Alright, listen up. I freaking loved this. It was dripping atmosphere, it took its time before scaring me once but scaring me GOOD and the resolution is so low I felt like I was walking through a Pointillist painting by Paul Signac.
Even more than that I loved the way the story was presented; mysterious and threadbare with major Lovecraft/Junji Ito/SCP characteristics. Exactly my jam. More like this please!
Very much nice. I much like it. The chreacture is too charasmatic, I identify so many, like look on the mirror. I love his ice and the way they walk so crunchy. Scream so nice! :) relatable
I don’t play a lot of horror games, but lately I’ve been looking to try some new things, so this was one of a batch of indie games I elected to try this week. While I adored quite a few of them, this is the first one that gave me that real authentic “oh shit” moment.
First impressions are pretty solid. This is one of those stories that only works because the player character is an idiot sticking their nose where it doesn’t belong, but I’ll come back to that later. The pixelated look is a classic for indie horror games, and this one uses it to its advantage very effectively. The environment is pretty static, which makes what few animated assets there are stand out, especially in tense moments. The limited visual fidelity also makes the monster that much scarier (spoiler, by the way: this game has a monster) by making it extremely unclear what exactly it is. You also don’t get a lot of story details as you progress through the game; like a lot of indie games, most of the context comes from notes that you find as you play, but these are sparse and give barely enough details to hint at what you’re up against and what the stakes are.
The level design is pretty good, and for the most part it feels very natural. During the introductory sections I found myself admiring the scenery, even though by design I had only a very limited view of it. This developer manages to do a lot with very little.
I had some trouble believing the tight hallways and oddly small navigable spaces in some of the interior structures, though, especially the one segment a few flights of stairs down that’s basically just a room surrounded by a single hallway with a closet and two restrooms. This section was blatantly designed with gameplay in mind first and worldbuilding second, especially since you need a key card to enter the central room, and the only reason to go into that room is to get another key card. This is also the one segment where I got stuck, because in the darkened rooms I could see a key card I needed to get to but couldn’t find how to get to it, mainly because by this point I was actually afraid to turn my flashlight on.
This next paragraph contains actual spoilers, so if you’re reading this and thinking about playing this game stop reading now.
I initially disliked the ending when I got to it, but as it played out I actually warmed up to it. I was expecting there to be some kind of final confrontation, but instead what we ultimately got was a cautionary tale, and this is why it makes sense that the player character gets themselves into the situation they’re in. You’re not a hero, you’re just a fool who stumbles in over their head, and the ending really suits that. I particularly like how it’s not just a fuck-up on our part, too, but rather that it causes a legitimate escalation of the situation. That’s a good touch that fits with the basic narrative of a video game.
Overall, I’d say this is a solid 7 out of 10 game. It’s a bit rough in places, but it hits all of the right notes once it gets going.
Thanks for the review! There are definitely some parts I'm not the most proud of and I'll be sure to improve in future projects, but I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Reading back on my initial review, it occurs to me that my phrasing in some sections might be misunderstood as excessively critical, so I just want to clarify that I liked the minimalist detail in the aesthetics and the story. Because we hardly know what’s going on, we’re left to fill in a lot of details ourselves, kind of like when you’re reading an SCP with a lot of redactions. The ending kind of puts the kibash on this, but that’s okay because it acts as something of a resolution to the mystery even if it still doesn’t explain much.
I saw that a lot of people were really down on the “overly” pixelated look, but I liked it because the monster design is very simple (though I must say the animations and sound design were very solid) and the pixelization means that we see it in very little detail, which reflects our limited understanding of what’s going on and makes them spoopier, especially in darkened areas where we might have difficulty seeing them. I didn’t have any problems with the game’s visual aesthetic except for that one moment in the security office where I missed a vent because it was so dark and I was afraid to turn on my flashlight lest I wake the monster in the room.
I mentioned an “oh shit” moment in my review, and the reason it worked so well was that I hadn’t been attacked yet and didn’t know what would happen if I got spotted. I was in the cafeteria looking for the key card I needed when I heard the monster coming back. Because I hadn’t thought that its patrol route would return to the cafeteria I ducked into the first hiding spot I could think of, which left me completely exposed from the front but covered me from the sides. As I watched the monster walk past he was only a few feet away, and since I didn’t know how wide his cone of vision was I couldn’t be sure I would make it out, which resulted in a near-panic moment as it was walking past. This was all made possible by your masterful execution of the minimal aesthetic of the game.
Falsely advertised, despite being a trespasser I was never shot. Did get my soul sucked out about five times in that last section though. Awesome game, 8.5/10.
Really cool game, the atmosphere is pretty cool and the "shadow people" have a really creepy design and behaviour, I found that you move too slow though.
Great game, but having no option for mouse sensitivity detracted from the experience. If you ever think of revisiting this project, please consider adding an options menu.
