Things We Play

Mike takes a look at Grandma, a jump scare-filled indie horror game by Uneasy Games available for free. Tasked with finding her lost sister, Maria searches her dead grandmother's house in order to discover clues about what's happened to her. Very quickly she learns that things are not all ok, and never have been, at grandma's house. What starts off as a fairly generic horror game, swiftly up's the ante and delivers genuinely creepy moments accompanied by unrelenting jump scares.

Mike takes a look at indie horror, Code Rebecca (House of Evil) by PicturProd AKA Stéphane Linéros. Code Rebecca is a survival horror game where you play as the title character Rebecca, as she experiences a series of unnerving and unsettling events later in her own home. While short, and in this early state (those seamless transitions say hello), what's on offer still manages to deliver some fairly decent scares. With a little more time, this could turn into something not bad at all.

With an atmosphere reminiscent to the openings of Another World or Half Life, along with some well paced scares and a unique visual style, Umfend ultimately makes quite the impact... a slick, mysterious, slightly confusing, and often scary impact.

Mike takes a look at Sea of Thieves, the latest open world, survival pirate adventure from Rare and Microsoft on the Xbox One and PC. With gorgeous visuals to feast your eyes on, bundles of treasure to run your hands through, and catchy shanties to sing along with, you'd be easily forgiven in thinking there was more to Sea of Thieves at launch than that of No Man's Sky - another hotly anticipated 'console exclusive'. Only thing is, much like NMS before it... there kind of isn't. But that's not to say there's no fun to be had in Microsoft's big pirate adventure at all - there's plenty! You just gotta find it (and kill a lot of skeletons in the process). And that's exactly what Mike intends to do as he sets sail in search of a bit of good old fashioned ocean-friendship.

Mike takes a look at the second half of the Kickstarter Demo for The Beast Inside, an upcoming horror game from the team over at PlayWay. Promising a gripping new twist on thriller and survival horror genres, The Beast Inside is an ambitious project aiming for near photo-realistic graphics as it sets out to tell a multi-layered story about cryptanalyst discovering a hundred-year-old murder-mystery that not only remains unresolved, but also puts his very life at risk. If the demo is anything to go by, this is definitely one to keep an eye on.

Mike takes a look at The Apartment, a small psychological thriller comprising of a unique mix of first person detective adventuring, action and psychological horror - all tied together with a dark and heavy story where the lines between reality and nightmare have seemingly no meaning anymore.

After a longer than normal hiatus, Mike returns to take a look at Alaska, developed by one man 'Orion Moon' at Wreck Tangle Games. Alaska aims to give players a week in the life of Blake, an Alaskan man living a simple life in a small remote community. Go fishing, ice skating and hunting with your neighbours as you live out your days in the Final Frontier. That is, until the truth is discovered...

Mike takes an overdue look at Emily Wants To Play Too, the jump scare filled sequel to 2015's Emily Wants To Play. Emily Wants to Play Too is a survival horror game about a sandwich delivery guy that gets locked inside an evidence processing and storage office building by living dolls. The dolls have "work" to do here and are gathering new friends. They don't want to be disturbed... and you've disturbed them. The Demo acts as something of a prologue to these events, seeing you waking up the day after a hectic party at your house and attempting to get ready for a days work, only... you may have a few unwanted guests. With randomised events and some very creepy happenings, the demo alone has a ton of replay value, and enough scares to stop you sleeping for a week.

Mike continues his look at Inmates, a story-driven, atmospheric psychological horror game set inside an abandoned prison. After a difficult first meeting with 'Roy', Mike finds himself lost deep within the basement underbelly of the prison. Armed with little more than a never ending supply of matches, and brief snippets of advice from the mysterious Ben, Mike desperately tries to figure out what's going and make it out alive. However, the more he learns about the place, the more he starts to realise... this is no ordinary prison.

Mike takes a look at Inmates, a story-driven, atmospheric psychological horror game set within the confines of an abandoned prison. After waking from a particularly bad nightmare, Jonathan finds himself in a seedy prison cell with no clue how he got there. Surely he's still dreaming? A eerily familiar dream, but a dream none the less. However, if the voice coming from the old radio is to be believed, things may not be as straight forward as they appear - and escaping the prison, not quite as simple as just waking up.

Mike takes a look at the alpha demo for Heliophobia, a dark first-person horror/mystery presented with a non-linear narrative. While the game follows a distinct story, the order of levels, events, and numerous environmental factors are different for each player. Ultimately, everyone will be able to uncover and interpret the overarching story, and the sinister world surrounding it - in their own way. with a unique visual style and glitch-like presentation, Heliophobia could prove to be something very interesting indeed.

Mike takes a look at Bonbon, a new horror game by Aetheric Games that plays out in first person from a young child's perspective. Bonbon is about experiencing the objects and events around you, and as your parents increasingly demonstrate their absence, you spend time with Bonbon, a large, overbearing and ambiguous visitor... With faithful re-creations of some classic real world  toys, Bonbon is great to look at - and while short, it manages to tell a dark personal story in a genuinely compelling and unique way.

Mike takes a look at Home Sweet Home, a new first person indie horror game based on Thai myths and beliefs. After waking in a strange unfamiliar house, Tim finds himself haunted by an evil spirit. As curious as he is, he thinks it's best to just leave.

Mike takes a look at Devil in the Pines, a recently released indie horror game that sees you wandering cursed woods with a crossbow in search of a key to the nearby mines, where the solution to healing your very sick daughter will apparently present itself, or something. Roughly translated that means it's dark, and things are going to suddenly come out of nowhere to get you. And they do. Devil in the Pines is a simple, brutal, and unforgiving horror game that may very well be hiding more beneath the surface than it first appears, for those willing to take the challenge.

To mark the PS4 and Xbox One release of TheHunter: Call of the Wild, Mike decides to jump back into the game in order to achieve something he's never been able to before... a successful hunt. So, armed with his shiny new ATV, its onboard computer, a par of binoculars and a Resident Evil zombie call, he sets off for Petershain; in search of a new adventure as... Wildlife Cop.

Mike takes a look at the recently released first chapter of indie adventure - Resurgence. After crashing his car and losing track of his daughter, our hero, stranded in the mountains; armed with a compass, a dead mobile phone, a torch, and a scrap book he's just started making, is left with only one option - he must catch the bus to the casino, and have words with whoever is behind all this. "All what?" We hear you ask... *ahem* ...now there's a fine question. This game has some unusual storytelling techniques.

As something a little bit different, Mike shares his first full playthrough of London Heist, part of the VR Worlds compilation available on PlayStation VR. After stumbling somewhat hap-hazardly into dealings with some shady types, Mike gets swept along through a carefully orchestrated diamond heist, and all that comes with it. Whilst never intended to be made into an actual lets play video, and instead acting as a test for the Playstation 4's game capture facilities using the PSVR built in microphone, the results aren't half bad - and so, you're seeing them now. If you'd like to see more VR stuff going forwards, let us know in the comments below. Just bear in mind this as recorded unplanned and unrehearsed, on the fly during the small hours of the night and is presented here largely unedited.