3 out of 10

Lore & Background

The game's story follows Shovelwork Studios, described as the worst video game studio in the world, which has never made a game that scores higher than a '3 out of 10' before, but they still try. Players control an animator, Midge Potters, who must adjust her life with her new colleagues as they create an endless runner called Surfing with Sharks, with the unique gimmick that it has an end. The game is described as 'part animated show, part game' which combines a single, overarching narrative with genre-bending minigames.

Development was led by Joe Mirabello, creative director of Terrible Posture Games, who wanted to develop a new game aside from their first person shooters Tower of Guns and Mothergunship. The inspiration for 3 out of 10 came from his odd experiences working at 38 Studios who developed Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, but the game does not punch down on the industry, rather highlighting the absurdity of it. The sitcom style was inspired from shows on Adult Swim and Comedy Central with cues taken from classical 2D adventure games like Grim Fandango and The Secret of Monkey Island.

Reader's Guide

3 out of 10 is notable for its experimental format as the 'first playable sitcom,' blending episodic narrative with minigames. Its release strategy—dropping five episodes weekly for season 1—was a novel approach for a graphic adventure game. The game's reception was mixed for season 1 but improved for season 2, which received 'generally favorable reviews' on Metacritic. Hardcore Gamer praised season 1 as a nice surprise for its weekly release model, while season 2 was described as more smart, funny and entertaining from start to finish. The game's significance lies in its attempt to merge television-style storytelling with interactive gameplay, drawing from absurdist comedy and classic adventure game design. Its legacy includes a planned but unconfirmed TV adaptation, reflecting the growing trend of video game properties crossing into other media.

Did You Know?

• 3 out of 10 is described as the world's 'first playable sitcom'.
• The game's studio, Shovelworks Studios, has never made a game scoring higher than a '3 out of 10'.
• The game was released in five weekly episodes for season 1 from August 6 to September 3, 2020.
• A TV adaptation was announced in May 2021 but no news has emerged since.

A Sitcom Built for the Screen

3 out of 10 arrived in 2020 as what its creators called the world's first playable sitcom, an episodic graphic adventure from Terrible Posture Games that treats the video game industry as a workplace comedy. The story follows Shovelworks Studios, a development team that holds the dubious distinction of being the worst game studio on the planet. Despite never shipping a title that earned a score higher than a three out of ten, the team keeps showing up to work, pitching ideas, and attempting to build something that might finally break through. The game's entire identity orbits this premise: a group of underdogs whose professional failures are so consistent they've become a brand. Rather than mocking the industry from the outside, the narrative leans into the absurdity of people who genuinely believe their next project will be the one that changes everything. This self-aware, gently comedic framing gives the game a warm, relatable tone that distinguishes it from both traditional adventure titles and conventional animated series.

Blending Animation and Interactive Play

The gameplay of 3 out of 10 is described as part animated show and part game, a hybrid structure that weaves a single overarching narrative together with genre-bending minigames. Players take on the role of Midge Potters, an animator who must find her footing among a new group of colleagues at Shovelworks Studios. Together, the team is working on a project called Surfing with Sharks, an endless runner that carries a peculiar twist: unlike the genre it parodies, this runner actually has an end. The episodic format means the story unfolds over a set number of installments rather than in one continuous sitting, giving the experience a serialized rhythm. Each episode blends cutscene-style storytelling with interactive segments that shift in tone and mechanics, keeping the player engaged through variety. The result is a title that feels less like a traditional point-and-click adventure and more like watching a show where you occasionally get to grab the remote and change the channel.

Behind the Studio

Creative director Joe Mirabello conceived 3 out of 10 as a deliberate departure from Terrible Posture Games' established catalog, which up to that point had focused on first-person shooters like Tower of Guns and Mothergunship. His inspiration traced back to unconventional experiences he had while working at 38 Studios, the team behind Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. Rather than using those memories to deliver a scathing critique of the game industry, Mirabello chose to spotlight its inherent absurdity with affection. The sitcom format drew heavily from the tonal palette of Adult Swim and Comedy Central programming, while the interactive design borrowed structural cues from classic 2D adventure titles such as Grim Fandango and The Secret of Monkey Island. This blend of comedic writing sensibility with established adventure-game mechanics gave the project a distinctive identity that set it apart from both its studio's previous work and the broader landscape of narrative-driven games.

Release, Reception, and What Came Next

Season 1 launched on PC on August 6, 2020, rolling out approximately five episodes over a five-week span that concluded on September 3. The title expanded to Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch on March 3, 2021, followed by Season 2 on April 8 of that year. Critical response varied between seasons: Metacritic tagged Season 1 as earning mixed to average reviews, with 43 percent of critics recommending it on OpenCritic, while Season 2 received generally favorable marks. Hardcore Gamer praised the weekly drip-feed format of the first season as a pleasant surprise and noted that the second season grew sharper, funnier, and more entertaining from start to finish, even when the narrative felt like it was careening off the rails. In May 2021, dj2 Entertainment (now operating as Story Kitchen) announced a partnership with Terrible Posture Games to develop a television adaptation, though no further updates have surfaced, leaving the project's status uncertain.