Charlie the Talking Steak

Okay, so you know those days when everything just seems to go wrong? Boss on your case, spilled coffee on your favorite shirt, and some idiot cut you off in traffic? That's when Charlie the Talking Steak becomes your best friend. No joke - this game has saved me from throwing my phone across the room more times than I can count!

I stumbled across this gem back when it first dropped in 2013, and I was PSYCHED when they brought it back last year. Charlie's this hilariously expressive piece of meat with these big googly eyes that somehow make you feel both guilty and completely justified as you unleash your frustrations on him.

The beauty of Charlie is in how ridiculous yet satisfying the whole concept is. You've got four different "cooking levels" to choose from - Well-Done is pretty tame, but Raw? Man, that gets brutal! Nothing quite like grabbing a virtual drill or set of pliers after a terrible Monday and going to town on a cartoon steak that makes the most absurdly funny noises.

What kept me coming back wasn't just the stress relief, though. The mini-games are surprisingly addictive. There's this knife-throwing challenge where you're trying to nail flying steaks (harder than it sounds after a couple beers, trust me), and another where you're basically playing a twisted version of Whack-a-Mole with poor Charlie.

My favorite feature has to be the voice mimicking thing. Had a whole group of friends over last weekend, and we spent way too long recording ridiculous messages and watching Charlie repeat them in his weird steak voice. My buddy Jake laughed so hard he nearly choked on his drink!

The photo mode is another time-sink I didn't expect. There's something weirdly satisfying about dressing up your meat buddy in over 300 different accessories and sending the results to friends. My sister still hasn't forgiven me for the Charlie creation I sent to her work email by "accident."

Yeah, it's bizarre, potentially concerning, and absolutely ridiculous - but isn't that exactly what makes a great stress-relieving game? If you need a laugh or just want to work out some aggression without, you know, actual consequences, give Charlie a try. Just maybe don't play it on a first date... learned that one the hard way!