Vartio

Really neat and small experience! Remind me of old and small game experiences like Calm Time and Hide (2012) :D

What a waste of time.

The game concept and artstyle is cool, sound design is at least ok, maybe better than just ok. However, the problem lies in that the game introduces the core that is useless - it's completely linear, or at the very least, feels like so. At some point you just give up on trying to explore anything, because you expect these actions to be useless. Hope one day we would see a proper realization of this game's idea in one form or another. But right now, it feels and plays like a usual itch io bite-sized title. Support the developer tho, it's evident that they could do more - despite having broken core, artstyle and immersion is pretty much on the page, they just need a push or a support to make complete titles I believe.

Vartio is a brief psychological horror experience built around a simple but effective premise: being alone in a place where every sound and shadow can become a potential threat. Developed by Pepperbox Studios and published by indie.io, it casts the player as a medieval guardsman assigned to patrol the wilderness surrounding an isolated watchtower. What begins as an ordinary night watch gradually develops into something far more unsettling as suspicious noises, disturbing discoveries, and increasingly strange events make the player question what is actually waiting beyond the torchlight. The game draws much of its strength from restraint. Instead of relying heavily on combat, complicated puzzles, or relentless enemy encounters, it focuses on exploration and psychological tension. Walking through the forest becomes the central activity, but the darkness surrounding the player ensures that even simple movement carries a degree of anxiety. Visibility is intentionally limited, making distant shapes difficult to identify and encouraging the imagination to turn harmless scenery into possible danger. The feeling of being watched becomes increasingly important, and the game succeeds when t…

Visually deceptive and very unnerving sound design. Very much worth the price.

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