The Guilt and the Shadow
So, this is yet another gloomy indie game about psychological disorders.
There’s little to say about this one. In its own genre it’s probably OK. The visuals are stylish and the sound design is quite awesome.
But the story doesn’t really catch your attention. The monologues and occasional dialogues are quite unnatural. And the gameplay part just plainly sucks. You walk slowly, you need to backtrack the levels all the time, it’s surprisingly hard to find a proper spot to start climbing a ladder. So, all in all, as a game this thing kind of fails.
– Real player with 8.5 hrs in game
Read More: Best Short Puzzle Platformer Games.
An emotional experience about the torments of a man plagued by the “guilt” of his mother’s suicide (“shadow”).
Set in a black and white pencil drawn world, the player guides the mentally ill protagonist through a succession of dreams/nightmares.
To advance in the game, we have to solve simple puzzles to unblock passageways or unlock memories.
The pace is slow, giving the time to the player to immerse itself in the dark atmosphere of the game. And the game can be finished in one setting, which I would recommend in order to not lose the connection to the story.
– Real player with 5.3 hrs in game
Gruta: Prologue of the Gloomy Whispers
In this narrative-driven platformer game, you play as child that was living on the edge, trying to escape of her family. Running away, the kid wants to fight the monster she thought was causing trouble between her parents. What she found was not what she was expecting.
Using a sword and shield based combat, you have to fight different types of enemies and mechanics through the levels and reach your goal: Find and face the monster to save your family.
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Stylized pixel-art and original artstyle cutscenes;
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50 hand-crafted levels with increasing complexity;
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A action platformer game with a stunning and polished game feel;
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Tight controls - optmized controls for gamepads and keyboards;
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Original Soundtrack;
Read More: Best Short Lore-Rich Games.
To Kill A King
To Kill A King has a classic feel, and a fresh dose of aggression said classics don’t really let you express. I’ve played a number of older games where the heroes are only too happy to go along with whatever is asked of them without a hint of frustration. Add to that the grinding that is always sure to make a person (i.e. me) very frustrated. Rots definitely gets that anger across, the game also has a lot of mechanical call backs to older games that I feel like people who like grinds will call back to.
– Real player with 96.2 hrs in game
Read More: Best Short Old School Games.
Revenant March
The stories are gripping, and I found the decisions I needed to make compelling, I had to think about them. I felt acutely that the many strong characters had thoughts and emotions I would have to discover as the story progressed, including the narrator.
I’ve played five hours thus far, in two sittings that both went longer than I’d planned.
– Real player with 5.9 hrs in game
What a pleasant surprise this turned out to be! This visual novel contains an engaging story-line with thrilling plot twists, a cast of interesting, non-cliche characters, and a lovely, intelligent heroine.
Setting:
Revenant March is a dark fantasy set in the Middle Ages. It tackles two mysteries: the horrors that occur in Gremach, and Olenine’s backstory.
Characters:
I absolutely loved following Olenine’s perspective, and how logical minded, yet still empathetic she could act towards the other characters. She ticks all of the boxes in my female protagonist requirements, and I wish we had more main characters similar to her. The side characters are memorable, and their dynamic with Olenine was impressive. Most noteworthy were her interactions with other, equality well written, female characters; such as Tanith and Seilana. But I have to say, her possible friendship with Ennet was also very precious.
– Real player with 5.3 hrs in game
The Land Of Lamia
A promising game. The visuals are very nice, and create an intriguing and whimsical world.
Gameplay: In each chapter, you have to explore the level and read the page of a book to find hints and discover how to progress. The enigmas, so far, are well done. I wrote some notes on paper to solve one of them and to find the solution was really satisfying. You also have to move the characters to accomplish certain tasks. The two children always move together, at a different speed. The girl moves faster, but if you press shift, this is the boy who becomes faster. That takes a little patience to control them, particularly in the first chapter where they must walk on a long curvy path, but once we are used to the controls, that’s o.k.
– Real player with 7.0 hrs in game
Tags: Adventure - Console Style
Additional Tags: Delete Local Content & Remove from Library
TLDR: No Xbox360 pad. Fixed camera angles 2-protag object routing through stiff and cryptic puzzles that are very hard to execute correctly. 3 minigame instances and game is done.
So basically this is three instances in which you get a few hints on a piece of in-game art and you are dumped in a 3D environment. You have to manage momentum of characters that dont walk at same speed and in minigame 1 you have to race your way out of a very easy maze, in minigame 2 you have to play tourist find a bunch of easter egg art pieces scattered around which gives the correct sequence upon which you must dance your 2protags on a stone floor to unlock a door, while on the third minigame you just gotta navigate to somewhat hidden areas, and solve a weird vienna circle logical puzzle.
