Very well done! Extremely unnerving, and you managed to keep the child's belief of 'if I can't see it, it'll go away' real without losing any of the fear. Excellent!
Reviews for "Little Phobia"
Excellent game all around. I managed to unlock more secrets than there are in the achievements section :) Start the game, jump on the bed and continue jumping to the left...you'll end up in the air on invisible platforms :) After this if you leave your room try jumping in the air and you will float through the rest of the game (you will walk on an invisible platform around 2 cm above the floor). Excellent sounds and atmosphere. 5/5 easy.
This is pretty much what I went through today when my car died in the middle of a busy intersection.
Very small, but very effective game. It utilizes all of its components to produce an interesting realistic experience. It allows experiencing space through the senses of a frightened child and thus represents some psychological truth, while also presenting very well applied together platformer elements, thus ensuring that gameplay experience through the whole game become more and more intense as the rules change and new sensory elements come to play essential role in the play.
I have to say, that my three major criterions in any game analysis are the extent to which game utilizes its gameplay mechanics, how this mechanics interact with the story and artistic style to produce an integral aesthetic experience of a game, and how fun and interesting this experience is to me.
First off, I think that platformer mechanics in this game are some of the best I've experienced in many games on NG so far. The "close your eyes when you are scared" mechanic is very simple, yet very original and ties into the setting perfectly. Each new spook puts both your reaction and sensual awareness to the test; game constantly holds you on the edge of toes, as with each new corridor segment you have to pay more and more attention to your surrounding objects, movements and even sounds. It is particularly good for (re)creating the child experience of walking down the dark corridor, spooking from each and every shadow and rustle and imagining things behind the corners. Achievements add another dimension to the space exploration experience, motivating to try to invent new ways of traversing the corridor and dealing with your environment. My only complaint is of technical nature: sometimes jumps and overall movements seem to lag, which cause some gameplay annoyances when in the sections that require precise and timely jumping.
Graphics and sounds add that something that is required for the game's space to be experienced as an actual environment and thus - to feel actual thrill and fear. Opening music sets mood very well. Sound effects are as appropriate as they are terrifying. Noteworthy, closer to the end of the game sounds, heretofore serving just as elements of atmosphere, become central "attractions", as you are supposed to listen to them closely and react properly at certain circumstances. Visual style of the game is very appropriate and, as with sounds, creates sheer amount of visual (like scary eyes on the corners of the screen) and interactive (like spooky mirror, that cracks upon looking at it) details, serving as a vital instrument for the tickling of player's senses. Finally, the story (or the premise, since there is no story) is, in my opinion, very simple and sufficient at the same time. The goal is ridiculously simple, but it is the child's imagination that creates the entire story with all the obstacles and dangers.
Overall, I think this game is a fine example of how much meaningful experience can be created with so little and in such a basic format. Such a small and seemingly insignificant themes are probably not to be explored in some bigger game formats; a story about a child going to the bathroom at night is hardly deserving what can be called a "full", or just a bigger game. Nevertheless, this small experience is extremely well captured, recreated and expanded in this game, that feels like a small quasi-humorous expressionist novelette.
This Game is Totally Scared me, and that's awesome point. of course this game is hard - but that's the point.