Batho[tel]

It's great that the game tells you what to do if you're having performance issues, but it'd be better if doing that actually worked. Which it didn't for me, the game was very laggy for my entire playthrough. I was also unable to read the [spoiler] report sheet [/spoiler] without lowering or removing the 'grunge' filter because it was extremely blurry. It built a decent atmosphere and there's some intrigue to the story but I can't recommend it due to how poorly it ran. Hopefully it's just a me issue though.

A short little horror game with some simple puzzles and hiding mechanics. I enjoyed it for what it was! The environment was particularly interesting to me.

I can’t say I really understand what’s going on in Bathotel. You’re walking through endless hallways, haunted by static. Also, there are rats and candles everywhere. It’s obviously a limbo of sorts, where you only get to explore in two directions. I think part of what makes it work is that no two hallways are alike. Not even on repeat visits. Which gives the experience a maze-like quality where everything is fleeting, and you never know what’s ahead.. It’s… [i]okay[/i]. But definitely not for everyone.

[h2]Hotel for Baddies[/h2] When playing games like this, I often wish there was a neutral recommendation option because, in my opinion, it doesn't quite deserve a definitive good or bad rating. First of all its a short game, you are in a hotel and you have to open doors listen to radio's for a bit of lore. But overall there isn't a lot going on. You walk in one direction untill you can't anymore then you walk sort of back. The reason why I said sort of is because the rooms keep changing but it doesnt really matter too much. You dont get lost. There aren't really hints which way to go. You just make it somehow. The one upside is that there are mice you can pickup and throw (I have no idea why it has this mechanic but I'll take it) You can glitch the mice so they stay with you forever in stead of them running away like they're supposed to At some point a monster appears and you have to hide in the dark once in a while, while pickping up objects. I personally dont really get the story behind this game or the appeal of the gameplay. I do want to say its not a buggy or glitchy game. it works fine all the mechanics work fine. its just that there isn't a lot going on. [b]Game Aspect…

It's not bad. And for all the price of it, it's at least competently made. No bugs or issues, but it was just lacking a little bit in sense of threat. Accidentally stumbled into the monster early on and after restarting following that, nothing really held a sense of danger. You basically walk back and forth through a looping, neverending corridor which changes and morphs behind your back, solving fairly basic puzzles. All told it took about 40 minutes to complete. If you're a horror game completionist who must play everything horror that's out there, then you could do a lot worse.

Neat as a concept, quickly wears out it's welcome with fairly asinine puzzles and boils down to little more than the kind of free project you would expect from Itch.io or gamejolt. Don't know that it's worth two dollars, don't know that I would recommend it even for free. Far too willing to waste your time and no real payoff to make up for it.