– Real player with 3.2 hrs in game
Sheepy: A Short Adventure
Help Sheepy, an abandoned plushy brought to life, as he explores a forgotten and broken world. Sheepy: A Short Adventure is the first short game from MrSuicideSheep.
Independently Handcrafted
A short, handcrafted, fully independent pixel art platformer, spanning several zones with unique skills to unlock. Discover an abandoned world full of secrets and lore influenced by themes driven by the music and community of MrSuicideSheep for more than 10 years. The game is created by the ‘Thomas Duo’; solo Developer Thomas Lean and Producer Rob Thomas with Seeking Blue’s Label Manager Lucas James leading Soundtrack development and of course the enigmatic Sheepy.
Mailing List
Join the Mailing List and be the first to learn about playtesting opportunities, dev news, limited edition merch and more.
An Original Soundtrack
Weaved into the world is an incredible original soundtrack created by Seeking Blue artists Yoe Mase , Hahlweg and Tal from ECHOS , currently in development. Announcement Trailer music provided by Exist Strategy .
Support the Game
Sheepy: A Short Adventure will be free to play, with a Supporters Edition and more ways to support the game coming soon. Stay connect by Wishlisting, Following, joining the Mailing List and Discord to discover how to support the game in the future.
Wishlist & Follow on Steam
Make sure to wishlist and follow the game for the latest updates. Due for Release Q4 2021 - Q1 2022.
Midsummer Night
Adventure through a strange dream-like world was trees have eyes and are watching… as you search for your missing sister Alionushka – but spooky things get in your way to give you goosebumps OH-NO
– Real player with 7.8 hrs in game
A nice and atmospheric game. The graphics and sounds are well done and really help you to immerse yourself into the games world. While the game is short, it does have a branching storyline, where different decisions take you down different paths, giving it replayability.
– Real player with 3.5 hrs in game
Sixth Extinction
I really enjoyed the game, it’s very unusual game as the combination of narrative and puzzle is something I have never seen before in such a way.
I enjoyed the different stages and when I started playing, I thought to myself “will all of the game be like this?”.
But I quickly found out the puzzles changed with the narrative and I really enjoyed that!
So a quick list of pros and cons:
PRO:
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Interesting and diverse puzzles, often suprised me
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Satisfying to solve the puzzles
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Really nice mood and fitting graphics
– Real player with 2.7 hrs in game
Just finished the game and… wow. I’m speechless. The end is amazing!
But if the end is amazing, it is also because the game is really well done. Very nice art, well-balanced puzzles, nice sounds, and a very special atmosphere. Really interesting idea to combine puzzles with a story - and what a story…
I really got fascinated and wanted to finish it… and then, the end!
The portrait layout (phone-like) is okay but feels a bit cramped. And because the drawings are so nice, they should take the full screen! It would also help for the immersion. But this is only my taste.
– Real player with 1.9 hrs in game
Night in Riverager
The developer mentions that there are some mild fantasy violence and also includes topics such as murder and torture; there is none of that in the game.
It’s also rather short, about 10-12 minutes where you talk to your mom and then you leave to fetch her some medicine since she has some sort of illness. When you leave your home, you venture northward to access a bridge to go to your uncle’s home.
You don’t make it. It ends, to me, abruptly. I don’t mind it being short, but I would like to have a bit more closure. At least let me get the medicine…
– Real player with 2.1 hrs in game
DISCLAIMER: This is a full review, and NOT a first impressions review
Night in Riverager is a game developed by Two Star Games and published by V Publishing
The game offers some nice graphics and a really beautiful aesthetic, although some ugly glitches here and there, it is pleasant all the same
The game does suffer with some repetitiveness at certain areas of the game but a fun game nonetheless
Night in Riverager overall, however, is a fun game to play, yet sometimes repetitive and it does get boring if being played for a long time, but is a really good horror game to play in short bursts!
– Real player with 1.0 hrs in game
KOBOLOK
Great atmosphere, interestingly perplexing short story with little secrets to discover and different endings.
The only downsides are the few grammatical errors and the price, 90% off would be idea for this little gem.
– Real player with 1.9 hrs in game
I had some fun and some spooky moments playing this game. It’s quite good at delivering some of those, but if you’re looking for a more polished and deep experience, you should probably look elsewhere. The story confused me more than provided emotional connection to the thing, the scenes sequence and transitions felt janky and random, as well as the selection of most of the visual iconography. With that said, this game is rich with strange images and scenes, that are weird to the point where anything stops making any sense and you just stop and think to yourself: “What the f*** did I just saw?”. Most of the time “the spooks” were quite effective (although I must admit that I don’t usually play horror games, so more experienced players might find them less so).
– Real player with 1.1 hrs in game