A comedic horror game that ends before the joke ceases to be funny? That’s an idea daft enough to work. And it does, for the most part.
Weary city goer Matthew heads to his buddy’s riverside holiday home to recuperate for a few days. While tidying up a mess left by unruly teens, a wheelie bin is accidentally knocked into the river, destroying a beaver’s dam. But this isn’t any old beaver. This is Bober, and the local community knows all too well not to mess with him.
Come nightfall, things take a dramatic turn, beginning with the power lines being cut and Matthew’s car being rendered undrivable – thus preventing a swift escape. What then ensues is a 45 minute (approx.) quest to outrun Bober and survive, venturing into the woods, and then into a maze-like cave with a few objects to find, and lastly a sawmill where Bober – with his glowing red eyes – must be avoided while grabbing tools and flipping trip switches. Then, barely an hour before this warped adventure began, everything is rounded off in a typical ‘80s horror movie fashion.
To elaborate a little more, your time is mostly spent here navigating a cave network and then partaking in a spot of light and reasonably forgiving stealth, with each failed attempt only losing you a minute’s worth of progress at the most. Main objectives are always clear, and as there’s no combat the only real challenge comes from locating items. On that note, there are ten collectable objects to look out for, which adds a degree of replay value, along with a hidden easter egg – which, admittedly, went completely over my head. There’s a fishing mini-game too, although it’s as basic as can be, simply being timing-based. You can play it for as long as you want though.
Visually, Don’t Mess With Bober is reasonably good looking. The credits scene reveals it was created using store-bought assets, which does explain the slightly generic feel. The menus are easy to navigate and there are a few options, making it feel well optimised for consoles, and while the writing isn’t particularly witty or amusing, Matthew does have a degree of personality.
Going into Don’t Mess With Bober, I thought it may have been knocked up hastily to coincide with the latest Pixar film Hoppers (also starring a beaver), but it turns out it has been available on PC for a while. On PC, it’s only £4.29 ($4.99), which is an appealing price point for something this brief. This console release from Axyos however costs double, making it a far harder sell. Unless Axyos chooses to lower the price, I’d suggest waiting for it to go on sale.
If you’re ever in the mood for an hour of silliness, you’ll find that Don’t Mess With Bober fits that bill perfectly, offering a concise and well-executed experience with a couple of fun ideas. It isn’t too high on originality, but at least it doesn’t fall back on lame jump scares, and it ends long before tedium has a chance to creep in. Had it lasted longer, it would have suffered for it.
Peace Studio’s Don’t Mess With Bober is out now on PS5, Xbox Series, Xbox One and Switch. A PC version launched in 2025. Published on consoles by Axyos.