Offlate, there have been lots of ways developers are reimagining tried-and-tested gameplay. No longer are games regurgitated products of titles you’ve played before. Rather, innovative concepts you’ve likely yet to see. Such is the case in Is This Game Trying to Kill Me?, which creatively puts up a clever twist on escape room puzzle games.
Instead of merely attempting to break out of an enclosed room through exploring your surroundings and identifying clues to puzzles, the new game comes up with a MS-DOS computer game that seamlessly integrates to the “real” world. It’s essentially playing a game within a game that manages to capture a fresh sense of wonder and suspense.
Come along as we explore all the perfect little things about the new game, as well as some mechanics that missed the mark, in our Is This Game Trying to Kill Me? review below.
Thanks a Skele-ton
Right off the bat, Is This Game Trying to Kill Me? sets a dark, eerie atmospheric pace for the rest of its playthrough. It puts you in a gloomy, rusty cabin out in the middle of a dense forest. You control an unknown protagonist who finds themselves trapped inside the cabin.
Very little explanation is given to explain why you’re here. However, since you wake up next to a skeleton lying stricken on a bed, it’s clear that you’re in danger of never leaving this place. Frantically, you begin pacing around the tiny, compact room looking for clues. Although the room doesn’t have much, it fits just enough curious pieces to pull you in further in what’s to come.
I absolutely love the art style of Is This Game Trying to Kill Me? The developers sure have put in the effort to create an aesthetic that stands out from the crowd. This is definitely a horror game, with first-person exploration around the cabin. And while all the colors are dark, gloomy palettes, they work excellently to double down on the sense of dread hanging loosely in the air.
Meanwhile, a tense, bone-chilling music score plays in the background. It rings on and on as you wander around looking for ways to hatch an escape plan. Now, some gamers may find the soundtrack a little bland. It seldom changes its beat, even in moments where you can cut the tension with a knife. But, overall, it's not too bad to cause a migraine.
Hey, Boo
As the suspense grows, you spot a yellow balloon flying into the sky through the window, after which a nightmarish ghoulie breaks through the window threatening to kill you. The ghoulie introduces themselves as the owner of the cabin here to give you nightmares and downright frighten you to death. He gives you an out, though, to escape from their grasp. All you have to do is play along. Simple right?
Before you lies a rusty MS-DOS computer with a retro-style arcade game ready to play. The ghoulie says that if you can beat the game, they will let you escape. So, you breathe a quick “phew!” sigh of relief, hoping you don’t end up like the skeleton still lying stricken on the bed. It goes without saying that losing the arcade game will come at a high cost. The price of losing the game is your life.
As much as the premise is quite intriguing, though, Is This Game Trying to Kill Me?, unfortunately, never builds on the story from there. We barely churn through enough dialogue to find out more about our protagonist or the ghoulie. And even if the characters are already interesting folks you desperately want to dig deeper into their backstories and motives, the game wraps up a little too soon to put those missing pieces together.
Will You Be My Ghoul Friend?
I guess, to an extent, the premise being an excellent tease does enough to keep you intrigued through to the end. But on the other hand, there are some gamers who’ll likely want a little more from the story. The short story is further detracted by the relatively short runtime of the full game. At just around two to three hours, you’ll have wrapped up the entire game.
Unless you’re looking to uncover all the secrets and achievement, there isn’t much that will entice you to jump back in for multiple playthroughs. This can be a downer for gamers who feel the content here isn’t justifiable of the $12.74 asking price on Steam. Mind you, that price tag is a Steam offer that will end on November 26, after which the game will jump back to the original $14.99.
Still, some gamers will find the content here is more than enough for the asking price. In fact, the puzzles you tackle are constantly different and unpredictable. And so is the content that never ceases to surprise you. Combined, you enjoy a rewarding and meaty playthrough that feels worth every minute spent in the game. Now, more on the actual content of the game…
A Thousand Scare-Triffic Ways to Die
Jumping into the MS-DOS arcade game, you’ll control a 2D character running around maze-like stages. Each stage brings its own puzzle to solve. Now, the unique take here is that solving the puzzles isn’t always restricted to the computer game. Some solutions actually need you to exit the game and explore the cabin itself in first-person for clues. It’s often a constant jump into and out of the computer game to progress through the levels.
Even more interesting, some of the mistakes you make in the computer game will have consequences for your protagonist in the cabin. You can make mistakes that set off deadly traps –and oh my, there are a heck of a lot of scare-triffic ways to die in the cabin. It’s a nice touch also that the character in the computer game actually doesn’t get scathed. But the player controlling the game, or, otherwise, you, suffers the consequences of a poorly thought-out maneuver around the levels.
This isn’t to say that the puzzles, whether in the computer game or the cabin itself, are too difficult to solve. If anything, they pose a reasonable amount of challenge that keeps you engaged without ever feeling frustrated. Upon solving the puzzles, you enjoy a sense of reward for reaching the solution and managing to keep your character alive. Moreover, if you happen to get stuck, which is entirely possible to have no idea of where you need to go or how to navigate the puzzles, you can always hit the hint tool and get quick help to proceed.
Take a Coffin Break
Worth mentioning is the multiple endings that really span out the quality of the content in the game. You never know what’s coming, which constantly keeps you guessing and alert. Whether it’s the puzzles or the secrets you discover in the cabin, Is This Game Trying to Kill Me? often always has a trick or two up its sleeve. Part of this is the immense variety of the puzzles you’ll be solving –and the ways in which you’ll be solving them.
But also, the game has a ton of ways you could die. And the death animations are almost always gory and pretty cool. You could have spikes pummel through you or fall endlessly into a bottomless pit. You could set off a grenade or suffer the piercing tentacles of a gigantic spider, and so much more. All of these are pretty horrific as well, further amping the ante of the horrors you experience in the cabin.
Verdict
Is This Game Trying to Kill Me? is quite a breath of fresh air. Given the multitude of puzzle horror games out there, it’s nice to see Safety Snail try their hand at an innovative concept and come out swinging. Said innovation is the MS-DOS computer game that you must play to escape a scary cabin filled with deadly traps.
The interactions you make in the cabin reflect in the computer game, and vice versa. This includes the clues you search for to solve puzzles in the cabin or computer game. But also the mistakes you make that kill you, which plays out in such merciless ways, you almost want to avoid dying at any cost.
At the very least, the puzzles find the perfect balance between challenging and fun. They are never too difficult to solve and only in a few instances do you get stuck. But even then, you can always use the hint feature to get clues on how to proceed.
Either way, working out the solution to puzzles brings a high level of satisfaction and constantly keeps you craving for more through to the end of the game, which is why the fact that Is This Game Trying to Kill Me? wraps up a bit too soon may be a deal breaker for some.
At just two to three hours, you’ll be done with the entire game with little reason to jump back in. The same goes for the story, which is quite scarce. The minor cons aside, though, Is This Game Trying to Kill Me? feels well worth every minute spent in the game. It plays seamlessly and is engaging enough to enjoy making your escape from the deadly cabin.