Really, really scary the silent ambience builts up the tension while knowing your not alone while exploring the unknown cave, its interesting and it made me scream like lil bits hahah, love this game kudos to the developer it was fun. here's my reaction video if you guys want to watch my reactions to this game.
very good game i played it before but if you scared and want to pause game, the game will close. maybe there is a run button but there is no run button and it feel more scary. (my english is bad sory)
Kinda good, little rough around the edges, especially with the story. In the ending: don't just write, show it! or at least let us experience that by ourselves. anywho, the aesthetics were good, but again, could use some polishing. loved how the monster guy looked, and it's particles, and some of the scenarios were really well made, like the kitchen and the generator button. other than that, it was too pixelated and too dark, the flashlight didn't do much most of the time, and when it did it still was too dark.
Thank you so much for not scrapping this, the attention to detail, the spooks and the gameplay was so fun, by the end of the game I was tense as heck and I loved the ending. If this is what you come up with when it's rushed, the sky is the limit. Beautiful game but more than that, you really know how to pace a game and create a sense of terror without cheap jumpscares.
The atmosphere, loud noises, and graphics combined to scare me and make me extremely anxious while playing this game! There is definitely a lot of potential with this game if you wanted to expand on it! I'm interested as to what happened at this facility. I left the link to this game in a Discord server that I'm in!
The gameplay was overall really great! I would however have loved to be able to pause and to run. I had to pause and pressed escape and quit the game, so had to start over. Perhaps this is just me not looking through any controls option.
Pretty good game for what it is. The only issue I had with it was the lighting/flashlight. The flashlight felt like it barely did anything. Other than that, it had good spooks and decent puzzle solving. Would recommend!
← Return to game
Comments
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
Any chance for a mouse Y-invert?
Alright, listen up. I freaking loved this. It was dripping atmosphere, it took its time before scaring me once but scaring me GOOD and the resolution is so low I felt like I was walking through a Pointillist painting by Paul Signac.
Even more than that I loved the way the story was presented; mysterious and threadbare with major Lovecraft/Junji Ito/SCP characteristics. Exactly my jam. More like this please!
This game was way longer than I expected but it was a lot of fun! Thank you for the scares and the idea behind the game!
really cool, watching the entity pass me by gave me the creeps. Great ambience
Very much nice. I much like it. The chreacture is too charasmatic, I identify so many, like look on the mirror. I love his ice and the way they walk so crunchy. Scream so nice! :) relatable
I don’t play a lot of horror games, but lately I’ve been looking to try some new things, so this was one of a batch of indie games I elected to try this week. While I adored quite a few of them, this is the first one that gave me that real authentic “oh shit” moment.
First impressions are pretty solid. This is one of those stories that only works because the player character is an idiot sticking their nose where it doesn’t belong, but I’ll come back to that later. The pixelated look is a classic for indie horror games, and this one uses it to its advantage very effectively. The environment is pretty static, which makes what few animated assets there are stand out, especially in tense moments. The limited visual fidelity also makes the monster that much scarier (spoiler, by the way: this game has a monster) by making it extremely unclear what exactly it is. You also don’t get a lot of story details as you progress through the game; like a lot of indie games, most of the context comes from notes that you find as you play, but these are sparse and give barely enough details to hint at what you’re up against and what the stakes are.
The level design is pretty good, and for the most part it feels very natural. During the introductory sections I found myself admiring the scenery, even though by design I had only a very limited view of it. This developer manages to do a lot with very little.
I had some trouble believing the tight hallways and oddly small navigable spaces in some of the interior structures, though, especially the one segment a few flights of stairs down that’s basically just a room surrounded by a single hallway with a closet and two restrooms. This section was blatantly designed with gameplay in mind first and worldbuilding second, especially since you need a key card to enter the central room, and the only reason to go into that room is to get another key card. This is also the one segment where I got stuck, because in the darkened rooms I could see a key card I needed to get to but couldn’t find how to get to it, mainly because by this point I was actually afraid to turn my flashlight on.
This next paragraph contains actual spoilers, so if you’re reading this and thinking about playing this game stop reading now.
I initially disliked the ending when I got to it, but as it played out I actually warmed up to it. I was expecting there to be some kind of final confrontation, but instead what we ultimately got was a cautionary tale, and this is why it makes sense that the player character gets themselves into the situation they’re in. You’re not a hero, you’re just a fool who stumbles in over their head, and the ending really suits that. I particularly like how it’s not just a fuck-up on our part, too, but rather that it causes a legitimate escalation of the situation. That’s a good touch that fits with the basic narrative of a video game.
Overall, I’d say this is a solid 7 out of 10 game. It’s a bit rough in places, but it hits all of the right notes once it gets going.
