I like the idea of collecting a bunch of short horror games from some really talented devs so I was all about this and have been wanting to play one of the Dread X Collections for some time now. The presentation is nice and I like the addition of little manuals of sorts along with a recording/note to go with each game that gives a teaser of what you’re about to get into. Since the games vary so much, my overall rating took the average and my individual ratings for each game with thoughts can be seen below in a ranked order:
Summer Night 7.5/10
So much to like about this one and does a lot of particular things that I enjoy in a game all in a short session. I can’t say more but its certainly worth a play going in blind!
Pony Factory 6/10
It felt satisfying to actually get through levels here because of how bad I was at the game but I found the true fear came from just trying to make it to the next floor due to my lack of skills. Also enjoyed the gun and flashlight swapping. I think this might actually be pretty good if you’re into shooters like Doom, but they aren’t particularly my type of game so don’t write this one off on my input alone.
Hand of Doom 6/10
Aesthetic and music is pretty cool. Also really love the idea of creating the incantations and using the grimoire to solve problems and cast spells.
Shatter 5.5/10
I like the music in this one. The story and world interested me, but the gameplay itself felt a bit lacking. Shows potential but stand alone doesn’t provide a ton. I do think it is something I would have checked out if it was turned into a full game though. After a bit of research it looks like I’ve had one of the developers other games on my wishlist for the past couple years and it just made it’s full release a few days ago. I liked this enough to want to play that even more.
Outsiders 5.5/10
I like that this appears to be setting up a full game with the ending, but the gameplay itself wasn’t particularly riveting on its own.
Mr. Bucket Told Me To 5/10
I got both endings for this one and the basic survival mechanics and concept interested me but it felt lacking something special. Surprisingly found out after playing that the dev team for this included the writer for one of my favorite games Hypnospace Outlaw, and it looks like as a development team they’ve put out some other well liked games as well.
The Pay is Nice 5/10
The real horror was making me think I was going to have to do math.
Don’t Go Out 4/10
I started to like it a bit the more I understood how to play but it just felt a bit less polished than I would have liked with nothing super interesting mechanic wise for me.
Rotgut 4/10
Unnerving to play and did a good job building that atmosphere but not strong enough to warrant a higher rating from me personally. Also contained a bug in the launcher where when I reloaded the Dread X collection it no longer was scratched off as completed but that does not factor into my rating, just wanted to mention it here in case anyone else suffers from this and to warn them to maybe play it last so it counts as completing all the games. I fixed it by opening and closing Rotgut again and it counted as being scratched off after I initially beat it once.
Carthanc 3.5/10
Man the music on this is pretty damn good but it really frustrated me to play due to the little enemies in the main area that chase you around and felt more like a nuisance than actually adding anything to the game. When I would spawn back in I’d frequently get spawn killed and it felt like I had to keep respawning hoping to get lucky enough the AI wouldn’t see me so I could pick back up where I left off. I expected to like this one a lot based on the description but the enemies in the hub area really killed my ability to enjoy this as much as I think I could have. There was honestly very little I liked about the game outside of the music and if it wasn’t the last game I needed to complete to get everything crossed off in this collection I probably would’ve abandoned it and/or just watched a walkthrough.
Summer Night 7.5/10
So much to like about this one and does a lot of particular things that I enjoy in a game all in a short session. I can’t say more but its certainly worth a play going in blind!
Pony Factory 6/10
It felt satisfying to actually get through levels here because of how bad I was at the game but I found the true fear came from just trying to make it to the next floor due to my lack of skills. Also enjoyed the gun and flashlight swapping. I think this might actually be pretty good if you’re into shooters like Doom, but they aren’t particularly my type of game so don’t write this one off on my input alone.
Hand of Doom 6/10
Aesthetic and music is pretty cool. Also really love the idea of creating the incantations and using the grimoire to solve problems and cast spells.
Shatter 5.5/10
I like the music in this one. The story and world interested me, but the gameplay itself felt a bit lacking. Shows potential but stand alone doesn’t provide a ton. I do think it is something I would have checked out if it was turned into a full game though. After a bit of research it looks like I’ve had one of the developers other games on my wishlist for the past couple years and it just made it’s full release a few days ago. I liked this enough to want to play that even more.
Outsiders 5.5/10
I like that this appears to be setting up a full game with the ending, but the gameplay itself wasn’t particularly riveting on its own.
Mr. Bucket Told Me To 5/10
I got both endings for this one and the basic survival mechanics and concept interested me but it felt lacking something special. Surprisingly found out after playing that the dev team for this included the writer for one of my favorite games Hypnospace Outlaw, and it looks like as a development team they’ve put out some other well liked games as well.
The Pay is Nice 5/10
The real horror was making me think I was going to have to do math.
Don’t Go Out 4/10
I started to like it a bit the more I understood how to play but it just felt a bit less polished than I would have liked with nothing super interesting mechanic wise for me.
Rotgut 4/10
Unnerving to play and did a good job building that atmosphere but not strong enough to warrant a higher rating from me personally. Also contained a bug in the launcher where when I reloaded the Dread X collection it no longer was scratched off as completed but that does not factor into my rating, just wanted to mention it here in case anyone else suffers from this and to warn them to maybe play it last so it counts as completing all the games. I fixed it by opening and closing Rotgut again and it counted as being scratched off after I initially beat it once.
Carthanc 3.5/10
Man the music on this is pretty damn good but it really frustrated me to play due to the little enemies in the main area that chase you around and felt more like a nuisance than actually adding anything to the game. When I would spawn back in I’d frequently get spawn killed and it felt like I had to keep respawning hoping to get lucky enough the AI wouldn’t see me so I could pick back up where I left off. I expected to like this one a lot based on the description but the enemies in the hub area really killed my ability to enjoy this as much as I think I could have. There was honestly very little I liked about the game outside of the music and if it wasn’t the last game I needed to complete to get everything crossed off in this collection I probably would’ve abandoned it and/or just watched a walkthrough.