Niche & Indie Game News

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All map areas in Mage Arena The map in Mage Arena can be slightly confusing for players, since there are different zones. The map has an essence of randomness for each round because of the different zones between the two bases. Every map will have two types of areas: claimable and unclaimable. Each type has more options based on its roles and functions. First, let's take a look at all the claimable areas, which should be the priority of your team to capture. Table of contents All claimable map areas in Mage Arena All unclaimable map areas in Mage Arena All claimable map areas in Mage Arena The claimable areas on the map will provide your team with EXP and useful materials if they're under your control. Area name Features Resources Base This is where you team begins the adventure. If the enemy claims it, you will lose the ability to respawn. Chest with random materials. You'll also find the Soup Man, Magic Mirror, and a crafting table. Crystal Caverns Has a rocky look about them on the map Once claimed, you'll get EXP and crystals from it. Frog Bog This swamp area is arguably one of the most dangerous locations on the map. Tread very carefully, and try not to get caught in an enemy fire. Provides you with toads and EXP. Forest Hills A forest area which is relatively safe to tread and capture. Provides you with logs and EXP. Mushroom Biome You'll find plenty of mushroom pads located in a pit Gives you Bounce mushrooms and EXP. Mountains Relatively safe place. Gives you Rocks and EXP. Capturing any area is pretty much the same: stand in it for the requisite time to complete the capture. All unclaimable map areas in Mage Arena You might not be able to claim the unclaimable areas on the map, but they're definitely worth a visit in Mage Arena . Area Name Features Resources Cemetery Has an explorable building and a Knight NPC. You'll find the two parts required to complete the Excalibur inside the Mausoleum. This area has dangerous enemies. Breakable vases offering different loots. Magma Castle Castle covered by magma on all sides, and you should also look out for the Red Wizards. Different chests (one in each tower) offering different resources. Gnome Forest Forest with a Gnome village Offers one-time trades for random items. For your ease of understanding, I have numbered all the tiles. Screenshot by Destructoid Your own base Crystal Caverns Mushroom Biome Magma Castle Enemy Base Gnome Village Forest Hills Cemetery Frog Bog The post All map areas in Mage Arena appeared first on Destructoid .

Indie Archives – DestructoidJul 31

How to play Mage Arena with friends – Multiplayer guide Mage Arena is the perfect co-op spell-casting action title you can play with your friends, and you can set up different types of matches. The new indie title is quickly getting popular in the gaming community, and it's a different type of PVP shooter. Instead of guns, you use spells, and instead of buttons, you use your voice. Every spell inside the game activates on a particular voice command, and 10 options are available at launch. Ultimately, wins will matter in the game, and playing with your friends should improve your chances of success. Let's look at how to invite your friends to the game and play together in the same lobby. How to invite your friends to Mage Arena Inviting your friends to a match in Mage Arena is simple. You don't even have to be friends on Steam. Start the game, and let it load. Go to Create a Lobby from the home screen. You can create two types of lobbies: Private and Public . Choose the first option. At the bottom left corne r of your screen, reveal the lobby ID. Copy the ID and share it with your buddies. Once your friends have the ID, they must do the following steps. Launch their game. Select Join a lobby . Paste the code that you have sent them. This will put them in the same lobby as you. Screenshot by Destructoid As of now, you can opt for two types of co-op experience with your friends. You can create a team of a maximum of four players (yourself included) and take on other squads in a team-based battle. Alternatively, the Colosseum lets you juke out with another player in a deathmatch. Inviting your friend to a deathmatch is the same as the abovementioned steps. In case of a deathmatch, only two players can be part of the same lobby. Whether you're playing solo or in a squad, memorize all the voice commands required to trigger the different spells available in the Mage Arena . The post How to play Mage Arena with friends – Multiplayer guide appeared first on Destructoid .