Thanks for the review! There are definitely some parts I'm not the most proud of and I'll be sure to improve in future projects, but I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Reading back on my initial review, it occurs to me that my phrasing in some sections might be misunderstood as excessively critical, so I just want to clarify that I liked the minimalist detail in the aesthetics and the story. Because we hardly know what’s going on, we’re left to fill in a lot of details ourselves, kind of like when you’re reading an SCP with a lot of redactions. The ending kind of puts the kibash on this, but that’s okay because it acts as something of a resolution to the mystery even if it still doesn’t explain much.
I saw that a lot of people were really down on the “overly” pixelated look, but I liked it because the monster design is very simple (though I must say the animations and sound design were very solid) and the pixelization means that we see it in very little detail, which reflects our limited understanding of what’s going on and makes them spoopier, especially in darkened areas where we might have difficulty seeing them. I didn’t have any problems with the game’s visual aesthetic except for that one moment in the security office where I missed a vent because it was so dark and I was afraid to turn on my flashlight lest I wake the monster in the room.
I mentioned an “oh shit” moment in my review, and the reason it worked so well was that I hadn’t been attacked yet and didn’t know what would happen if I got spotted. I was in the cafeteria looking for the key card I needed when I heard the monster coming back. Because I hadn’t thought that its patrol route would return to the cafeteria I ducked into the first hiding spot I could think of, which left me completely exposed from the front but covered me from the sides. As I watched the monster walk past he was only a few feet away, and since I didn’t know how wide his cone of vision was I couldn’t be sure I would make it out, which resulted in a near-panic moment as it was walking past. This was all made possible by your masterful execution of the minimal aesthetic of the game.
Looks great! Going full dark in the shadows is super creepy!
Loved the game! The PS1 look adds to the creepiness of the abandoned bunker.
Awesome Game!!!
But can you tell me how you achieved the pixelated effect?
Quite simple, camera renders to a render texture with a low resolution and UI displays the render texture on a raw image.
That's cool, I always use render textures only for maps and stuff. Thanks !
Falsely advertised, despite being a trespasser I was never shot. Did get my soul sucked out about five times in that last section though. Awesome game, 8.5/10.
Does the toilet room look like Goldeneye's beginning of Facility? :)
I liked the game, but is't too pixelated.
Fun little game. It was almost "too pixelated" but I still vibed and had a good time with it!
-Supa' Sp00ky but the game almost set my computer on fire :O
Was a good game it was simple yet also challenging recommend for a scary time
Really cool game, the atmosphere is pretty cool and the "shadow people" have a really creepy design and behaviour, I found that you move too slow though.
Cool game! I liked the story a lot!
It was fun :D
Great game, but having no option for mouse sensitivity detracted from the experience. If you ever think of revisiting this project, please consider adding an options menu.
You can change the sensitivity with the mouse wheel if I'm not mistaken
Is this game supposed to lag on a 4GB RAM device?
Graphic card 2GB aswell
Had fun trying this horror game out! I enjoyed the idea behind the game and the jumpscares too!
Für die Deutschen unter euch, hier mein Video. :) LG Nhjir
Made a video
very good game i played it before but if you scared and want to pause game, the game will close. maybe there is a run button but there is no run button and it feel more scary. (my english is bad sory)
Kinda good, little rough around the edges, especially with the story. In the ending: don't just write, show it! or at least let us experience that by ourselves. anywho, the aesthetics were good, but again, could use some polishing. loved how the monster guy looked, and it's particles, and some of the scenarios were really well made, like the kitchen and the generator button. other than that, it was too pixelated and too dark, the flashlight didn't do much most of the time, and when it did it still was too dark.
Good potential here.
I liked the game, it was fun, recorded it awhile ago but only got around to the video now, awesome game, thanks
Thank you so much for not scrapping this, the attention to detail, the spooks and the gameplay was so fun, by the end of the game I was tense as heck and I loved the ending. If this is what you come up with when it's rushed, the sky is the limit. Beautiful game but more than that, you really know how to pace a game and create a sense of terror without cheap jumpscares.
what started as an attempt to date Bigfoot quickly turned dark. Great game, loved the graphics and atmosphere! Super creepy monster!
The gameplay was overall really great! I would however have loved to be able to pause and to run. I had to pause and pressed escape and quit the game, so had to start over. Perhaps this is just me not looking through any controls option.
But great game, 5/5 from me!
-BH
Nice game, unfortunately it keeps repeating itself.
But this old graphic is exactly my thing!✌✌✌
Just played this on the channel. The first few seconds shows how freightened I was, Pretty good game!
Pretty good game for what it is. The only issue I had with it was the lighting/flashlight. The flashlight felt like it barely did anything. Other than that, it had good spooks and decent puzzle solving. Would recommend!
this game was nice lol hehe
Pourquoi la résolution est si basse ? C'est injouable
I really like the atmosphere and low-res style. This game really gave off strong SCP and Junji Ito vibes.