Mosaic
Striking visual designs and themes I usually enjoy aside, it’s a bit on the nose with it’s message about rejecting the hamster wheel of only working and never living. It’s also a bit too simplistic in it’s presentation. Real life isn’t as simple as just daring to choose between being happy and doing fun stuff you enjoy and working yourself to death in a boring dead end job with unreasonable demands. Real life usually is a mix of the two sides, and all the thousands of little bits in between those two extremes.
– Real player with 7.5 hrs in game
Some Tiles Are More Equal Than Others
Mosaic is a game secretly about another game. Blip Blop, the bare-bones clicker game contained on employee 978-067443006’s phone. In-between guiding him through his non-life, you’ll find your brain defaulting to your Blop accumulation and when you can next stop to Blip. You’ll reach for your virtual phone when ignored every morning in lifts and on train platforms and, to hell with it, stop in the middle of crowds. Even after the most harrowing visual set piece of late-stage capitalism’s worst excesses and neglect you’ll immediately open your phone to invest your auto-Blops, lest you be inefficient. This pernicious little app is the only source of stimulation - empty and soulless stimulation though it may be - in a world and game so utterly devoid of it.
– Real player with 7.3 hrs in game
Temporality
A surprisingly affecting music video describing the memories of dying soldiers in the Great War. Though brief, perhaps a bit too repetitive, a few more scenes would have helped a great deal (you will see the same scenes several times, wait for the fade out and credits to reach the end). Interesting that the composer, Julie Buchanan also did the music for The Other Half. For more about the Great War, listen to Dan Carlin’s Blueprint for Armageddon.
– Real player with 0.5 hrs in game
Read More: Best Dark 2D Games.
This is a heart wrenching game. Although simplistic in nature, it’s atmosphere really makes you feel for the soldiers and makes you want to rewind over and over in the hopes that the bullet just might miss them. There isn’t any dialogue or character names but you get a feeling that each and everyone of those soldiers has a story and a family that misses them. This reminds me so much of “All Quiet on the Western Front” (Great book and movie, you can get the movie on youtube for free) in which you have a group of friends join up and slowly die one by one. The cut scenes sort of build on the semi-story of your individual character and in a way make you connect with him. I had to rewind time and pause after the final bullet came, I sat there and contemplated what I’d just witnessed. I highly recommend this game.
– Real player with 0.3 hrs in game
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge
Free for everyone at the time of review.
Hardware: Win 10x64, 3570k mildly OC, GTX 1070, 16 GB, SSD.
Super laggy on my system; took me a full 30 minutes to complete a game advertised as 5-10 minutes. I see the system specs state “Windows 7”; I’m guessing this is either a Win 10 issue (some games lag badly in 8 / 10 that run fine in 7) or possibly the 10xx series video card.
I recommend taking a very brief glance at the videos before playing to see how fast the game is supposed to move. If the game is going to lag for you, it will start at the opening credits, which take so long to change screens (tapping an arrow key helps) that it feels like the game is locked up. Don’t press ESC; that instantly closes the game.
– Real player with 0.5 hrs in game
Read More: Best Dark 2D Games.
‘The hardest tumble a man can make is to fall over his own bluff’' - Ambrose Bierce
James Cox has adapted, as part of his ‘100 games in 5 years’ project, the timeless classic short story titled An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge written by Ambrose Bierce in 1890. It has seen many variations since its inception ranging from short story to full novel inspirations, radio screenplays including a Twilight Zone broadcast, TV drama/movies and even music videos including Bon Jovi’s song Dyin' ain’t much of a livin'.
– Real player with 0.1 hrs in game
Rhome
I think this game was well done and well optimized. The graphics are decent and controller interface is very smooth with a few decent options to the whole game. A $5 game at full controller support is pretty good if you ask me
The story was nice and a bit terrifying at times. One of the big reasons I got the game.
Although when we break down game duration to dollars I can’t say this game was worth the price but I would like to see others from these creators (or similar since it was a school endeavor) in the future.
– Real player with 1.4 hrs in game
Rhome was an interesting title that is very fun to look at! For better or worse, that’s most of it. Unfortunately, the rest of experience is pretty dull, but as long as you keep that in mind going in, it’s a pleasurable experience.
From start to finish, examining everything’s a treat - some slight graphical bugs exist, but when the frame rate drops, it’s minor & short. Unless you examine every corner (like I do), you likely won’t find any of the others. Overall, the detail is welcome. The setting & story, thin as they are, are very welcome & offer a significant improvement over the adventure as it gives you a reason to go from room to room.
– Real player with 1.1 hrs in game
Hospitality VR
Stars received: 2.5/10 _ Note: v.5 [0.0 to 1] = personal impressions
[0] Controls & Training & Help
[0] Menu & Settings
[0.3] Sound & Music
[0.5] Graphics
[0.4] Game Design
[0.4] Game Story
[0] Game Content
[0.2] Completion time (level/game)?
[0.2] is it Enjoyable & Fun?
[0] Could it hold a spot in Favorites? (& if the Game can be repeatedly played again)
[0] BONUS point: Multi-Player related
[0.5] BONUS point: Review for VR
[N] - if Registration is required with providing PII
Game description key-points: 12 minutes of horror “supposed to be” experience
– Real player with 1.1 hrs in game
Hospitality VR can’t decide what type of horror it wants to use and as a result can’t properly scare or entertain anyone.
It starts like tasteful slow horror with it’s good lighting and realistic environment but ends up showing you poorly made monsters on full display, standing in a bright light for several seconds. That breaks any suspense or immersion that was built before.