Indie Archives – DestructoidJul 30

All resources in The King is Watching and how to get them One of the key tips to win in The King is Watching is to manage your resources effectively, and there are a whole bunch you'll need to keep an eye on. Of course, The King is Watching might not seem like an active resource-management title, but it's crucial to have a fair idea about which buildings are active and at what point in time. Having the correct resources will make things easier, and more so during hard events in the latter stages of the game. How to get all resources in The King is Watching? The King is Watching has 14 resources. Typically, these resources can be separated into two different groups: basic and advanced. Basic resources are those acquired from a building directly and don't have an input cost. These resources are produced automatically as long as you have constructed the designated building and keep it active. Screenshot via Hypnohead Resource Uses Sources Clay Used to recruit units and repair castles Clay Mine Crystal Used to research spells and also recruit Arcane units Crystal Mine Gold Construct different builds, unit recruitment, and upgrade the Gaze area Gold Mine, Market Grapes Used to make wine and for the recruitment of Veteran-tier units Vineyard, Grape Bush Ore Used for unit recruitments Iron Mine Water Used for making buildings that provide other resources in turn All types of wells Wheat Recruit units, upgrade the Gaze area, and make Flour All types of wheat fields Wood Make advanced resources, upgrade units, and general construction Tree, Sawmill Unlike basic resources, advanced ones aren't produced directly by your buildings. Instead, you'll have to procure them from the basic resources via refinement using Advanced Production buildings. As an alternative, you can gain them from traders or events, but those methods are largely luck-based. Resource Uses Source of Production Recipe Flour Sellable item at the market. Can be used at Enchanted Stump and Dragon Hatchery Mill 1 wheat Furniture Can be sold for coins or Denarii Carpentry 3 Wood 1 Metal Meat Used at Lion's Circus and Giant's Bedding Animal Farm Fisherman's Hut 5 Water Or 1 Water 1 Wheat Metal Used in the construction of Elite and Veteran-tier Barracks. Can also be sold at the Market Forge 1 Ore Oil Used to make Advanced Infrastructure buildings Fuel Pump 1 Water 1 Wood Wine Boosts morale during combat Winery 2 Grapes Typically, you'll want to focus more on the basic resources compared to the advanced ones. The basic resources are required far more on every run, while the advanced types are necessary in niche situations. Their needs will vary across different saves. Additionally, all playable King has certain powers, and there are resource costs. Alucard: Flour, Gold, Water Brezhnius: Crystal, Water Baldwin: Gold, Water Leo: Wheat, Wood Leonid: Meat, Win Saladin: Water, Wheat, Meat Spellus: Water, Oil, Gold The post All resources in The King is Watching and how to get them appeared first on Destructoid .

