FoonLudum Dare ExplorerLD26 → Minimalist Horror Story

Minimalist Horror Story

By minionstudios

View on Wayback Machine

CategoryRankScoreCount
Mood74.26
Coolness1100
Overall1063.60
Fun1443.25
Graphics1613.66
Audio1683.27
Theme2193.42
Humor2452.26
Innovation2922.90

Comments

netpro2k 2013-04-30 04:19

Well done. The bats definitely got me :) - I somehow managed to get myself stuck on the stairs to the attic. Could not get off of them in either direction

depp 2013-04-30 04:20

Found the potato!

cybearg 2013-04-30 04:20

I was immediately tense when playing this game. At first, I thought the lack of most sounds was odd, but it quickly added to my sense of dread for ~whatever it was that was going to happen. Big kudos on the very detailed 3D models used, and the lack of textures gave it an interesting style as well.

Though it's odd to say it, I really liked the highlight system, particularly the doorknob. I don't know why, but I thought it was cool.

Very effective minimalist horror game. Good job!

nolanlabs 2013-04-30 04:21

Almost shit myself playing alone at 11:20 PM. I have no idea how to beat it, but the mood was amazing.

bobokat 2013-04-30 04:21

super creepy. I jumped at the bats. there's nothing creepier than walking around in a dark house knowing that there's something nasty in there somewhere.

bahamutzaero 2013-04-30 04:26

I'm a sucker for anything survival horror. Great use of mood!

hamster_mk_4 2013-04-30 04:27

Full points for mood, but I couldn't do much after I picked up the rock. Descending the stairs was pretty creepy.

lioneljitro 2013-04-30 04:27

Really well done.

The mood created by the monochromatic lighting was sensational. THUMBS UP!

otoris 2013-04-30 04:36

Some how I managed to get all the way to the end of the game without encountering anything. Basically told myself to walk down. And miraculously made it to the escape door! Also +1 for potato!

vapgames 2013-04-30 04:38

That was really scary. And i had to leave my potato in the horror!

gungnir 2013-04-30 04:48

Great atmosphere. Just feels nice to be playing decent survival horror again. The bats got me even though I read about them :) I also got stuck on the attic stairs, had to find a particular angle to move on.

angelk 2013-04-30 06:58

I was wondering where the sound was, and then I started hearing some creepy noises. I thought they were coming from within my house for a moment. Definitely the creepy effect you were going for :)

kidevil 2013-04-30 08:19

Great work with the audio and lighting on this one! Super creepy!

edocentrique 2013-04-30 11:12

Indeed, minimalist horror story !

ovenchips 2013-04-30 16:41

This was a good, solid entry. I love horror games (weird because I hate horror movies) and so this really appealed to me. So I found object selection a bit tricky. And I was killed in the lounge and I don't think I got enough warning about what I should have done to avoid it. Very atmospheric though. Well done!!

vladimirdlc 2013-04-30 18:39

Potato! I should play this by night with the lights turned off.

pplo 2013-04-30 21:28

I can NEVER play those Unity web player games. Doesn't matter what browser I use or how many times I try to reinstall the unity plugin. However, I can play the executable ones without any problems.
Sad, I wanna play this game.

qdowngames 2013-04-30 21:32

I found the key and then got stuck going down the stairs from the attic. Sucks I couldn't find the exit, but I was well spooked.

ofursnati 2013-04-30 21:37

Looks great. I love the color of everything. Feels like you are colorblind :D

minionstudios 2013-04-30 21:37

@PPLo We are working on ports, just didn't have time to make sure the builds all worked. Will post them as soon as we can.

@qdowngames Yeah, it's a bit tough, even with the crouch. We'll try to get to the bottom of that!

@ Every else
Thanks for all the great feedback and playing our first game ever!

aestheticgamer 2013-04-30 21:45

A tried and true formula. I feel you should of added more sound to the game, as what was there didn't do much for the atmosphere I feel. A bit cliche maybe, but it was nice adding some randomized stuff between playthroughs.

multitude 2013-04-30 22:44

Cool game! Amnesia clone though. but i enjoyed playing this

andrew-2 2013-04-30 22:57

The thing in the basement, was that the potato?

minionstudios 2013-04-30 23:10

@Andrew That was the potato. ;0

ilo 2013-04-30 23:37

Strange, on my second playthrough I escaped without really encountering anything or having to go into the attic. Is that right or did I break it?

