SHUT IN
Really captures the feeling of depression without being too… for lack of a better word, depressing? The game is still funny and doesn’t take itself too seriously. Somehow it’s very entertaining to be told how you’re an idiot and you’ve died horribly.
But then there’s also a really creepy atmosphere, very nice sound design, a solid sense of dread, and some very satisfying puzzles.
Really enjoyable, and I feel very smug for finding the secret ending!
Still not got that rocket launcher though…
– Real player with 11.7 hrs in game
Read More: Best Dark Comedy Psychological Games.
I had so much fun with this game. Which is a weird thing to say considering it spent a lot of time all-too-accurately evoking the scathing self-deprecation and casual self-sabotage that comes with depression. Did it make me think about the times real-life-me had not wanted to get out of bed, and said mean things to the reflection in the mirror? Yes. Did it let me wave a spatula off a staircase and caress a questionable pile of black goo? Also yes.
Sometimes — especially in 2020 — there’s not much to do about the pitfalls of depression except to laugh and keep going. This game knows that, and in a rather tongue-in-cheek way, nudges us to remember. It’s a fun, satisfying little puzzle that rewards trial and error, persistence, and (if you’re going for the secret ending) the occasional madcap experiment. But most importantly, it tells us: Don’t worry. Try again tomorrow.
– Real player with 4.8 hrs in game
Hair of the Dog
This game is right up my alley! From the very beginning it oozes charm and hilarity. The pace is swift and the characters intriguing. I’ve smiled constantly and laughed out loud many times. It delivers straight away and is delightfully observed too - for anyone into history, literature, cinema. I think I’ll have to watch Tall Story Games closely and see what they do next!
– Real player with 5.1 hrs in game
Read More: Best Dark Comedy Funny Games.
I played this game after enjoying the demo for Lucy Dreaming - so much so that I joined the kick starter for it! This is a lovely game, beautifully made and with a great, dark sense of humour. The fact that this was made in just 2 weeks makes it even more impressive! A few of the puzzles really had me scratching my head (pun intended!) but it was always just difficult enough to be engaging, rather than infuriating.
If you liked this, then I highly recommend Lucy Dreaming.
– Real player with 3.6 hrs in game
Suits: A Business RPG
ENGLISH:
Instead of translating my French review, this will do: Suits is an amazing RPG. From the “lore”, to the battles, to the black-and-white universe, to the humor and the characters. I had a blast playing it, getting the achievements, and I’ll do another playthrough often.
FRANÇAIS:
- voix off *
Un monde en noir et blanc. Où les humains ne sont que de vulgaires engrenages pour la grande machine qu’est le TRAVAIL. Où la justice se règle a coup de pot-de-vin. Où la seule nourriture existante est des sandwichs au goût douteux. (Il y a aussi des hamburgers et des pizzas, mais impossible d’en manger!) Où LE PDJ est le maître suprême. Où être VIRÉ équivaut à la mort.
! (Et devenir un sandwich!) The Guy, un employer dont le numéro est sans intérêt, parviendra-t-il à survivre garder son travail, tout en découvrant les bas secrets de ce monde? VOUS le découvrirez dans Suits : A Business RPG!
– Real player with 16.1 hrs in game
Read More: Best Dark Comedy Hand-drawn Games.
This has been a little game I had under my radar for a while mainly because I like RPG Maker games and the business theme looks pretty interesting. Plus it had a similar art style to OFF and while OFF was okay, it’s art was pretty interesting. So is it good?
Story:
In a world where corporations run rampant, companies can bribe to get what they want. women are treated as mere plants that look pretty and the mere act of refusing a product is enough to land you in jail. In this world, you live as a simple drone until events happen that put you in an adventure that might change the world.
– Real player with 7.5 hrs in game
Scarenoid
SCARENOID is a ridiculously macabre action-RPG.
It follows the offbeat adventures of a vindictive little Coward who must overcome his paranoid fear to retrieve his guileless Companion from harm’s way that awaits them in an alien environment.
Game offers a singleplayer third person experience in a story-rich 3D environment combined with a gripping plot. Designed for all lovers of horror-comedy story-rich plots. It’s the atmosphere of Courage the Cowardly Dog meeting the mechanics of Diablo.
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battle monsters and bizarre adversaries
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overcome paranoid fear by developing skills and abilities
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collect items, health and experience points; pay attention to stamina and breath levels
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choose your adventure; multiple ways to pass a stage
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canny deaths abounds; no boring repetitive videos
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atmospheric and challenging environments and levels
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customizable character
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easily accessible; comprehensive tutorial
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real-time gameplay with pause
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dark, surreal humor
Dark Threads
My initial experience was…. well I could not move from I spawn and I kept getting a little ways into the prologue before weird things would happen like I would fly out of the map or stop being able to move around.
I still don’t know if it was my computer or not but I reinstalled the game and played it again and things seem to work great with the exception of some objects causing me to walk backwards when I pick them up.
