Drywall Eating Simulator Review
Survive the infuriating mundanity of modern society, the only way you know how: eating drywall.
Drywall Eating Simulator. Credit: Peripheral Playbox
Drywall Eating Simulator from Peripheral Playbox is a short, surreal adventure, a loose narrative experience in the guise of a “simulator” game. It’s a strong piece of satire that doesn’t wear out its welcome, though it comes close.
On Steam, the developers explain it better than I ever could:
“Drywall Eating Simulator is a physics-based 3D adventure carefully constructed to simulate the delights of late capitalist life. Engage in small talk, hit your KPIs, and maximize value for shareholders. And when you can’t take it anymore you go and eat some drywall.”
Drywall Eating Simulator. Credit: Peripheral Playbox
You’re cast as a participant in a strange simulation experiment, which is really just an excuse to return to a convenient hub that connects the game’s four environments. Find a way to get to the stairs in your apartment building. Endure a hellish retail shift in a hardware store. Survive a meaningless corporate job. Entertain people at an art gala. All of it is intentionally infuriating and banal, which is the point. It’s a satire of modern society—bleak, relatable, and very funny.
Sometimes, irritating people will make you angry. Get too angry, and people won’t speak with you anymore. Your only way of cooling off is bashing your head into drywall and then eating it. Conveniently, this also opens up new paths through the levels.
“Therapy is expensive, but drywall is plentiful.”
Both the gameplay and visuals feel undercooked. Playing mostly amounts to wandering, chatting with NPCs, and occasionally interacting with objects. None of it feels especially satisfying on a mechanical level, except bashing your head against the drywall, which is oddly satisfying. Visually, the game opts for flat, static 2D character sprites reminiscent of early FPS games, but without animation, which only draws attention to their stiffness. That cartoonish illustrated style clashes hard with the bare-bones 3D environments, creating an awkward visual mismatch that’s more distracting than deliberate.
Drywall Eating Simulator. Credit: Peripheral Playbox
Drywall Eating Simulator. Credit: Peripheral Playbox
The game is short enough to finish in one evening, clocking in at less than two hours. Only the last level tested my patience, where your objective is to speak with four guests at a gala, each a few times. It becomes tedious because characters move around after each conversation or trigger other events, forcing you to wander in circles until you accidentally run into the right person again. It drags, which is a pity considering that the other levels feel fairly sharp.
Despite the final act's weakness, I'd still recommend Drywall Eating Simulator. It’s short, sharp, and genuinely funny, with a clear point of view and something to say. It’s ok that it’s rough around the edges; the scrappiness serves the game well.
Drywall Eating Simulator is available now on Steam.
Overall Score: 6/10
Played on: Steam Deck