Still, I'm impressed with the atmosphere you managed create. There were some effective moments for sure, like when you open the basement door, and seeing the red glow in the living room when I came back up. :)

lpghatguy 2013-05-01 03:41

nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope
NOPE.
Yeah, good work.

fullmontis 2013-05-01 08:19

The absence of sound made playing this really unnerving. I was crapping my pants all the way through so I guess you did your work right :) Good job!

mrblade 2013-05-01 13:39

Great game! Loved the lood, feel, and gameplay. Bit of an Amnesia clone though.

icecliff 2013-05-01 14:44

I got sucked right into this. A clear demonstration that horror isn't about graphics. It's about gameplay.

msquirrel 2013-05-01 15:50

Holy shit, this scared the crap out of me, I did not expect to see the giant red ghost thing near the fire. Jeez, good job man

pighead10 2013-05-01 17:17

That's scary. I didn't realise there were enemies at first, and then that... 'thing' appeared. The movement speed could have been a little faster, and the key is tedious to find (I never found it).

xaychru04 2013-05-01 17:49

Great horror game! I like the ambiance produced by the few lights and the sounds. There are some lighting bugs, but that's a good job anyway ;)

infinitedog 2013-05-01 18:54

Fucking spider or whatever it was. Good work!

matthias_zarzecki 2013-05-01 22:21

Oooh, Spooky. Nice work with the lighting. I also like the windows, and how they show nothing but blackness beyond. What demonic world lies beyond them?

2013-05-01 22:53

Bats should be potatoes. PERIOD.

jellycakes 2013-05-02 04:28

That scared the fear out of my body, into my brain and made my brain fear itself. Nice

dustystylus 2013-05-02 13:29

Top marks for mood! Wish the character moved a wee bit faster. I got stuck in the attic as well... at precisely the wrong time! ;-D

squared-muffin 2013-05-02 13:30

Very well done. Good mood and a good horror feeling.

The first time I played it I didn't find any "enemies" and was able to leave just fine without much of a scare. :p

blizzil 2013-05-02 19:31

Interesting mood, very nice lighting - the range of the light was perfect. Short game, but cool!

_rilem 2013-05-02 21:15

Well you definitely succeeded at setting the horror mood. Did not expect the bats, nice. :)
Actually I dont like horror games, I cant handle the tension. They do make me curious though, as did this one. I found the potato and how does the game reward me? Kills me! hah!

Good work!

stmatn 2013-05-02 21:48

Wow, this is really amazing! Even the main menu looked amazing. The mood is so great... If you woud have put some random sounds in, I would have shit myself. A masterpiece...

endesga 2013-05-02 23:18

bloody scary, but great fun!
love it :)

alucard-j 2013-05-02 23:35

Good atmosphere and use of light. Had trouble finding the correct position to interact with objects. The objects were designed well, simple and yet detailed. Well Done =]

scottychips 2013-05-03 01:32

Pretty creepy- would love to see what your team would have done if you had even more time.

meta87 2013-05-03 04:16

ahhhh im such a little bitch when it comes to games like this ! look the atmosphere :D and nice job on all graphics

rujomarco 2013-05-03 08:14

sure it's minimalist but the athmosphere manage to be as creepy as hell!
well done man!

hatscat 2013-05-03 11:02

well done ^^

minionstudios 2013-05-03 15:15

Thanks to everyone for the great comments and thanks for playing and rating! You make a few devs from Wyoming very happy and welcome...

rafaelsales 2013-05-03 18:58

Great mood and art! Congratz!!

roguenoodle 2013-05-03 19:01

Wow - I honestly doubted that this would creep me out; I feel a bit desensitized to this stuff sometimes. But man, that bat scared the hell out of me! Great job!

avidgamernino 2013-05-04 05:23

Enjoyed playing this game, played it again so I could escape. I wish something would pop up in the pitch black windows to scare me unless I missed it.

bender 2013-05-04 07:18

Loved that the candle is burning, pretty creepy, I was stress to end up in the dark. Remind me Amnesia, which is a good thing.
Searching in the furniture was kinda hard and boring. I like the game though

lizzip 2013-05-04 13:44

You know how to do mood, damn!