At the same time, Hospitality VR has very little jumpscares and no screamers, so fans of more direct horror would also be bored by it.
– Real player with 0.6 hrs in game
Visceratum
“_That is not dead which can eternal lie,
And with strange aeons even death may die._” - H.P. Lovecraft
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A frank, sometimes surreal, other times horrifying story with a good portion of caustic irony and grotesque..
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Simple controls and no “platforming”, pixel-hunting or teeth-grinding puzzles allow you to concentrate on the main thing - the story and your participation in it.
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A unique atmosphere woven from real photographs, bizarre plasticine animation, and enchantingly murky music by Serge Bulat.
Blood. Guts. Our own meat.
Here are the Great Ancients sleeping in each of us.
Should we fear imaginary monsters, or creatures crawling out of the depths of the sea? After all, they are only the wretched of this world.
The unknown and fleshy within us - is the true, underlying horror of which we may not even be aware. A horror about to break free…
Visceratum draws inspiration from the work of those who have been able to look into the abyss of humankind. Let’s honor those names: Lovecraft and Kafka, Beksiński and Giger; Cronenberg, Švankmajer, Lynch. And many other masters of the dark arts gave a bit of their energy to the seed from which Visceratum sprouted. However, the game does not try to parasitize on the greats - by paying tribute to them, it seeks to construct its own reality.
The strange visuals, сrawling at the bottom of the “uncanny valley”, combining serious themes and drama with outright absurdity - create a special surreal atmosphere of Visceratum. Will you dare to step into these dark waters?
EnviroGolf
A text adventure golf game, well, sort of.
The game consists of a series of prompts, selecting your club, and then your power. After every hit, you’re treated to a screen with a message criticising the sport of golf due to its various specific negative effects on the welfare of the local fauna. That’s the whole game.
It’s hard to say what exactly this game is trying to accomplish. It certainly can’t be a text adventure, because there is no adventure to be had. The environmentalist message is negated by the store description of the game, so it can’t be in support of that. It can’t be a sardonic criticism of preachy games, because there’s no hint of self-awareness. What is there to be had here? Nothing, really. It sets out to do several things and does none of them well.
– Real player with 0.8 hrs in game
I used to participate in the sport of Golf. Both watching it and (ashamedly) playing it. I now know the consequences of my actions. I sincerely apologize to any forest animals reading this review. I never knew how many I was personally responsible for killing. But now I know. Golf was invented by the devil. Golf will end civilization. That is, unless we spread the word and get more people to play this game. I need to go contemplate how to fix my terrible decisions over a delicious juicy hamburger. Hamburgers are the only thing that clears my mind.
– Real player with 0.6 hrs in game
Childhood Fears
very hard but fun night 6 and 7 are the hardest
– Real player with 6.3 hrs in game
10/10
graphics are sharp on ultra. Even with a bare house, you find yourself ignoring this as your head is spinning 360 degrees constantly. it is a horror but if a child suffers from this amount of monsters for seven days AND not sleeping, it would drive anyone to hallucinate. I could only get to night six but you can watch my walk through below:
– Real player with 1.3 hrs in game
Synthesis Universe -Episode 00-
Definitely more than 15mn contrary to some reviews!
(More content was added after initial release)
Some users don’t pay attention and miss most of the experience.
This is not fast food, this is not a game or a thing you have to try to speed run.
Why not taking some slow time in there, relax and enjoy the show?
Many interactions are hidden, delicate and add replay value, there is even a secret ending.
This is not for everyone:
If you are a gamer in a hurry: don’t buy it.
If you are looking to be fully immersed surrounded by music and FXs, enjoy every polygons, music notes and pay attention to the cues and the cryptic story… then go for it.
– Real player with 2.7 hrs in game
A truly beautiful experience. The detail and the complexity of everything around you is so amazing, and the music makes it all come alive. Lots of genuine “wow” moments.
I can’t wait for what’s next in this universe.
Edit:
One tip for players is to look up in the “menu” area. I think you need to view the main story part first to unlock them, but there are three pentagonal flower shapes above you to the left and right that open up and take you to other scenes/modes. I had no idea until I read the store page that mentioned the added scenes. Anyway, I was very happy to discover this.
– Real player with 1.0 hrs in game
Waking
If you already liked Continue?9876543210 or Skrillex Quest, then better odds of liking this.
If you like existentialism but find walking simulators insufficiently stimulating, Waking may be a good fit for you.
Waking is a strange game. It’s what I guess you’d call a modern 3D platformer like Dark Souls or God of War. And in most games like this, you are the main character, i.e. you are Adam Jensen, Kratos of Sparta, or Sonic the Hedgehog, or the descendant of Erdrick/Loto, or whomever, but in Waking the main character is…you, of [your hometown], descendant of [your parents], etc. Also there’s guided meditation, and no, there is nothing on the screen when she tells you to close your eyes, so just do it.
– Real player with 37.9 hrs in game
I played Waking for 25 hours and completed around 75% of the game.
Gameplay Overview
Waking is a gamified SELF-REFLECTION EXERCISE, that has 2 big parts: gameplay and meditation. Being the main character of the story, you will fight your way out of a coma by killing mobs and rebuilding memories. You will run, pick-up objects, aim, shoot, and continuously select different spells to fight.
As objectives are completed, a voice asks you to CLOSE YOUR EYES and invites you to travel deeply into YOUR PERSONAL MEMORIES. Waking is not a traditional action-adventure gaming experience. To experience the game as it is meant to be you need to be opened to a self-reflection experience.
– Real player with 25.9 hrs in game