If you enjoy sci fi and/or walking simulators you will enjoy this game. It is clear a lot of time and care has gone into production values.
– Real player with 4.0 hrs in game
Its alright. Would give it a neutral review if I could. Positive just because I like that the Canadian government is helping fund VR experiences like this.
Short (roughly ~1.5 hours) sci-fi experience (aka “walking simulator”) with a very overt environmental message. Production values are alright but many of the textures are very low-res. Little interactivity beyond walking slowly and picking things up.
It wasn’t bad, but I have to say I was slightly underwhelmed at the end. It needed either better production values or a longer, more fleshed out story to be truly memorable.
– Real player with 2.4 hrs in game
The Sink Gods
What is the Sink Gods?
The Sink Gods is a modern point-n-click adventure where you play a poor villager who lives in the Sink Valley. After you are evicted from your home, you must travel to the temples of The Sink Gods and complete their challenges to regain what you have lost…
Features:
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Hand drawn graphics
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Simple navigation with arrows
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Fun puzzles
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Unique and funny story
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Immersive music
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30-90 minutes of gameplay
Coming Soon…
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Brand new level that picks up where the main story left off…
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Achievements!
My Eyes
I’m digging. Nice little platformer with just enough of a challenge. The screaming of the guy cracks me up everytime.
– Real player with 2.8 hrs in game
This game is super fun and the screaming cracks me up every time.
– Real player with 2.6 hrs in game
New Ice York
This game is so much more than I expected it to be. At first, playing it- I was charmed by how weird it was but after playing through it, I found myself feeling connected to this universe and the characters within it. It’s intuitive- familiar, but totally different. Refreshingly fun, and an overall great release by magicdweedo, an artist I’ve really enjoyed since Mealmate™. Make sure to check out the soundtrack, too- it’s really catchy!
– Real player with 8.7 hrs in game
New Ice York has deceptively good writing. The first chapter is unfortunately slow, which is a bad problem for a game of this length to have, but that slowness does its job of lulling you into a familiarity with the characters that it uses as a platform to build off of. NIY unfurls in a way similar to Frog Fractions or magicdweedoo’s last major game, Ticket: breaking its own rules and shuffling weird mechanics around. Where the former games engage themselves in a game of zany one-upsmanship, though, New Ice York’s treatment of mechanics is much more narrative and constrained. Detective has an oblique resemblance to Deadly Premonition’s Francis York Morgan / Twin Peak’s Dale Cooper, and similar to those stories New Ice York’s descent into surrealism takes on a personal significance in the quest of the protagonist.
– Real player with 6.3 hrs in game
A Rat’s life: the Cat Conspiracy
Fast First-person Rat Gameplay
Get on your four legs to sprint and travel through a unique world. Use pipes to reach hidden area and find cheese.
Featured in this adventure:
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Story rich arcs set in a unique world
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Different stealth challenges
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Skilled-based drills
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frantic cat pursuits
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Trashball against AI (a popular sport among rats)
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Rat races
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Exploration and cheese chasing
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Great cinematics and soundtrack
Story Rich Arcs
Rats live in societies inside walls. Big corporate control the access to the outside world where cheese, the main currency and food can be found by cheese hunters. In order to find out what happened to your missing siblings, you will have to be employed as a cheese hunter to sneak your way to the outside world, far from home. Through this adventure the narrative deals with social themes related to inequality and conspiracies.
Hide from horrifying cats
The outside world is filled with traps and scary looking cats. Use your speed and small size to sneak your way through this mysterious world without getting caught.
More details to come, make sure to wishlist and follow to stay tuned.
A Chamber of Stars
Each person has a universe inside of them.
A personal universe with characters influenced by the observable reality around them. Your friends, the fans, the local shop clerk, each person you pass without giving pause is another universe. You make up a story about them, they form a story about you. The universes expand.
I always wonder how similar our universes can be. You and I. Will I ever be able to pierce through and present myself, my real self, or will the information be lost in translation? The thing rattling around in our heads can’t be all that different. We both still get choked up over the same melodies, it’s only human to do so, right?
Maybe, if you would like it, I could play something for you. Lord knows your songs are still rattling around in my head.
The singularly named Starr, an enigmatic performer, guitarist and songwriter, has somehow survived the constant shifting tide of the musical landscape. Decade after decade, this artist has remained relevant in culture’s eye. After multiple personas, genre manipulations and controversies, the public is still buzzing. “What will Starr do next?” The rumors say their upcoming album will be the fated magnum opus…
A Chamber of Stars is the sequel to 2018’s The Endless Empty. Through six unique worlds the life of the rock n’ roll hero, Starr, will be pieced together. Exploration, choices and performances will change the course of a life and will alter the songs that are produced. A Chamber of Stars will feature a mix of classic adventure games, puzzle solving and unique rhythm game performances all within a fully realized surrealist universe.