smilingcat 2013-05-04 17:09

Wow, that was creepy. I made it down to the basement, and something killed me, not sure what.

prelucid 2013-05-04 17:51

Creepy~

diamonde 2013-05-04 19:01

Oh crap.. those bats were too much for me :D
This was really creepy, but very well done! The whole experience is so minimalistic and lets the horror shine through!

hayawi 2013-05-04 19:16

I don't usually like horror games as they are a worn out genre that does not introduce new mechanics, and instead relies on cut and paste. This is no exception.

bentog 2013-05-04 22:49

Good, but it's not that scary :) Also pointing at things to interact with them is difficult.

tyro 2013-05-05 07:42

Spooky stuff. Those 3d models are keen, and the atmosphere was great.

adipson 2013-05-05 11:18

nice ambiant

covenant 2013-05-05 14:07

Good job... I had some issues with the highlights, sometimes when I was looking straight at the object, it wouldn't highlight, I would get back a few steps, then it highlighted... Detracted a bit from my experience, but the rest was very nice, great art-style!

galvesmash 2013-05-05 15:11

Great game! Great ambient, 3D models, horror sounds! XD
The mouse sensitive was too fast! D:
At the first time I didn't find the key and the bats got me. In the second time the key way in my badroom making the game easy! (Cool potato!)

samoojamies 2013-05-05 15:29

Candle burning out is a good idea. Nice mood!

leafthief 2013-05-05 17:33

I get the feeling that it suffices to put "horror" into the title and the player into a dark room. I know for sure I did the rest. It wasn't so much the ambient effects (bats, rocking chair) that scared me but the silence and knowing there might be something.
I jumped when it was too late. Only saw red ^^.

The candle was a very neat idea

euwaku 2013-05-05 17:33

At first I thought it was a game with a creepy/scary atmosphere and the fire in the bar almost made me scream :D
All the interactions with the NPC and the background are a big plus.
Overall, very nice mood, really too bad it's not completely finished ^^

euwaku 2013-05-05 17:34

Disregard my comment^ (wrong game again... sorry about that ><).

fnkee 2013-05-05 20:14

Minimalistic and scary! The potato was without the best part. ++ for Humor!

sudorossy 2013-05-05 22:41

Scared the everloving shit out of me. Well done.

thatwhichis 2013-05-05 22:54

I escaped the horror! Also, rocking chair. ::shudder::

john_conder9 2013-05-05 23:12

Oh when I clicked your name to see and I saw it was a horror game, oh man. I was not happy, but I knew I had to play it. The red "stuff" whatever was inside of it scared the living crap out of me. Thanks. No really, thanks ... I was going to do laundry anyway today, so I mean, whatever.

As for the game play, well, it was phenomenal! I really felt tense when the candle started to burn away, I wasn't sure how much time I had left. The sounds were a bit strange but I think it added to it, and watching that rocking chair spaz out was... unpleasant. I think those were the goals? If so, you landed on them fancily.

I beat it on the second play through, once I realized that most of the stuff in the game is a red-herring. Great job overall!

gatechgrad 2013-05-05 23:31

Really liked the atmosphere and lighting effects. Having the key randomly placed each time gives me a reason to play it again.

minionstudios 2013-05-06 00:14

@LeafThief - It is amazing how little we did to evoke the chills in this one. Turns out that lighting distance is one of the spookiest things ever.

@john_conder9 - Glad you gave it a shot! Some of these objects were going to be more useful...

@thatwhichis - Rocking chair is a glitch that we left for evil effect. We loved it broken as it was!

Thanks for the great comments! We all appreciate all of you!

taro 2013-05-06 02:53

.....
.....
.....
...GAAAAAAAAAAAH!
NOPE, NOPE, NOPE, NOPE, NOPE!

monxcleyrproductions 2013-05-06 05:24

It's incredible how much can be accomplished with lighting and sound. I'm absolutely terrible with horror games, so needless to say this had me nervously hugging the walls from the beginning. Some of the small touches were the most effective - the knocked-over chair in the kitchen, for example. Well done.

jorjon 2013-05-06 10:25

Beat it on the second run. Nice minimalistic atmosphere!

dst 2013-05-06 11:02

hi, thank you for telling me my link was broken :)