Indie Archives – DestructoidJul 28

How to beat One Chance – Walkthrough and all endings Released back in 2010, One Chance is a bite-sized Adobe Flash adventure that asks what you'd do with the final week of your life? The world as we know it is fast approaching its end, and it's all because of your scientific discovery. What was meant to be the cure to cancer has twisted into a far faster killer, and now it's airborne. Your choices are clear: Spend what little time you have left with your family or keep pushing on to find a cure to the mess you created. While there are multiple endings available for One Chance , there's also the unique element that stops you from exploring other avenues. You really only have one chance to play through the game. Whatever ending you achieve is set in stone. The outcome you get as a result of your decisions is saved even upon relaunching the game or reopening the tab. The final shot shows the aftermath of Earth, how much life remains on its soil. It can be hopeful or completely hopeless, full of the vibrancy of life, or devoid of color. The only way to play through the entire game again is to launch it on another browser. Alternatively, you can reset your progress by refreshing the page before you see an ending. This will bring you back to the start of One Chance . Here we'll go through each ending and how you can get it. No ending is a particularly happy one, but there's a "best ending" when viewed through the protagonist's perspective. Table of contents How many endings does One Chance have? One Chance full walkthrough: All endings, explained Find a cure Family matters Nothing matters Devastation How many endings does One Chance have? Screenshot by Destructoid There are four main endings in One Chance . With only the directional buttons to move and the spacebar to interact, there's not much opportunity to make a difference with civilization coming to an end. Rather, it's what you choose to do with your time that determines John's fate. Do you continue to go to work, or do you skip it, ignoring the consequences of your actions or facing them head-on? Do you spend your final moments with your loved ones or throw it all away, engaging in acts you previously wouldn't dream of ever doing? Most outcomes are determined by what you choose to do when there are three days left. One Chance full walkthrough: All endings, explained Each day starts the same, with a slight variation in what John's wife and daughter say. John is a man of no words as the lore is delivered through the people that he chooses to surround himself with and via the morning newspaper. Find a cure Screenshot by Destructoid No matter the distractions to skip work and celebrate, to stay home with your family, scared of what's to come, you must go to work every day . John needs the full six days working to fix the mistake he's made. Half of the population dies, including John's wife (on day four), but the cruel joke is that the cure is made upon heading into work on the sixth and final day. As the last scientist at his workplace actively trying to find the cure, he succeeds. John immediately cures himself and then Molly. The final shot is them spending the afternoon at the quiet park, knowing that some part of this world is forever cracked, but not fully broken. It's uncertain whether either character actually survived or if it was too late. Relaunching One Chance shows that John's cure worked as the plant life is thriving once more (a conclusion that isn't present in the other endings). But neither John nor Molly is in view. I think this is the best ending in the game, even though many have died, because John was able to find the cure and save what remains of the population. You can still see John at the park if he dies there, so I assume this means the pair survived and were able to go home. Family matters Screenshot by Destructoid Keep going to work even when Boss tells you to go be with your family. Then go back to your family when your colleagues appear at the front door on day four. This will stop Jim from spawning. Neither Penny nor Molly is home when the final morning starts. Go to the park on the sixth day. Molly spawns in but quickly vanishes, leaving John alone to die on the park bench. Although John is by himself, this ending means his family died to the virus that wiped out civilization and the Earth's flora, rather than Penny taking her own life or being murdered by Jim. Another variation of this same ending is to keep going to work until Penny dies and Molly stops going to school. Then, keep taking Molly to the Park instead of Work, choosing to spend your final days with your daughter instead of researching for the cure. Nothing matters Screenshot by Destructoid With the end of the world as we know it nearing each passing day, you can choose to spend it skipping work and betraying your family. The key choices here are to skip work on the first day, avoid staying with your family, and to cheat on your wife with Annie on day four . Going to the rooftop both times is scripted, but you should work when Boss tries to send you home on day three. Penny quickly figures out this betrayal and takes Molly away, leaving John on his own. This ending concludes with John sitting by himself in the park, unable to fix what he's done after only causing more pain before death takes him. You can also die alone in the lab trying to find the cure on the final day if you failed to go to work before the sixth day. Devastation Screenshot by Destructoid For this ending, you need to skip work wherever possible . Go to the roof as you're supposed to on the second and third day to see Matthew jump off and the Boss send you home. Go home rather than work. Choose to stay with your family when asked to come back by your Boss on the fourth day. You're forced to go to work with two days left on the clock. Jim will be here waiting for you, blaming you for what's happening to the world. He charges at you with a knife, splitting this ending into two variations. You either fail to defend yourself in time, meaning John dies from the knife wound, or you successfully disarm Jim, only to find out he's murdered your family and hung himself when you return home that very night. Head to the roof at work to "Give up" and complete this tragic tale. The post How to beat One Chance – Walkthrough and all endings appeared first on Destructoid .

