TL;DR – This might be the most janky game I have ever played that has produced so much fun.

Meccha Chameleon Review Introduction  

If you have spent any time on the internet in the last month, then you would have most likely seen this game on whatever social media you get your short-form videos from. People hide in plain sight while their friends hunt them down. It looked deceptively simple, so as the least artistically gifted member of my family, I decided to jump in and see what a game made by just two developers could pull off.

So, to set the scene, Meccha Chameleon is an asymmetrical team game. In this, there are two groups: the chameleons, who run and try to hide themselves in the scenery of whatever room has been loaded up, and the hunters who have to find every hidden character before the time counts down. The chameleons get a whole plethora of paints and poses to try and fit into the worlds, where you can try and slink into the background, or try and make yourself part of the scenery, hoping that you survive.

How Does It Play

I have run several games now as both a hunter and a chameleon, and I can say from my experiences that the mechanics are all very solid. Once you work out how to use the 3D eyedropper to get the correct colour match, it is all very easy to work out how to slip yourself into the environment. You do need to remember to paint both sides of your little guy, though, but it doesn’t take much to get into a groove on that front. I will say that if I spend more time in this world, I will need to change around the mouse button presets because they are the opposite of how my brain naturally uses them, which can be frustrating in the moment. The hunters are easy: point and shoot and hope you are hiding the right splotch of black in a painting.  

Janky Charm

One of the accusations that I have seen levelled at games like this is that they are ‘friendslop’, which I admit is better than ‘Roblox-like’ but still feels slightly insulting. While on the surface I can see where this is coming from, especially with the design of the little dudes that are the main players or the use of Unreal Engine. However, this term feels like it is implying that the game is an asset flip con-job. Now, is the game 100% Janky? Absolutely. But in a way that is frankly charming, much like how the giants can yeet you into the stratosphere in Skyrim. What it does do is create a playground for friends to try and outwit each other in creative ways, and I am all for it.

Just the Beginning

One of the strengths of Meccha Chameleon is that, while it comes with a set of maps to play on as you would expect, it also integrates community-created maps. It also has integration for the community to create their own and share. From my experiences, this integration is almost seamless on PC; if the lobby is playing on a map that you don’t have, it just triggers a Steam Workshop pop-up that downloads it quickly, and you are usually ready to go in a few moments. This has meant I have played maps in the Backrooms, on a floor made out of Where’s Wally pictures, and my favourite, an art gallery, to name a few. Which means every time you jump in for a round, there may be a whole cache of new maps to explore, keeping the game fresh.        

Recommendation

In the end, do we recommend Meccha Chameleon? Yes, I would. As long as you understand what you are getting yourself into. It is not the sort of game you’ll play every night, but it is absolutely the sort of game that will create stories you and your friends will still be laughing about weeks later.

Have you played Meccha Chameleon? Let us know what you thought in the comments below. If you liked Meccha Chameleon, we would recommend PEAK to you because it also understands how much fun you can have with friends when you have a key visual style and gameplay interactions.  

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Bluesky at @Tldrmovrev, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

Feel free to share this review on social media and check out all our past reviews and articles Here, and have a happy day. 

Credits – All images were created by the staff of Meccha Chameleon
Developed, Published, Directed, & Programmed – Lemorion_1224 & Haganeiro