You've got a really cool game there! Very moody and the "sepia like" colors fit so very well! It has a really eerie atmosphere and was quite an experience to play! :)

granada 2013-05-06 11:58

The camera moves too fast making the player looks like it's on drugs not in despair ^^. Otherwise, nice mood. Good job!

sheep 2013-05-06 19:36

Any chance for linux binaries?

tiago-ling 2013-05-06 21:07

Very nice mood and tension, good job!

minionstudios 2013-05-06 21:14

@TheSheep - Sorry, no on the Linux binaries. The web player is the best option we can provide for Linux users so far...

tifu 2013-05-06 23:18

Clicking on drawers and things is tricky. I can't get into the attic (I assume that is where the bats everyone mentions are) managed to get out anyway, with a potato :D Nice mood. I never actually encountered anything to "survive" against though, played through twice =/

michail 2013-05-06 23:21

Wow, that was really scary. As someone mentioned - I have already read about bats, but it didn't prevent me from jumping on my chair when I first saw them ;)

bipolarmike 2013-05-07 00:38

Oof, creepy! Don't want to play this again. Yes I am a weenie.

radmars 2013-05-07 18:19

really awesome! Great mood, nice simple graphics.

lightnarcissus 2013-05-07 18:20

Brilliant atmosphere and it almost reminded me of Amnesia. No better praise I can think besides that.

dem0 2013-05-07 18:26

The collision detection and light were really buggy but the game was nice experience overall, especially to be made in such a short time :P

atraxgames 2013-05-07 18:41

I almost have an heart attack. Scary and well made. Compliments!

tiditto 2013-05-07 22:06

well, all i pretty much saw was giant black squares (shadow glitches) but the title was scary...

uberneen 2013-05-08 00:53

Very good work. I escaped!

robotality 2013-05-08 06:03

Very well done. Really tense vibe. :) Liked it alot.

psychopsam 2013-05-08 10:42

WoW!!!!! You scared me with a video game! And I me SHOCKED me! Nice work. Replayable too. Will come back to this one. Very well executed. Play with headphones on and lights out. Going down stairs was super freaky, as was turning corners, and opening things...

freezx 2013-05-08 13:35

Damn bats, nice one :D

aquilicoco 2013-05-08 14:51

Good work!

mrexcessive 2013-05-08 18:56

That's awesome and damn it made me jump.

yellowlemming 2013-05-08 19:37

good job on this game, I personally think that there should have been some noises throughout, just to show that the game hadn't broken or something

minionstudios 2013-05-09 00:11

Thanks for all the feedback everyone. Very helpful. TiDitto what platform (Win, Mac, Linux...) were you trying to play the game on? Thanks again for playing our game folks.

naufr4g0 2013-05-10 01:12

Really scary in its minimalism! :)
I like the lighting system. I played desktop version to enjoy game at his better.

eternal_rest 2013-05-10 13:08

Reminds me a lot of a wii game.
Well done.

bradleysmith 2013-05-10 20:14

I jumped right before I died, bravo! :L

superdisk 2013-05-11 02:48

Scary. We wussed out before we even got into the game at all, so we left some generous ratings. Sorry.

enzo 2013-05-11 05:29

Ughh super creepy, I can't handle it
Great game!

paulsb 2013-05-11 15:27

Terrifying. Maybe I'm a wuss but I could hardly persuade myself to go downstairs, ha. I don't really know where I was meant to be going - there seemed to be a lot of interactive things without purpose... which is fine but I felt like I might be missing something. The atmosphere was fantastic.

miharbi 2013-05-11 18:06

Really awesome game. Gave me goosebumps for sure.

almax27 2013-05-12 11:26

This was great! Very impressed how much atmosphere you got out of a single light and untextured objects. The ending made me jump too :D

brassawiking 2013-05-12 18:14

I so didn't wanna play this one =( Eerie as hell. Go stressed out by how slow you were walking and the candle that started to wither away.

misaelk 2013-05-14 02:20

At first I wasn't sure if there was something out there or not. Why, oh, why, did I have to find that key.
True horror! Until I met the grue... While I was still tense, the slow escape and the slow chase were more funny than scary. Maybe if the player was faster, but ghostly hands came from under the floor and grabbed the player rendering him unable to move.
I think what LeafThief says is key. Horror games are more about "what if" than the actual thing. I expected to find creatures watching me through the windows, maybe a pale face hovering from around a hallway. Instead I found a real enemy, who ended my game prematurely. In my second playthrough, I knew the enemy wouldn't come until I grabbed the key, so I didn't experience any of the tension that my first playthrough had.
I believe you guys did a great job, but just like the movie Signs (from M Night Shyamalan), it falls short at the end.

