Patently Stupid opens with a great deal of dialogue. This dialogue has no obvious option to include subtitles. Since the dialogue goes on for some time, subtitles would make it easier for people to follow and more accessible for those with hearing issues. The game includes an option to skip the dialogue entirely, but since it is all spoken there is no way to make the intro go faster without skipping it entirely. This could cause impatience, particularly when a game is played with some players who have already played and don’t need the intro and other players that need it.
The different steps of the game include timers. This is important because it prevents the game from being frozen forever if a player’s device gets stuck or if they stop playing without leaving the game. However, the timers are only located at the bottom of the main screen and not indicated on the players’ individual devices.
During the presentation stage of the game, each player gets to choose between “Present for Me” and “I will Present”. Choosing the “I will Present” option takes the player to a menu where they can control which aspects of their project are displaying on the main screen for the other players. The issue with this is that the menu screen takes a moment to understand at first glance, and the entire presentation is done in real time. This means for a first time player choosing this option, it is very possible they will be too pressured to think through what order they want to present different items in. The gameplay could be improved if the players all chose at the same time how they would present and then had time to prepare their presentation before being put on the spot.
As a whole, the game felt aimless until the final round. The structure of the game wasn’t clear until it was over, and at any given time there wasn’t a clear view of where it was going. Overall, the game was too close to the corporate brainstorming sessions it is trying to mock to be a fun experience.