The Black Hole

The Black Hole

The Black Hole is a TPS with puzzle solving elements. You’ll play as a secret agent in the Black Hole Agency.

Defeat enemies with your gun and solve puzzles.

Collect mysterious items in the levels and survive a conspiracy.

Encounter various traps, enemies, and puzzles.

Let’s enter the world of secret agents!


Read More: Best Linear Stealth Games.


The Black Hole on Steam

A Murmur in the Trees

A Murmur in the Trees

Good little indie game. I hope there will be more to explore in future.

There are things you could easily miss, if you don’t pay attention, can you find all secrets? :)

I was 1 of many testers, so that is reason why I got it free.

Real player with 5.2 hrs in game


Read More: Best Linear Atmospheric Games.


A short and sweet story, only takes about an hour to get through. If you like walking simulators you should check it out.

Real player with 1.9 hrs in game

A Murmur in the Trees on Steam

The Wolf’s Den

The Wolf’s Den

The voice acting is a little rough in places, but overall it’s a fun way to eat up a few hours of your time. The Unity engine is reminiscent of a lot of mobile horror games I used to play 5 or 6 years ago, and that was pretty nostalgic for me. Either way, it seems like the dev is relatively new to game development and if that’s the case they’ve got a great start.

Real player with 1.8 hrs in game


Read More: Best Linear Atmospheric Games.


I really loved finding the cute octopus at the end. It’s so charming cute!!!!! 3 And the notes in every stage were very well written, I almost felt like I was reading a novel. The werewolf was indeed too spooky… (be careful for your heart attack lol). I was surprised how long the tunnel is!

Real player with 1.0 hrs in game

The Wolf's Den on Steam

Umbra: Journey Home

Umbra: Journey Home

Avoid Light. Solve Puzzles. Pursue Answers.

You play a floating stone creature trying to find where your friends have gone. Along the path, entering lights will cause you to lose control. You must move objects to create shadows in order to proceed.

Light & Shadow Puzzles

If you touch light you lose control of the stone creature. Create shadows with objects to pass through.

Mysterious Story

Who are you? Where are you? What has happened? Find clues, view Memory Crystals, experience environmental storytelling and narration.

Secrets

Secret puzzles, stories, locations, and more.

Watercolour Texture

Customizable procedurally generated textures. Customize their speed, size, quality and look.

Skippable Sections

Find hidden ‘Skip Crystals’ to skip over that “one puzzle” and continue on your merry way.

Umbra: Journey Home on Steam

SOULS

SOULS

A good story that can make player’s sticked into it, and keep playing to the end.

Player would probably get complex emotions througout the whole story, from depress, anxious, anger, to relief.

The writer of the story put a lot of afford in descripting character’s psychological thought, which made the character nice.

The BGM of the game is AMAZING, suiting the story very well.

The Graphics of the game isn’t that appealing, but acceptable. Some of the background CGs do actually scared me with the combination of story and BGM all together.

Real player with 19.8 hrs in game

I had just posted a review on this just a bit ago, but after some thought, I think this should only be recommended to people familiar with visual novels and have the patience to overlook the countless grammatical errors and subpar translation.

I did finish the game. In one session even. I engrossed myself in the story enough to overlook the errors. The plot had some good twists and the game kept me guessing til the end. However, there also tend to be some pretty big plot holes/unanswered questions

! like why it seemed like after the father was absorbed, it went straight to an elementary school instead of, for example, his previous place of work? And if it was because of the stench of negative emotion, why was everyone there so miserable?

Real player with 8.9 hrs in game

SOULS on Steam

Faraway: Arctic Escape

Faraway: Arctic Escape

Escape all-new distant places in Faraway 3: Arctic Escape that are full of mind-bending puzzles and new exciting locations to explore. This room escape game will challenge your puzzle solving ability. Sequel to one of the all-time best escape games with over a million players!

FASCINATING STORY

It’s been several years now, since your journey began, searching for your lost father. After unraveling a huge number of mind-boggling puzzles, the last gateway you entered took you to an altogether new wintery continent filled with frosty, new temples to investigate. You seem to be getting closer to finding your father, all the while you are still finding notes he left behind.

Observe the arctic environment, collect items, manipulate devices and solve perplexing puzzles to escape frosty temple labyrinths.

COMPLEX PUZZLES

Explore 18 new temples packed with escape puzzles, Explore a 3D world that will captivate you from the moment you begin. Turn, look and explore mind-bending puzzles and contraptions.

RIVETING LOCATIONS

Navigate through one of the easiest 3d environments in an escape game while enjoying an ambient soundtrack. Uncovering secrets have never been so much fun.

