When I first saw Creepy Redneck Dinosaur Mansion 3 proudly displayed for Steam Next Fest, I felt myself sneering. “All these cool demos, and this ascended mobile game somehow snuck in?” Even more confusing, when I looked at the development studio responsible, it was Strange Scaffold. If you don’t know, Strange Scaffold is Clickolding. El Paso, Elsewhere. Life Eater. Space Warlord Organ Trading Simulator. That team.“…God, what happened? Why is Strange Scaffold making a mobile game?” So, I downloaded the demo. If nothing else, to support a studio I quite enjoy! So, yes, Creepy Redneck Dinosaur Mansion 3 presents itself as all those annoying Bejeweled copycats you’ve seen a billion times. You have colorful shapes, you match the colorful shapes, you win. …But, Creepy Redneck Dinosaur Mansion 3, it turns out, is a narrative-driven, turn-based matching game with interesting mechanics? You’re gonna be doing a whole lot of matching in this demo. But, for once, it’s actually engaging! The first encounter I had was with a rogue sign outside of the mansion’s gate with a lock barring me from entry. I had to match certain shapes a specific number of times, which would then unlock a prompt that allowed our confused protagonist to scale the gate. My guy barely had time to catch his breath before a dinosaur showed up. So, that dinosaur had to catch these hands. …Er, uh, these shapes.Screenshot: Strange Scaffoldthe demo also showcased narrative nuance, which caught me off-guardBut, I’ll leave some of the matching nuances for you to discover on your own. What I do want to highlight, however, is the game’s dialogue trees. So, you’ll be faced with what you’ll think are run-of-the-mill dialogue options. But, through my choices, I found myself acquiring a skill that, when I met the matching requirement, allowed me to recover a few hit points during a tense showdown. I’m not kidding. The Creepy Redneck Dinosaur Mansion 3 demo is one I wish I could give an award for pleasantly surprising me every time I thought it was out of tricks.Just trust me (here you go). It’s an adorable, funny homage to those classic horror games we know and love (if the title didn’t make that obvious). And, you’ll walk away from the demo wanting more. Desiring to see how deep the insanity went. You got me, Strange Scaffold. But, hell, it’s the most excited I’ve ever been to play a matching game!The post I Wrote off ‘Creepy Redneck Dinosaur Mansion 3’ as an Eye-Rolling Matching Game, but I’ve Never Been Happier To Be Wrong (Demo Impressions) appeared first on VICE.