Indie Archives – DestructoidJul 27

Destructoid’s Indie Gems – Edition 5: Uncover the cost to stardom, one scene at a time Whatever happened to Marissa Marcel? That's what you're trying so desperately to figure out. There's something tugging at you to keep pressing on through the footage. Perhaps it's morbid curiosity, that strange desire to peel back the curtain and see the darkness behind that enchanting model-turned-lead-actress. Three unreleased films, each starring the same ageless woman... something's not adding up. Careful of what lies behind the curtain From the mind of Sam Barlow ( Her Story and Telling Lies ), the mysterious and completely captivating realm of IMMORTALITY is unlike anything I've ever experienced. There is nothing quite like this game. It's a hypnotizing adventure that's simple on paper, yet super effective thanks to its unravelling mystery and fantastic acting. Fulfilling the role of a film technician meets detective, you must sift through dozens of seemingly random film clips and piece them together to figure out what happened to the lead star. Gameplay consists of standard controls such as play and stop, fast-forward or rewind, and clicking on a subject to move onto a new scene. It's much like watching a DVD, but the entire game feels like easter eggs hidden in the extras menu. Enticing and addictive—there's something warning you to leave yet you cannot stop looking You may feel a strange uneasiness while playing this game. Even the main menu feels wrong. It's as if the film reels are cursed, and that discovering the thing that happened to Marcel might make it happen to you, too. As you're an unnamed protagonist, IMMORTALITY plays as though your life is on the line or that Marissa Marcel really was an actress who mysteriously disappeared. The one-liner plot is surprisingly more than enough to keep its hooks into you, where the story is carried by the impressive acting that only pulls you in further into its enigma. The use of full-motion video was a brilliant choice as it strengthens the overall believability of the game, thus creating greater immersion. You actually feel like an investigator trying to uncover a dark mystery. Knowing you're watching real people act during a movie shoot that appears unrelated to the overarching plot crafts a strange and uncanny setting. While it's not marketed as a horror game, there are a lot of moments that may unsettle you. It's rare that I get creeped out by a video game, but IMMORTALITY sure managed to get a reaction out of me multiple times. I don't want to spoil anything, but the truth is hidden in the black and white, and it's a hard truth to accept. The revelation in this interactive movie will likely surprise and shock you with its unpredictability. Do you dare to jump into the rabbit hole that is this FMV masterpiece? Using basic gameplay that anyone can quickly master, there's enough variety in IMMORTALITY as you're not only enjoying the three movies that start to make sense the more clips you find and piece together, but there's the overarching plotline that something outside of these movies is the real reason for Marcel's disappearance. The uneasiness is accompanied by a sense of dread, like something is looking back at you as you're watching the film. Marcel is larger than life at times and in ways beyond our grasp, as if she's looking back at the viewer, even though you're watching clips from a movie that was never released and a rising star that has long been forgotten. The actors are brilliant as they tackle the role of their movie characters and their "real" selves. Mixing behind the scenes with movie clips can feel surreal at times, but it's Manon Gage playing as Marissa Marcel that truly steals the show (which is very fitting as it's the entire point of IMMORTALITY ). Every movie has a distinct look and feel to it, and all are shot in different years. Ambrosio filmed 1968, Minsky in 1970, and the last titled Two of Everything in 1999. The story spans across 31 years, told through the movie scenes. Yet Marcel is ageless. She's preserved in time, like revisiting Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's . The plot of each movie intertwines with the mystery, feeling like chapters in Marcel's autobiography rather than watching fiction unfold on screen. Like a detective working on a case, the mystery is a tightly wound ball with threads leading to places you'd never expect. So, are you interested in figuring out what happened to Marissa Marcel? IMMORTALITY is available on Steam , PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Netflix (mobile only). The post Destructoid’s Indie Gems – Edition 5: Uncover the cost to stardom, one scene at a time appeared first on Destructoid .