THE MYSTERY CONTINUES

You have many more pages of your father’s missing journal to find, maybe then you will unlock your family’s past. This is an escape game that will keep you engaged for many hours!

NEW FEATURES

In game camera allows you to take snapshots and save them for later use.

Enter an all-new, fascinating world of room escape games & puzzles with Faraway 3: Arctic Escape!

Faraway: Arctic Escape on Steam

Henosis™

Henosis™

Introduction

While 2D platformer and puzzle games are not something I play often, Henosis managed to catch my eye because of its visuals. And even though this game is not something I would remember for a long time, it still delivers a decent amount of entertainment.

Story

You play as a cute, small, blue blob who collects water tokens so it could restore the vitality of its homeworld. And that is it, nothing more, nothing less. To be precise, the game does not have any form of storytelling, and this might be the only information about the story you can get. However, this game does not need any, and I did not miss it.

Real player with 5.2 hrs in game

What’s a blob gotta do to get some service around here?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjBh01sZQek

If you want to see Henosis in action, watch my video. It’s a blob’s life and your goal is to find water to survive. Jumping from platform to platform is satisfying and a bit surreal, and timing your jumps and movement is both joyful and rage-inducing. To assist you, you’ve got a time slowing effect that is required in some parts and makes others easier. Henosis isn’t difficult, per se, except when it is.

Real player with 1.3 hrs in game

Henosis™ on Steam

Hidden Shelter

Hidden Shelter

My full playthrough is here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GB9VkOjgjQA

I am giving a thumbs up for the effort. Out of the huge amount of really bad scary games out there, and the tons of games that just flip the same assets over and over; White Vortex does “try” to make a good game. It has some scares and the graphics are good. Yet, I can’t say it is all that original in terms of find a LOT of keys and read a LOT of notes in the dark.

In terms of game stability. BUGS BUGS BUG CRASHES AND BUGS! There are a bunch. I have an unedited playthrough here for reference. I had so many problems toward the end I was raging.

Real player with 3.2 hrs in game

This game is the embodiment of cheap indie horror. Here you are presented with poor visuals, clumsy controls, generic sound effects and music, terrible voice acting, stupid jump scares that often are out of place, annoying chase sequences and the story that is so stupid, bland and banal that it makes one constantly facepalm.

Some effort was definitely put into this amateur project. Unfortunately, the result of this effort is atrocious like in the case of many other indie horror games of similar nature. Should be free to play.

Real player with 2.5 hrs in game

Hidden Shelter on Steam

Shoebill

Shoebill

Shoebill - platformer that plunges you into a world called The Void and tells the story of Shiro, a small shoebill. Having celebrated his thirteenth birthday, Shiro notices a strange creature, which he caught and then realized that his life was a lie. Embark on a journey and help Shiro find out exactly who he was in a past life.

  • A single-player platformer, with difficult obstacles that you will pass far from the first attempt.

  • A variety of enemies, each of which needs to find its own approach.

  • Abilities, having received which, the gameplay becomes more interesting.

  • Pixel graphics and atmospheric soundtrack.

  • Made by 2 students who are surviving in a difficult world.

The game is in development, screenshots and description will be changed!

Shoebill on Steam

Snowdome

Snowdome

Note: I received a Steam key to help with alpha testing although I had no involvement with the development.

Snowdome is a kinetic visual novel developed by Lunatic Works and published by Lunatic Works and Kikai Digital. You take on the role of Tan Yan, a young adult who works as a convenience store clerk in the city. He lives his life day-to-day, feeling unappreciated and that life will never change. He moved away from the country, as he didn’t want to become a farmer like his parents before him. One day, when Tan Yan decides to take a walk on the beach (because his TV is broken, so he can’t watch his favorite show), he encounters a teenage girl. She makes him an intriguing offer. Help me save the world. This piques Tan Yan’s interest and thus, his adventure begins. As this is a kinetic novel, I’ll stop my story synopsis here to avoid spoilers. ^^

Real player with 9.4 hrs in game

This was my first kinetic novel, no choices to make, just read and think about some of the subjects that are thrown up in the story. The reader can make their own mind about how deep or how seriously they want to take this. I found it easy to get involved with the characters, to understand the frustrations of trying to earn a living in a city where everyone lives the same boring life-style and where young people and their parents do not understand one another. The protagonist, a reluctant hero, goes for a walk and meets a young girl one summer’s night when his tv breaks down, and thats when it all starts as he has to grow up and make life decisions that have consequences not just for himself, but other people. I can’t say more without giving away the plot.

Real player with 8.1 hrs in game

Snowdome on Steam