Stories Untold

Play this game in the dark, with headphones and enjoy. It will take you a few hours if your not use to the old mechanics. But it's worth it. If you're not a native english speaker, put the subtitles on, it will help you. That is all i'm gonna say.

The game's premise is an effective one, and during the first three chapters there is this certain atmosphere to be found that can give off quite the unnerving feeling. Unfortunately a series of cheap scares by loud noises and flashy screens and a véry dissappointing and super clichéd resolution to the overall story in chapter 4 just doesn't make this the indie gem that it could've been.

This game blew me away, it had been on my wishlist for a looong time, but never truly went through to get it. Then I saw it was it on sale for 90 cents, and said let's just do it, and boy, I feel I scammed the devs for having paid so little to experience their work. It was rather short (like 3h gameplay for me) but a b s o l u t e l y worth it. The atmosphere, the thrill, the interaction with the game is simply amazing. I was hooked, and needed to finish at the way to the end (3 AM). For single-use story-centered games, this is a must buy. I'll say though, sometimes when you interact with the consoles, it can get a little bit tricky when thinking of the commands, specially if (like me) you didn't get to play many text-based adventures, but its not hard to pick up quickly. Be wary of the hints they drop at the start of each story, you will need those. Also, even though they do warn you, if you have photosensitive epilepsy, or just like me you find it really hard to look at bright flashing lights, you might want to take story #2 slow or not at all. That one made me narrow quite a bit my eyes. Overall, a greatly enjoyable thriller experience that I wish I could wipe my memories of just to replay it again.

I had a good time with this one, really liked the attempt to riff on old school text adventures, albeit it pretty stripped down in terms of commands and objects to operate on. Some of the puzzles are tough, but for the most part completely doable without having to look things up. It's not super scary, but it's creepy for sure. And at three hours, it didn't overstay it's welcome. The episodic format is good for session play. I'd recommend this one to others on sale.

I saw this come available on GOG and the trailer intrigued me. I grew up with text adventures; Lurking Horror and Hound of Shadow just to mention a couple of good horror ones, but I couldn't make my mind up. I'm not a far of walking simulator games, and whilst this does have some game elements, you are being guided through a story where you are an interactive party. But it was after watching one YouTuber playing The House Abandon that persuaded me, especially as I do tend to get engrossed in a game with a good story and lose myself, to the point that anything out of the ordinary either makes me jump or sets my heart racing. I still have fond(?) memories of standing on one side of a door in Realms of the Haunting, and a path in Silent Hill actually nervous to go any further ("it's just a game, it's just a game"). If you're of that disposition, or like well told stories, then this is definitely one for your collection. The intro captures the late 70s and early 80s TV show intros beautifully, and regardless of how hard your heart is pounding, you just have to push on to see where this is going. The games are quite short, the puzzles non too intricate, although there does appear to be a minor bug in the second game where a code is supposed to be revealed that never showed on my computers (YouTube to the rescue), but that isn't enough to down vote this. If you're looking for something a bit different, want something not too taxing but utterly engaging, and can downright creep you out at times (Do I really want to follow this next set of instructions? Is it right?) and want to lose yourself, then get it. I, for one, would love to see more like these.