Clam Man 2: Open Mic

Clam Man 2: Open Mic

Released Jun 2020

OPEN MIC is the free prologue to the upcoming Clam Man 2: Headliner - a narrative adventure RPG where you escape your boring desk job to become a comedian!

97% positive · 459 reviews
Not yet
Released, but content still planned
Medium confidence
Content Planned
Not yet
Released, but content still planned
Medium confidence
Content Planned

Where to get it

Free on Steam

Evaluation

Clam Man 2: Open Mic is a free standalone prologue to the full game, Clam Man 2: Headliner. The prologue launched on June 19, 2020, received a skill system overhaul on July 1, 2020, and received a major re-release on September 16, 2023 with reworked content, new characters, new quests, a new character creation system, and UI improvements. The prologue is functionally complete as a standalone experience. However, the store description explicitly describes Open Mic as "the prologue to the upcoming Clam Man 2: Headliner," and the full game it previews remains unreleased. The developer's most recent update, posted on January 25, 2025, confirms that Headliner is still in active development — Day 2 of the full game is complete, Day 3 is in progress, the game's writing has nearly doubled since the start of 2024, and the developer notes they can "see the end of the line somewhere in the distance," while cautioning it will still take more time. Earlier, on November 26, 2022, the developer disclosed that Headliner had stalled for approximately two years while they took outside work, but that same post confirmed development had resumed with funding secured from Fig Portfolio Shares. Subsequent updates confirmed steady progress through 2023 and 2024. No developer communication has appeared since January 25, 2025 — a gap of over eight months as of today (October 8, 2026). While this is longer than ideal, the developer noted in that post that quiet periods are normal for them ("No news is good news, essentially") and that they were intentionally stepping back from social media. The game has no established regular update cadence that would make this silence alarming, and the January 2025 post described strong ongoing progress. The prologue's core purpose is to serve as a preview of and entry point into Headliner, which the developer has consistently affirmed is coming.
Evidence
Developer confirms Headliner is in active development as of January 2025: Day 2 is complete, Day 3 is in progress, writing has nearly doubled, and the developer can 'see the end of the line somewhere in the distance.' Notes development is going well but will still take more time.
news post · Jan 25, 2025 source content planned
high
Short description explicitly describes Open Mic as 'the free prologue to the upcoming Clam Man 2: Headliner,' confirming the full game is still presented as forthcoming.
store metadata source content planned
high

Media

Details

Publisher
Sideby Interactive
Achievements
—
Platform
Windows, macOS, Linux
Controller
—
Steam Deck
Playable
Players
Single-player

About this game

CLAM MAN 2: OPEN MIC

is the prologue to the upcoming Clam Man 2, a stand-up comedy RPG adventure, and the first day in a week of jokes, quests, and saying a lot of really odd things. It's a combatless, narrative RPG that takes you on an unlikely quest in a very unlikely world. Play as the titular Clam Man and uncover a secret lurking in the basement of Snacky Bay Prime Mayonnaise that will change the course of your life! Do quests, get jokes, and do stand-up!



If any of that sounds remotely interesting, give the game a shot! It's free! You've got nothing to lose!
Here's some of the other things you can do in this game;

  • Faint in an attempt to get out of public speaking
  • Lie to a child
  • Talk to a prehistoric beast
  • Cause an earthquake
  • Get run over and die
  • Do standup

THE GAME JUDGES WHO YOU ARE

Seven different stats dictate your abilities;

  • Aquadynamics - your ability to perform physically!
  • Improv - your ability to think on the spot, be strange and absurd, or come up with new takes or ideas!
  • Detection - your ability to perceive the world and use logic to understand it!
  • Assertion - your ability to tell people off and convince them that you're right!
  • Deadpan - your ability to keep your cool and lie!
  • Luck - I had to put this in here and now everyone specs all their points into Luck
  • Self-Awareness - your ability to empathise with others and yourself (or not)!


TONS OF DIALOGUE

If you're averse to lots of reading, this might get tricky - Clam Man 2 has a LOT of branching dialogue, offering tons of replayability! Dialogues also feature tons of static skill checks that only unlock with the right stats; if a conversation only has a couple of available response options, chances are that other outcomes and absurdities hide behind a different character build!

GATHER MATERIALS

In order to do stand-up, you need jokes! In Clam Man 2, quests are character-based with choices to be made and errands to be run, and finishing a quest rewards you with material you can use in your shows! Every quest has multiple endings, and depending on your choices, the resulting joke loot will change, and it's impossible to see even half of all the jokes in a single playthrough! (Completionists beware - it could take around six fully optimized runs to see everything in the game!)


GET ON STAGE

Each joke you receive from quests will measure your abilities, with classic RPG dice rolls. High stats and the right joke makes all the difference! Succeeding will give you multiple options of where you want to take the joke, and even failing will allow you to choose your destiny in a spiraling maelstrom of stuttering, awkwardness, and pure bad taste. Will you land every joke, or will you bomb your way through your shows?

NO FIGHTING

Clam Man 2 is a narrative RPG, with zero combat! (Apart from a part where you can slap a guy in the face.) Furthermore, bombing jokes doesn't lead to a game over - instead, it leads to changes in how characters perceive you, with larger ramifications on the story in the full game! Oh, and you'll also be embarrassing yourself on stage.


YOU ONLY GET A TASTE

Clam Man 2: Open Mic is the entire first day of the full game currently in development, but even so has tons of quests, characters, and dialogue to see! The full game is currently in development, and the response to this will determine the direction, changes, and style of the final game! Every single Steam review will be read to gather feedback!

WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS

Clam Man 2 is being developed by a solo developer, who is very, very tired. You can follow the development on twitter!


Last evaluated Oct 8, 2026
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