Notebook Battlegrounds is a really silly idea, but that is honestly what got me interested in it. I am playing as a little letter inside a hand drawn notebook, and instead of using normal weapons, I have to say the words shown on my screen into my microphone to attack. It turns my voice into the weapon, which makes even a basic fight feel completely different from most multiplayer games. I can play Deathmatch or Battle Royale, either on my own or in duos, and the whole thing is clearly built around getting a few people together and seeing what kind of chaos comes from shouting words at each other. The matches are short, the controls are easy to understand and I can usually figure out what I am supposed to do within a minute.
The voice mechanic is easily the best part for me. I have to actually pay attention to the phrase I am given because saying the correct words lets me fire, while finding extra words around the map gives me access to special attacks. That makes moving around the arena more important because I am not just looking for enemies. I am also looking for useful words that can give me an advantage. I really like the idea of having to speak during a fight because it can make situations much funnier than they would be with normal weapons. The proximity voice chat fits nicely with this too, since I can hear what is happening around me while I am trying to deal with someone nearby.
I also like how simple the presentation is. Everything looks like it has been drawn onto a notebook, with handwritten scenery, letters and little objects spread around the map. It gives the game a very different personality without needing complicated graphics. The movement is fairly straightforward too, which means most of my attention stays on positioning, speaking and watching what is happening around me. There are public matches as well as private games, and the game supports up to 50 players, so there is room for the matches to get pretty hectic when there are enough people around.
The biggest weakness for me is that the whole game depends on its main gimmick staying funny and interesting. Once I have spent enough time shouting the same sort of phrases and using the same basic attacks, there is not a huge amount underneath it to keep me busy. Deathmatch gives me straightforward fights and Battle Royale adds a little more pressure, but the basic idea stays the same. I would like more maps, more special words and more ways to use the voice mechanic because that is really what the entire game is built around. Without that extra variety, I can see myself having a lot of fun with it for a while and then running out of reasons to keep playing.
I do think the developer has made some useful additions already. Public matches were added so I can play with people outside of a private group, and there are extra abilities such as a word that can temporarily turn me into a chicken for faster movement and another that lets me build walls. Those additions show me that the basic voice idea can actually be expanded instead of staying as one joke. I like the wall ability in particular because it gives me another reason to pay attention to the environment rather than just running around looking for someone to shout at.
I also appreciate that the game is completely free and does not need much storage space, so there is very little stopping me from trying it. It requires a microphone, which obviously means the whole concept is not going to work for me without one, but that is hardly an unreasonable requirement considering what the game is trying to do. I think this is much more enjoyable when I have a few friends around because the voice mechanic is naturally more entertaining when everyone is talking, laughing and trying to catch each other out. The private matches also help with that because I can set up my own game instead of depending entirely on whatever public match is available.
Overall, Notebook Battlegrounds is a small game with a genuinely clever central idea. I like the voice controlled attacks, the notebook art style, the special words and the fact that the developer is already adding more ways to use the mechanic. At the same time, I think the limited amount of gameplay is going to stop me from treating it as a game I can play constantly. It works much better for me as a funny multiplayer game I can jump into with friends, have a few chaotic matches and then come back to later. The idea is strong enough to carry the experience for a while, but I would need more maps, abilities and gameplay variety before I could see it becoming something I stick with for a really long time.
Rating: 7.2/10
