VandrahoGames Indie Review

 There is nothing more unnerving than receiving a phone call with a distant and muffled voice on the other end! Exanimum: Silent Call is a atmospheric horror walking sim that delves deep with story rich lore and visuals drenched in blood and gore. ESC was developed by Perspektik , released on March 11 2024 and currently retails for $6.99. This game has a run time of about 2hours (give or take - due to time played I will be using my 5star rating system) Capturing ambiance and atmosphere are critical to immersion in any game situation. ESC has done that very well especially in respect to the sounds found outside & inside the home. The sounds that I found were the best were inside the hospital, the eerie sense of quiet while also hearing distant sounds, leaving us unsure of their origin. The visual on the other hand are consistent with modern atmospheric hotpot Games, life like, realistic and down right bloody. There was a heavy amount of detail in all of the interior scenes, howe...

A short disclaimer as I want to try something new - for games that trend under the 2 hours mark I am changing my rating system. For these shorter horror games I will be rating the out of 5 stars rather than 10. This does not diminish the quality of the game nor does it diminish it at all in my eyes. I merely am doing this as its easier for me to rate a game under 2 hours in length with a 5 star scale Going to the circus is usually a fun experience for the whole family -- But in the case of Circus of Tim Tim it leaves the player with a racing heart beat and an awkward giggle. This stealth mascot survival horror game was developed by Mascot Bros Studio it currently retails for $8.99 on steam and was released on March 22, 2024. This review may be shorter than others, since my game play clocked in at about 1 hr 30 minutes. Which for an indie horror game version of hide and seek was well paced and a bunch of fun.  The visuals were super cute, colors and kitschy. I liked the fact that th...

When I think of emotions - I wonder where exactly they come from, from a scientific standpoint they come from the part of our brain called the amygdala. With that point that brings us to our game of this week - AMYGDALA by Antonino Truisi it was released on March 15th 2024 and is currently retails for $9.99 and has around 2-3 hours of playtime.  Amygdala is an atmosphere rich, realistic horror experience that takes us to uncharted realms. The visuals of this game are by far the most breathtaking I have seen in a horror game. The atmosphere created by this developer was not one of blood curdling horror, but allowed us as the player to really appreciate the beauty that lies in horror and even the perfection in it. The levels we move through are some of the most detailed I have experienced. Stunning setting aside, we need to talk about the creatures - They are some of the most unique character designs i have seen. They were ultra realistic, the blood oozing from them glistened and the...

When I think of a slaughter house, I think of a bloody, virile mess of bones, flesh and muscle and I do have to say Matadouro Grindhouse captures this bloody scene well. Made by Pulp Games and was released on January 18,2024 and retails for $7.99 and at about 3-4 hours of gameplay its well worth the price.  The sound design was well done although quite ominous,  I could not focus too much on it as I was enraptured with the PSX/retro style graphics - the gore factor was up "over 9000" with buckets of human goo peppered with hands, eyeballs and limbs of all sorts, which as a horror gamer I appreciate a developer not being afraid of gore. Because horror gamers LOVE gore.  The gameplay itself was smooth for the most part, the controls were easy to master and I only encountered 1 bug. Which I was lucky enough to have the dev in chat when playing, who kindly enough helped me through it. The puzzles themselves were quite challenging- and the description of "does not hold your h...