mekuri 2013-05-14 04:39

Awesome! I got tense the minute I started playing. The game was really creepy, especially while wondering if anything at all would happen. I managed to find the key, but found nowhere to use it before I perished. Really really nice mood in this game, and nice use of simple textures!

sylvain-p 2013-05-14 05:01

Nice atmosphere. A bit too much dark, and it's a bit disturbing to not see the mouse cursor.

m-gryko85 2013-05-14 18:04

Realy scary and very moody. Great work on graphics.

heychinaski 2013-05-14 22:32

Good atmosphere. Really creepy.

minionstudios 2013-05-15 00:48

Thank you all for the comments! Much of what you all suggest are truly insightful and very much appreciated. We have voted on over 500 games and will have a post-compo version of the game out soon.

garethiw 2013-05-15 10:25

Nice little game. I expected something to appear at every window I walked past :D I missed the bats as well.

jhelle 2013-05-15 16:09

Finished it. Liked the graphics. The mood was good but I am terrible at scary games so full points for that :p

dremelofdeath 2013-05-16 07:21

I jumped. I also think I was eaten by a grue. VERY good graphics and mood. Great game.

krutech 2013-05-16 13:15

scary as hell! nicely done.

imagnity 2013-05-17 03:17

#@#%[email protected]!!!!!! WTF!!!!! Almost had a heart attack! The sound of footsteps in the stairs already crooked me and then started fu**ing withering.. You should put a caution or something. I gave 5 stars so that this doesn't show up in my dreams! You should definitely make something like The Exorcist!

binary_girl 2013-05-17 13:57

spooky.. good stuff.. i dont know why tho but EVERY unity game i try the mouse is almost uncontrollably sensitive :(

phocker 2013-05-18 03:00

ok -- i actually screamed when the bats came out of the attic -- nice job

aevek 2013-05-18 07:22

Jesus dude. My heart is pounding. Seriously scary game. And pretty much all the scariness came from lighting and sound, which is really good. Excellent job, good sir. Even if I do need a clean pair of pants after that ghost.

orni 2013-05-18 09:03

very nice game, the textureless style looks very smooth and great - loved it

well done :D

paulmcgg 2013-05-18 13:50

What a cruel joke to make me switch my key for a potato right at the end. Liked this a lot, particularly how scary it is not to be able to see very far in front. Silence then footsteps was actually pretty frightening, also chair going crazy. I think more sound would definitely help a lot, and a bit more of an involved environment with more scary touches (I pretty much walked from start to finish). Good job.

infernet89 2013-05-18 17:02

I perished :( Very scary entry, and very nice job on modeling all the fornitures in so little time!

ifred_qc 2013-05-18 22:19

Only thing missing was my own footsteps I'd say.

harsayhd 2013-05-19 13:45

Heart attack.

deepnight 2013-05-19 16:03

Even if it was minimal, it did actually work well :) Very intense.

hgouveia 2013-05-19 16:04

Great game , those bats made me jump xD

komradus 2013-05-20 02:07

Terrifying atmosphere, well done.

zim-the-fox 2013-05-20 19:10

First of all, thank you for commenting on my game!

At first I thought the minimalism was in the horror of being alone in a house at night. Then came the creepy red smoke thing that gave me chicken skin. Took me three tries to figure out what I had to do though x3

Great job!

sestren 2013-05-20 20:10

The mood was fantastic on this one. It's hard to genuinely creep the player out in any game, but you succeeded on that front, in my opinion.

codexus 2013-05-20 21:05

Nice atmosphere, but I just beat the game without encountering anything bad.

eatenalive3 2013-05-20 22:34

Fun :P I don't know how I died, but it happened when I touched a box o_O. I am not sure if the key was supposed to be in different places each time I played, but it was. Nice lighting!

minionstudios 2013-05-20 22:37

Thanks for all the great comments and feed-back! We just recently passed the 600 games voted! WooHoo!

animegeek32 2013-05-21 00:58

First the bats scared me, then some ghost downstairs got me real good. The monster sounds really add a lot to its creepy atmosphere.