Indie Archives – DestructoidJul 27

Destructoid’s Indie Gems – Edition 4: Break the time loop with social deduction You awake to a friendly face, yet you cannot remember a thing. It's a moment of peace before your strange Hell begins. Thrown into the deep end like Groundhog Day set in space, you're forced to relive the same day on a loop. But why? Your crew on the surface seems normal, but there's something just slightly off about them that you can't put your finger on. An infection puts the entire crew and humanity at risk, and the only way to stop it is to find out who is carrying the Gnosia on board. The person the infected once was is now long gone, replaced by a masquerading parasite as them. Wearing their face, speaking their voice, it's down to you and your crewmates to figure out which one of you has a dark side. You send those you suspect to be Gnosia to cold sleep after arguing moments prior and holding a vote. Reach the end of the day alive and with the Gnosia correctly identified to continue pushing towards the truth and a means to end the time loop. While you awake to the same alarm every day, you're comforted by the fact that you're not alone. Crewmate Setsu knows they're looping too. But why only us two, and why can't I remember a single thing about how I got here? A game of Mafia with a sci-fi twist This is GNOSIA , a social deduction game inspired by Mafia/Werewolf. With anime aesthetics in a beautifully unpolished watercolor scheme that gives it charm, GNOSIA behaves much like Among Us , Town of Salem , and Danganronpa . The goal on paper is simple: Find the Gnosia and put them in cold sleep before they kill us all. You have a set of classic RPG-like abilities like Charisma, Charm, and Logic. These are important for holding conversations in and outside the cold sleep discussion and voting system. Five rounds make up the discussion before you make your final verdict, where you either doubt or cover one of your crewmates. It's a terrifying thought, being the only person who cannot remember how they got here or who they are. You're comforted by the faces around you, but the paranoia that resembles The Thing warns you that not everyone can be trusted. Don't be distracted by the pretty visuals, wholesome moments, and cute dialogue. Pay close attention because if you get too complicit, you won't ever figure out a way out of the time loop. There's beauty in its repetition While GNOSIA has a simple design in its gameplay, its repetition means you will quickly catch onto what's happening around you, much like your amnesiac protagonist will do as well. It could be seen as a flaw that you repeat the same day, but there's so much variety in the dialogue and paths you can go down by modifying your loop. It's a really interesting take on the Among Us formula, as it's down not only to your social deduction skills, but also that you need to piece everything together based on what you've seen so far. I had a genuine eureka moment when I got stuck for a while with no new information, which gave me one of the most satisfying gaming experiences I've had in a long time. You can clearly see what has influenced GNOSIA, yet there's nothing quite like it. Its art, memorable characters, cutscene variety, and great pacing retain the mystery at all times. GNOSIA reminds me of that super underrated sci-fi film, Coherence . I'm not much of a visual novel fan and found this premise in games like Raging Loop very repetitive, yet GNOSIA managed to retain my attention at all times. It was addictive and fun to hang out with such quirky characters. Visual novels are known for their dialogue and narrative, and this is where GNOSIA rises above the rest. The sci-fi mystery is near flawless, with full circle and the occasional scary moment, paired with a beautiful, glitchy score that perfectly fits the setting. I badly wanted to see how this game ended, and I still get goosebumps thinking about it. Available on Steam , PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch, GNOSIA is a must-play for sci-fi and visual novel fans alike. The post Destructoid’s Indie Gems – Edition 4: Break the time loop with social deduction appeared first on Destructoid .

Indie Archives – DestructoidJul 19

PixelJunk Eden 2 and Dreams Of Another Bundle Announced For Early OctoberDreaming of junk. The post PixelJunk Eden 2 and Dreams Of Another Bundle Announced For Early October first appeared on Kakuchopurei .

Indie | KakuchopureiJul 18

All Mage Arena crafting recipes Spells might be your go-to option when defeating your opponents in the indie hit Mage Arena , but crafting recipes to produce different items will allow you to outwit them more easily. Crafting in Mage Arena works in the expected way: you gather raw resources, which can then be put into different recipes to produce more items. Let's look at all the recipes available in the game's current build, and how to make them in the first place. Table of contents All Mage Arena crafting resources How to craft Excalibur in Mage Arena All Mage Arena crafting resources The current build has seven different recipes. Six of them are relatively simple to complete, as long as you have the correct requirements. Item Recipe How to Use Frog Balloon Frog + Frog Equip this balloon to lower your weight, which will allow you to jump higher in turn without having to worry about fall damage. Sentry Turrent Stone + Crystal Create an turret that fires on its own whenever an enemy comes close to it. Extremely useful for locking and holding onto a particular area of the map. Shield Wood + Stone Generates a shield that can block damage from incoming projectiles. Susceptible against spells that have higher damage potential. Spike Trap Wood + Crystal Place a hidden trap on the ground that can spike an enemy and deal damage if someone is foolish enough to step on it. Spore Frog Frog + Mushroom Great escape option, as the frog will generate clouds of spores that temporarily restricts vision in a small area on the map. Walking Stick Wood + Wood Use this tool to temporarily buff your movement speed. Five resource materials are available all around the map. As mentioned in the table above, all recipes require the use of these items in different combinations. Crystal Frog Mushroom Stone Wood All five resources can be found on the island, but you'll need to explore a bit to obtain them. Check out all the nooks and crannies to avoid misses so as not to fall on them. You might have been trying to find the seventh recipe missing from the table above. The seventh one allows you to craft the legendary Excalibur (which is also part of its quest). Screenshot via jrsjams How to craft Excalibur in Mage Arena The legendary Excalibur is much harder to make than the items mentioned in the above section. The recipe involves the use of the following two items: Hilt Broken blade These are two parts that combine to form the sword. Unfortunately for players, you can't craft these items. Instead, you'll need to look for them in the Graveyard. A note of caution: this area has monsters that are extremely difficult to beat. Make sure to unlock as many spells as possible to have more options (without worrying about the cooldowns). The post All Mage Arena crafting recipes appeared first on Destructoid .

