The Hole

I really tried with this game, to the point I went on suicide missions hoping to find new information, and new clues, but every time I thought I made progress, the game laughed cruelly spitting me back out into an already thoroughly investigated area, immediately dousing what growing hope I had that the game was going to make sense. This has the same problem that Scorn had, it's not as bad by presenting what you need, but there is no intuitive way to solve how. I was reading terminals, and they were giving me clues, until they weren't, I had to quit because I had virtually made no progress in an hour. There is also a lot of gore for the sake of having gore. I was pretty into the game when I first started, had high hopes, and I'm sad that the game fell so flat.

This is a GREAT game. I can tell by the reviews it's not universally loved, and I totally get why. But for me, the game is perfect. I think I a lot of people may not give this game the proper chance. Though the location is just a single building, that building is penitentiary, with 4 cellblocks, and a ton of administrative offices and whatnot. Meaning, it's a pretty big map and so far I have bit run into any map, and I hope I don't. A lot of this game is going to be learning to get around the penitentiary. I've put in about 10 sessions so far and according to Steam, it's says I've played 3 hours, but I've surely played longer, or it seems that way anyways. To me there are two things that make the game great to me, the fact that it's free, and there's a whole lot of building to explore. I made some major movement in the game today and so stopped and saved the game. I've been playing the game off and on for the past few months and I just personally enjoy the process of exploring and memorizing large map/world layouts. Plus I need to figure out what's going on in this prison and why there's some murderous alien chasing me around and why it's ripping bodies in half.

Didnt really enjoy it. Too many codes to remember. Interaction didnt always work and the guy runs like hes on ice

I like the atmosphere, for the most part. The first time I played, I made it through undoing some generators/circuits/whatever, then was killed from behind by a creature I didn't know existed. Then I was booted back to the start of the section, losing what felt like a lot of progress. That was enough for me to abandon it, but the game stayed in my mind so I booted it up for a second time a few days later. I made a bit more progress. Then... the doors stopped responding to me. If they were shut, they wouldn't open. If they were open, they wouldn't shut. Rendering it impossible to progress. And no, grade school level joke names =/= comedy. It just draws you out of the immersion. It's too bad. I see potential. I might even try a third time, months or years from now when I forget how frustrated I was. But I wouldn't bother if I were you.

The Hole is a game where the devs took one concept— > “What if there was a hole?” > and committed to it so hard it actually works. You: * See a hole * Investigate the hole * Make at least 7 bad decisions involving the hole That’s the plot. That’s the mechanic. That’s your life now. --- ### Pros * Peak horror minimalism: one house, one hole, 400 red flags you ignore because “what’s the worst that could happen?” * Environmental storytelling done right: * Notes: “Do **NOT** go near the hole.” * You: immediate hole enthusiast. * Sound design goes crazy for no reason. You’ll hear one *distant* thump and suddenly remember every mistake you’ve ever made. * Short enough to beat in a night, long enough that you’ll be side-eyeing any dark spot on your floor for the rest of the week. * 10/10 use of a flashlight as both a lighting tool and a portable anxiety amplifier. --- ### Cons * Your character has the survival instincts of a YouTube vlogger: “Is that an ominous abyss in my house? Let’s go check it out at 2 a.m.” * 90% of gameplay is walking toward things you would absolutely walk away from in real life. * No matter how carefully you approach, you *will* get jump-scared righ…

Weak horror: cliched fears, bugs, empty levels, atmosphere doesn't grab you.