Category: Horror

As always I like to give a big thanks to the people that tossed me this one Thundeful publishing and Space Lizard Studios. Always nice to play a new game, and we all know my love of horror-related things so this was a special treat this time of year.

The concept behind this game is quite simple. They made a rogue-like game, set that game in a mansion. That mansion and the entire world are then crafted out of paper and made essentially into one big escape room. This may seem simple, and the idea is. The game however is not simple, and I mean that in the best way possible.

When I first entered the mansion I was greeted by a skeleton and a butterfly. It was explained to me that the butterfly would, land on walls in rooms where something important was and I should search that room. I should search for clues on how to solve the puzzles and get out and a talking door at the end of a hallway could help me. Something the skeleton had never managed to do.

This led me on a quest to discover, there are multiple dimensions to this mansion. The main place I had started in that I was free to search with little danger, a place that was cold and I could freeze to death and another that held enemies I could fight in various ways. Each of these sections is connected however if you unlock a door in one it unlocks all of them.

The same can’t be said for items. The item found in one won’t be found in all So you have to risk the enemies and ice at some point if you want to proceed to the next floor. Each new floor will allow you to find new evidence that will let you unravel what is going on in this mansion. Also between each of the floors you are met with a catchy cut scene and song about your character or the story. I found myself pushing on to find the next scene more often than not.

Dying however can be devastating as you have to start the process all over again, but many things will carry over. One example is the upgrades to your character such as weapons. These will allow you to proceed much faster and easier and find more new evidence. Even in failure there are things to be learned and earned and new characters to meet and interact with.

Graphically the game isn’t impressive but it is nice to look at. I loved the paper environments and how the people moved. The lighting was also a great touch as people standing by heaters seemed to shine a little brighter the closer they stood. The sound however was the real hero here. Accidently unleashing a ghost was enough to legitimately scare my child, while this isn’t exactly a challenge because she is five, video games aren’t normally on the list of things that do it. The sounds coming from blades in the walls and other things were really well thought out and represented and the music really shows the love put into it.

This is honestly one of the easiest reviews I ever had to write and one of the better games I’ve reviewed. This is a 9/10 Indy title for me. Everything works well, the story is interesting, and at no time did I feel lost as to what I should be doing.

As always with these things,a huge shout out to the ladies and gentlemen at Thundeful Publishing and Thundeful group as well as everyone working with them to hook me up with a copy of this one. It is always greatly appreciated.

Did you ever want to play a game that would basically tell you how the story, the basics on how to play then just let you go? No I don’t mean any of the souls games, I mean one that is easy to just pick up and play without someone screaming “git good” when you get frustrated.

Enter Source of Madness, a side scrolling rouge lite where you WILL die,and that’s ok. You will start out with a bit of lore, escaping to a sort of keep after picking a character and setting out into the Loam Lands. In true Lovecraft style you will collect blood to level up. Each run ends when you die. Any money you make and items you find are gone, but the blood you make can then be used to unlock new skills or items.

With your character dead you will pick from a group of new randomly generated characters and set of once again into the procedurally generated world for the next run.

The combat in game is a lot like the graphics, simplistic yet effective. The visuals are the perfect mix of spooky and creepy while not being so dark things are hard to see which is an issue I think to many games try to do. It’s the creatures here that take center stage. You never know if something with far to many arms is going to come out of that rustic building and kill you or if a blog of tentacles is going to come sliding down the next hill.

The combat itself is simply a matter of dashing around and attacking with the appropriate buttons, usually one of the trigger buttons. This sounds easy but it is far from. The timing of it means a lot and messing that up can mean losing a nice chunk of health you can’t really afford to lose.

The game takes some time to get used to,with each run teaching you a little more and helping you get a little further into the game itself and it’s mechanics. I’ve probably got about a dozen hours in and lost about as many characters and I am still figuring things out,and that to me makes this beautiful game worth playing. This one is a great 8/10 and at it’s price point is a must play for fans of rouge lites or side scrollers. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.