it is as fun and chaotic as it sounds.
The protagonists are Jeff and Debra, two adorable kiwi birds who sign up to be associate teleposters at the Bungalow Basin Telepost office. The game is co-operative (meaning two players can play together to achieve the common goals), but it also works with a single player pressing a button to switch between Debra and Jeff.
In this cute puzzle game, your abilities as a gamer don’t prevent you from having fun with it. It has similarities to the popular game Overcooked, but with less stress and a lot more mail. The goal is to process incoming and outgoing mail before the clock runs out. If this stresses you out like it did me, you’ll be relieved to know that you can switch off the time limit under game options, so the countdown won’t appear.
I personally don’t have life experience as a kiwi bird, but after playing this game, I imagine it must be quite inconvenient. It involves a lot of running around since you are small. When you have to do things like typing out postcodes to stick to packages, you have to jump on the buttons and levers with your kiwi butt.
My favourite part is when Debra and Jeff have to label packages as “urgent” “perishable” and “heavy” by sitting on the label dispenser so that the labels stick on their behinds, so they can be carried hands free to the packages.
There are various mail floors, so the setting for the tasks doesn’t get monotonous. There are overtime tasks to take on for extra bonuses. There are cassowaries to feed and exercise, and you’re occasionally overseen by an octopus named Zoey, whose eight arms put her at an unfair advantage. You can collect postal stamps at the completion of every shift, which are used to unlock wardrobe accessories for Debra and Jeff (in case you’ve always wanted to see a kiwi bird in a little hat).
The game is available for the Switch, PS4 and 5, Xbox One and XIS and also on Steam. It’s a great way to kill some time and I have a new appreciation for the hands I possess!"
Hurray for postal-themed games! Do you know any other games featuring mail that we could try? 😍