The Initiate

I played around 3 hours and decided not to continue. On paper, this should have worked for me. It has mystery, horror elements, locked rooms, hidden clues, puzzles, and that classic “wake up somewhere strange while a mysterious voice talks to you” setup. Basically, all the ingredients for a good little escape-room-style puzzle game. But in practice, it just became frustrating. The biggest issue is the puzzle design. Some puzzles are almost too easy, with answers handed to you in a very direct way. Others go completely in the opposite direction and feel too obscure, leaving me wandering around trying to figure out what the game even wants from me. Maybe part of that is on me. Sure. But I’ve played a lot of puzzle games, and this one rarely gave me that satisfying “aha!” moment. It was more like “oh, okay…” or “what am I supposed to do now?” The controls also don’t help. They are not terrible, but they feel clunky enough to make exploration less enjoyable. The camera movement started making me a little dizzy after a couple of hours, which was probably the final push I needed to stop. Presentation is a mixed bag. The graphics look dated, though that is easier to forgive consi…

The Initiate is a first-person puzzle and mystery game created by Deceptive Games Ltd., placing players in a tense scenario where logic, observation, and curiosity become the primary tools for survival. The story begins with the player assuming the role of Nathan Rockford, a man who wakes up inside an unfamiliar house with no recollection of how he arrived there. What initially appears to be a normal residential environment quickly reveals itself to be part of a carefully orchestrated trial. A mysterious voice begins communicating with Nathan through speakers hidden around the house, calmly informing him that he has been selected to participate in a test. To escape, he must solve a series of increasingly complex puzzles scattered throughout the building. From that moment onward, the game unfolds as a psychological puzzle challenge where the player must explore the house, uncover clues, and gradually piece together the truth behind the strange experiment. Rather than presenting its narrative through cinematic storytelling or direct exposition, The Initiate reveals its story slowly through environmental clues, scattered documents, and cryptic messages left behind throughout the hous…

2/10 Groucho Marx: “I wouldn't want to belong to a club that would have me as a member.” Me: “I wouldn't want to be an initiate to a cult that would put me through The Initiate as initiation.” If you're versed in ancient PC games, you might pick up The 7th Guest vibes: wandering a (less-haunted) puzzle house while an antagonistic voice equal parts roots for and against your success. Unlike that game's discrete logic puzzles, The Initiate relies on the connected fluidity of an escape room. The puzzles are fine. Too many missable, pixel-hunting items and overly straightforward data collection/direction following. But if it were IRL, it'd be a kick-ass escape room. The sound design is so bad it's a distraction. I'm 90% sure opening doors produces the exact AOL Instant Messenger "friend sign-on" MIDI. For those too young to know what that means, trust me, it was a sick burn. The plot is also terrible, but mercifully sparse and meaningless enough to ignore. But the worst part of an already bad experience is the bugs. Saving and restarting can cause previously found items to reappear as infinitely collectible duplicates. Worse still, even if you have the patience to bear The Initia…

Very nice puzzle game, many different interesting puzzles and all of them not too easy, Nice that game don`t advice you too much. This type of games need to play without guides because with guide you are ruining your joy and game is not worth money. Without guides length is nice. Game is described "Horror" but i don`t feel horror 98% of the time so don`t wait scary game or any spooky things. I Got this discounted so i give 7/10. If you like brain/puzzle/escape room style of games worth a try.

The game is fun by itself, but what really shines is the hours of content you get when completing it and trying the ARG. Please try this, we need help!

I dont like it I found it boring.