Indie Archives – DestructoidJul 15

Destructoid’s Indie Gems – Edition 3: Keep your sanity on Lovecraftian waters Something is brewing underneath the turbulent sea. A storm is fast approaching ,and there's not much the local authorities can do about it. Quarantine zones have been activated, but people need to evacuate. The threat is far beyond our comprehension. It's cosmic in design and can communicate across the waves and into our homes, our hearts, our minds. Sailors are going missing, ships are being left abandoned. How are you to know what you're sending to the shore is the same as it was before leaving the harbor? Man that beacon and keep the light on at all costs. Make sure your boys get home, or you might fall victim to the Lovecraftian horrors that call your name. Will you keep hope lit, or will you drift into the water, too, crashing against the seabed as another empty vessel? The weight of the world rests upon your shoulders This is the indie horror title Static Dread: The Lighthouse. A mix of Papers, Please and World of Horror , you play as a lightkeeper whose job is to keep the lighthouse lit during a cosmic nightmare. You stand on the edge of what makes us human, tasked to guide lost sailors home. But it's not as simple as plotting the safe route back. Pay attention to their stories, investigate their vessels' condition, and work out where to send them. Not all are telling the truth, and there's an incomprehensible force trying to manipulate you the entire time. In true cosmic fashion, Static Dread is The Lighthouse with blatant ties to Lovecraft's fear of the unknown. A beast far beyond our comprehension resides at the heart of the storm. It messes with the electronics and your mind, feeding you false information, and playing tricks on you. But what can you trust? Do you really take the risk knowing you've got family back at home? You can't let that thing anywhere near the land, or we're all doomed. Our savior or damnation? Static Dread is a life sim where you must fulfil your lightkeeper duties, all while keeping your sanity in check. NPCs arrive on set days every week, their story unfolding based on your choices. They sell you food, weapons, and distractions—any way to stop you from losing it. You must decide who to let into your lighthouse, which sailors to save, and what horrors to stop before they reach the shore. Full of dilemmas and impossible decisions, Static Dread has gameplay that's easy to grasp as you have to tune into the radio, listen to sailors' stories, and plot your route accordingly. Don't let anything slip through the cracks. Instead of exploring the water as you do in DREDGE , the cosmic horror frequently turns up on your doorstep. Keep the lights on, not just for passing ships, but for your own sanity too. There are many paths this game can take, offering multiple endings depending on the decisions you make. Will you condemn your loved ones and humanity, or can you fight off your demons to protect them until the very end? Each choice feels impossible, and every inch of the lighthouse feels like it wants to swallow you whole, yet the setting is strangely cozy. Its unique art style, paired with the simplistic gameplay, makes it a comforting entry even though it houses nightmares far beyond what our minds are capable of understanding. There's a supernatural element too, as you could be haunted by the past—a reminder that your actions have consequences—and that the wrong choice may have led to someone's death. Are you up for the job? What kind of person are you? Static Dread is releasing on Aug. 6, but an amazing demo is readily available on Steam as you wait for its full release. With many achievements and multiple endings to unlock, alongside mysterious characters to meet and a deity to face, there's a lot that will unfold in those 15 days as a lonesome lightkeeper. Everyone is relying on you. Don't mess up. The post Destructoid’s Indie Gems – Edition 3: Keep your sanity on Lovecraftian waters appeared first on Destructoid .

