Skip to main content

Indie game storeFree gamesFun gamesHorror games
Game developmentAssetsComics
SalesBundles
Jobs
TagsGame Engines
(2 edits) (+1)

First thing, extremely terrifying atmosphere, even after I knew how the game operated the feeling uneasiness remained. Very interesting idea for a puzzle, very engaging and unique.

I managed to get the door handle once, on what I think was an accident. Because I've been unable to reproduce it despite entering what I think is the correct code, so I've been unable to experience the full game.

Despite the liking the concept for the puzzle I think there are a couple of problems in its design.

1. The signals. They vary by about 400hz, which seems like a lot but when you hear them separately it's very hard to know which one was higher or lower, I might also be partially tone-deaf(clinically) making this puzzle almost impossible to solve. I resorted to recording clips of the sound to check the frequencies in an audio program to get the right order. Still somehow couldn't get it to work even after I got what I thought was the correct code.

2. There is no hint in game to suggest the order it lowest to highest, you have to read the game page to even hope to solve it, which is not great for immersion. Maybe a small sticky note on the machine could help, or a metal sign next to it.

3. Why does the machine give me a door handle, or more importantly why would the player expect it to do so? After seeing a prompt about a missing door handle I spent good couple minutes walking looking for it to no avail, only by reading the comments I found that I need the radio puzzle to get it.

4. Rotating the dials should be possible both ways, or at least the player should be able to hold E until instead of having to spam it. This might have been done to prevent cheesing the puzzle, however based on my experience it made me feel pain each time I reconsidered the solution and wanted to try a new one.

The other thing is the monster. It's a very cool design despite being simple. No matter that I saw it like 10 times, it still made me jump and feel uneasy when it appeared. I don't think there is a way to avoid it once spawns however. Which means walking into it and trying again is the only way to get rid of it, perhaps it should despawn after a moment if the player runs away from it and isn't looking at it. Also, once it killed me through a wall, which while scary felt a bit cheap.

Next, very minor thing. Interact text is white making it hard to see with the flashlight sometimes. It could do with an outline or a shadow effect to be more readable. Also sometimes goes off the screen, I haven’t used unity so I have no idea what might be the cause for that.

Other minor thing, footsteps sounds sometimes clip the volume making an odd clicking noise. It’s, again, very minor thing, and should be easy to fix, but I’d rather bring it up rather than hope the developer will find it themselves.

Lastly, the boat used in the intro really clashes with the bit-crunched and low detail of the facility, and on one hand it highlights the ruined state of it. But on the other hand it very much feels so different I knew at a glance it was imported from outside, it did not fit the style. Maybe adding some noise to the texture or playing with the colors would make it feel less like an outsider. It’s seen for just a moment so I don’t think it’s especially high priority.

Despite being stuck with a puzzle which I knew how to solve but couldn't get right, I had fun through the atmosphere, which in my opinion is top notch for a horror game. The loud metal footsteps and the shader crunching the colors really made it feel lonesome and derelict. The music in the intro also pulled its weight in making me feel like there is no one to hear me scream. Overall, could use some work in some parts, but already excels in others.

(1 edit)

Oh wow this is an amazing review! Thank you so much!!

The monster does despawn after like 15 seconds btw, not sure how you didn't get  o that point, maybe the game build has a glitch, but whenever I playtested it, the monster would despawn. 

The thing here you have to sort the numbers by pitch is only hinted really crypticially in the note you get at the beggining of the game, I really like the idea of the machine having a sticky note, so far one of the best reccomendations I got and I completely agree, I will deffinetly do a little bit of work on it post jam.

The boat is the only outside asset that I used, and yes it looks out of place :/ and the animation jitters a little I think, I had post jam time to fix thease things but I was a lil lazy honestly :P

I never tought about why the machine would give you the handle... kind of nonsensical yeah, maybe should have made it so that the generator is visibly connected to the storage room door and it opens it upon completion, the door handle bit was very unecessary...


Thank you so much for this detailed and insightful review, and thank you for going thrugh so much trouble just to beat this tedious game, I will deffinetly tweak some things after the jam and take your advice into consideration.


Edit: I just playtested it and yes, the monster does dissapeer after a short duration of time, one player actually tought the game was impossible cause they forgot to use shift to run, maybe you did the same thing?

(+1)

Oh I see, I don’t think I realized I could sprint to be honest, or did so subconsciously, my bad. If I could make a suggestion on that - the footsteps should be quicker when the player runs to signify that, as the speedboost itself isn’t that noticeable.

I tried to test monster despawning once when I played it - When I heard the noise and ran back to spawn without looking back, and it jumped me near the starting ladder. I assumed based on my previous runs that it jumpscares you when you look at it, and that's why I didn't look back, but that might have been just a coincidence then. My bad on not fully testing out my theory and good job on implementing it then.

I actually probably never gotten to know it despawns because I encountered it right after it spawned most times. And 15 seconds is surprising long to run around especially if you don't know if it will go away. Maybe it could do with an additional timer, which starts when the player sees it(unless that's already how it works), one that is shorter, that gets longer more times player encounters  it?

I think once when I sat around trying to input the code it might have despawned. Because after hearing the noise of it spawning, I ran to the machine room. And I don't think I have encountered it then when I left. There is no sound cue or anything like that if it goes away is there? So I didn't know if it disappeared or failed to spawn in the first place, not sure if that’s worth adding or if that might detract from the tension however.

The idea of making the generator open the door would be cool, and would also add some variance to the environment with cables going to the door.

I’d love to play the game updated post jam, so keep up the good work.

Ah you see, now you are asking the magician to reveal his tricks (triggers)

But yes, the generator room is a "safe zone" so that it does not corner the player (It will spawn again though), the spawning sound is just to add tension not to signify that the monster spawned, its a cheap trick only made for 1 time playtroughs, this jam I realized just how much the horror dev plays the magician with hidden tricks. A timer would kill the tension of the chase scene.

The biggiest problem with replaying the game is that everything was made to be only encountered once and thats it, the game is basically the opposite of replayable.

It despawns after 15 seconds but it stops chasing you after like 10 seconds I think, just so the player does not immidately see it despawn, this is ofcourse guessing that the player does not stare back and see the monster stop.

Anyways. Thank you for playing and I'll shoot you a quick messege once the game is more polished and playable. Thanks once again for trying so hard to decipher this puzzle hell game!