‘Max Gentlemen Review’: Best Hat Stacking Simulator Ever

Clearly a gentleman is a person of refined and sophisticated culture, therefore — should someone claim to be man of such standards — then they would clearly go nowhere without a proper hat upon their head. However, how would one dapper gentleman go about proving that he was — in fact — far more cultured than the rest of the lesser well-trimmed competition frolicking to and fro? Clearly he would have to prove his extreme manners by wearing multiple hats at once, with the most elegant gentleman of them all being the one whom — whilst also engaging in a pleasant past time — could maintain the most hats.

best-aug-2014-maxgSuch is the premise to Max Gentlemen (out now, free), the finest simulator — perfectly replicating endeavors of extremely cultured behavior — from the dapper folks residing over at the aptly named: Men Who Wear Many Hats. You might better know these folks for their work on the famous Organ Trail, a zombie apocalypse game with the twist being that it was designed from the ground up as a parody of Oregon Trail. What previously began as a smashingly successful Kickstarter has finally become reality, all the way down to their promise to include cross-platform Wi-Fi compatibility between iOS and Android.

The foremost control option in both of Max Gentlemen’s game modes is controlling your hats, because only an uncultured troglodyte would be so uncouth as to allow any of his pristine hats to be knocked off his noggin. You can accomplish this by putting a finger anywhere on the screen’s right hand side, which results in a line being drawn horizontally across the playing field (this exists to help with your aiming). When you release this finger your gentleman will cause the specific hat you pointed at — and all of the ones above it — to suddenly jump up, so as to make room for whatever object is passing by.

MG_05_Screenshot_5Such precision hat-hopping is not a talent easily earned, but the many years spent honing this esoteric skill is what clearly denotes Max Gentlemen’s various selectable masters of etiquette as true cultured professionals. But you know what truly separates the wheat from the chaff, the men from the boys, the dapper folk from the troglodytes, and all otherwise unsavory types from people of proper culture? Obviously the answer is displaying your prowess while simultaneously engaged in a secondary activity of proper conduct: such as motoring, having a pint, going on a picnic, or being shot from a cannon!

During Max Gentlemen’s “Dodgy” stages — thus named for their sole focus upon your ability to dodge obstacles, rather than any insinuation of unbecoming conduct — the aforementioned hat jumping ability is the only one you’ll need to worry about. Within these levels — such as Cannon Travel, or Motoring — you’ll need to catch passing by hats by causing your current stack to leap into haberdashery opportunities whenever available. Your common obstacle during these outings will be birds of various sorts, and you’ll lose precious hats — as well as cause others to question just how cultured you truly are — each and every time you let your stack slam into anything.

MG_01_Screenshot_1Alternatively, we have the “Drinky” stages where you partake of various social gatherings — rather than travelling about — and are given a new hat each and every time you knock back a pint. These pints are set down at regular intervals, after which — in order to imbibe them in a most orderly fashion — you’ll need to move over to the drink’s location using the left/right movement arrows found on your screen’s bottom-left corner. Commonly on these levels — while grabbing yourself a nice and proper pint — you’ll need to avoid glasses being thrown about by other gentlemen, whom are all presently engaged in a nice-proper bout of “Marquis de Queensbury” certified fisticuffs.

Although “Drinky” and “Dodgy” activities are both perfectly good things for a Gentleman to do alone, during which he may strive to earn as many points as possible before too many hats are lost, well cultured competitions are always best with friends! Therefore, as previously mentioned, Max Gentlemen aims to bring everyone together — whether they be an iOS user, or an Android owner — when engaging in the ever sophisticated gentleman’s art that is hat-stacking. Sadly this does require both people to be in the exact same room, as apparently competitions of gentlemanly conduct must exclusively be carried out face to face — via Wi-Fi — rather than through the internet.

MG_07_Screenshot_7For the most part these competitions play out the same as their single player variants, except now — instead of ending after so many hats have been lost — the bout will conclude after a fix amount of time has passed (with the winner being the one with more hats). During the “Drinky” rounds players will need to be sure they’re the first to reach each and every gentlemanly pint set down, and — in order to accomplish this – can move quicker if they double-tap the left/right arrows. Meanwhile — during the “Dodgy” games — players must not only take care to avoid those annoying avians, they’ll also need to make sure they only attempt to grab the hats that match their individually assigned color.

Of course, those without friends — or at least those with any friends currently on hand — need not fear that they’ll never be able to engage in competitive bouts of well-cultured hat-stacking. You may freely select to play against AI opponents, at three different difficulty levels, any time you find yourself hankering for some finely sophisticated competition on the go. I do warn you — however — that the AI in Max Gentlemen is extremely good at what it does, and you’ll often have a rather hard time wining (even when you’ve selected the easiest difficulty).

MG_03_Screenshot_3At this point you might find yourself wondering exactly how the fine-folks over at Men Who Wear Many Hats plan to turn a profit with Max Gentlemen, seeing as how they’ve given the app away for free. The answer to this is purchasable alternate hats (beyond what you can unlock during normal game play), extra gentlemen to play as (such as the eponymous Octodad), and additional scenery for your “Dodgy” and “Drinky” pursuits. Not one of these purchases will ever enhance your hat-stacking performance, because — after all — only abhorrently uncultured sots would ever dare bribe their way to success during a friendly hat-stacking wager.

Anyways – game play matters aside — I am additionally pleased to report that Max Gentlemen is an absolute delight to look at, with heavily detailed — animated — and lavish scenery permeating your extreme hat-stacking efforts (especially the bar-brawl level). Basically the only minor downside to Max Gentlemen is that — although usually reliable — the controls are occasionally wont to stop reading your actions during the “Drinky” stages, and won’t work correctly again until you’ve first removed both fingers. Ultimately there’s a fair shake that pretty much anyone — at least with a decent sense of humor — will find much to enjoy within Max Gentlemen, especially since the game is being offered — as previously mentioned — for the ultra-civilized price of absolutely free.

Verdict

Max Gentlemen is the tip-top arcade-style mobile-experience that simulates the super-cultured world of professional hat-stacking (although, to be entirely fair, I admittedly can’t think of much competition in that particular field)! Between (usually) tight controls, a ridiculous premise, cross platform Wi-Fi based multiplayer, charming graphics, and more culture than you could ever possibly shake a stick at, there’s a lot here to enjoy in this absolutely free app. Honestly, I really can’t think of a single reason why — considering the price — you shouldn’t immediately partake of the wonder that is Max Gentlemen (unless you’re the uncultured sort).