Indie Archives – DestructoidJul 13

Destructoid’s Indie Gems – Edition 2: Cosmic horror on the apartment floor A city sheltered, there's something cosmic brewing outside. Dark clouds loom over, unmoving and unshaken, as if they house a darker secret above their vast layers. The uncertainty of tomorrow has spread across the locals. We're 45 days into something we don't understand. The air is poison, or so the authorities say. Only the Church is trying to do something about it, but can we really trust them? There's a crack in the wall. It's been there for a month now, and it's only getting bigger, so is that gnawing feeling that the situation will only get worse. How can you stay positive when everything is telling you—these are our last days? Funeralopolis | Last Days is a truly underrated indie horror gem that was released last September on itch.io. Heavily text-based with walking sim elements, games like these demonstrate you don't always need voice acting to deliver lore or a believable setting. With a one-hour runtime, the worldbuilding in this narrative-driven story shines all by itself. The story is where the horror lies, bubbling with each passing day, as the promise of tomorrow becomes more and more uncertain. Confined to an apartment floor, fear spreads among the residents, all of whom are affected by the ongoing epidemic differently. See hope fester through the peephole, look back out into the world you're too hesitant to explore. A cosmic enigma that calls your name An overarching mystery is constantly pulling you in. What are the Churchmen up to? Is there something nefarious going on with their quarantine camps? It's a wonder whether this is real or if it's all just mass hysteria, caused by the official reports that the inexplicable clouds are making people ill. What is that pitch black hole in the kitchen, and why can we only see it on one side? The few residents that you're supposed to look after as the apartment overseer have so many concerns and questions, none of which you can answer. Some don't even want to step foot outside of their apartment. The city is cold, grungy, and greyscale, with the apartment interior feeling comfortable in its warm glow. Stories of biohazardous materials we've never seen before keep popping up on the Church's private frequency. A channel you're not supposed to be tuned into. Everything is quiet; from the environment and its terrified people, to the horror. It's an unsettling feeling that never leaves you. You'd think everyone would be panicked, yet we comply and stay silent in hopes that the monsters will just leave us alone. There's anxiety as society is being pulled taut, like this is all a test to see if you'll give in and go outside. There's a single choice you can make, and it determines which ending you'll get. A Lovecraftian nightmare as the sky turns red Like something out of Stephen King's The Mist , Funeralopolis is a cosmic horror with clear inspiration from H.P. Lovecraft's fear of the unknown. The apartment setting is reminiscent of Silent Hill 4: The Room . The otherworldly terror perfectly captures that dread and incomprehension for something out of this world, that's seeping into our own. The isolation and uncertainty for the future are direct links to the 2020 pandemic, as we were forced to stay indoors and listen out for news in hopes that something would change—something means everything can go back to normal. You feel as though your life is holding on by a thread that could be cut any moment by the terrifying words spoken through the television and radio. But in Funeralopolis , no such hope is given. A story-rich world I want to rent a room in The slow build of Funeralopoli s is tied to the information you learn from radio broadcasts each day, and observed through the cracked wall that spreads open like worry. You're given bits and pieces of the lore that's developing by the day, making the story perfectly paced, with just the right amount of intriguing information making you want to press on. The cutscenes only make the horror more immersive, like you're an active participant or a detective trying to solve the mystery. Tension and anxiety are created through the brooding soundtrack and old-school art design. You feel as though you are actually the overseer of this world, where the apartment residents are yours to take care of. Does anything you do truly matter in a situation so hopeless, against a threat inconceivable to mankind? You try to do the right thing, but what does it amount to? Actions have consequences, yet in Funeralopolis , your inactions are just as important. Regardless of your choices, time moves forward, life goes on, yet the nightmare's only just begun. The post Destructoid’s Indie Gems – Edition 2: Cosmic horror on the apartment floor appeared first on Destructoid .

Indie Archives – DestructoidJun 29