Knock-Knock

I was enjoying this game despite its simplicity up until the very end, where progressing through the game as usual suddenly caused me to get an instant game over. Like, not a special bad endings game over, but a regular one. Why? I honestly still don't know. Knock Knock has a very basic repeating gameplay loop of 1) turning a clock inside your house, 2) wandering around a forest, and 3) doing the actual horror gameplay where you deal with actual threats. None of the mechanics in the game are really explained past the tutorials, so you must simply stumble through the game to the best of your ability until you figure out what allows you to get through the part of the game with threats. And it lets you proceed, except there are apparently 4 different endings (one being the aforementioned one, which is just a regular game over where the ending is supposed to be) that rely on actions you do and do not take through the game. Partway through the game, a meter suddenly appears, but the game never explains what it's for, how or why it takes damage, or what the consequences for it running out before the last level are. I'm all for in-game actions affecting the ending, but only if those actions make some shred of sense and there's some understanding of consequences for actions. By simply playing through the game to the best of my ability, I've somehow prevented myself from experiencing any ending whatsoever. I don't expect to get the best ending playing a game on my first playthrough, but I do expect AN ending. As it stands, my reward for spending $10 and hours of my time was what most people would assume was a programming error that prevented the game from concluding. Considering it takes quite some time to do a playthrough, I decided to just look up the endings on Youtube. I'd recommend just watching a let's play of this game unless you can get it for a couple of bucks on sale.

I've been getting into horror oriented games lately because I find they often have rich stories and characters, as well as give me a good scare. And this game certainly doesn't disappoint. With a basic yet intriguing plot and creepy design this game sets a mood that prays of the fear it brings. Not to mention the gameplay is great especially later on when new points of strategy are added. Highly recommended.

The review title pretty much sums up my feelings for Knock-Knock. I love horror games of all shapes and sizes and this one looked like it had so much potential! I immediately fell in love with the game's charming art style, but unfortunately that's probably the best part of the game. The gameplay is pretty simple. You wander around some houses, repair lights in each room while avoiding spooky ghosts, and wait for the sun to rise. I got bored of the repetetive gameplay very quickly. The game is also very short. It only took me about 2 and a half hours to complete it. Supposedly there are different endings or things you can find by playing through it again, but I didn't even bother. The story was another disappointment for me. That's because there is no story. You'll find the occasional note and the guy you play as will spout off some random sentences here and there, but it's so vague and nonsensical that I didn't even care to figure it out. It was like the writers for Knock-Knock wanted fans to generate theories about their game's story so badly that they didn't even bother to create one themselves. The graphics and sound design are probably the best part of the game. Hearing doors slam shut and lightbulbs pop around the house was genuinely creepy and startled me a couple of times. Overall it really isn't a very scary game though. I either felt bored or frustrated while playing it. Boredom because of its repetetive nature (and the stupid forest segments that seem completely pointless!) and frustration because sometimes this game would pull out some cheap tricks. The only times that I ever died in the game were when a ghost spawned on top of me or spawned right in front of the only exit to the room that I was in. I'm giving it a 3 instead of a 2 for one reason: I bought it on sale. The regular price is $10 I believe and I would say that it is definitely not worth that much. If you aboslutely feel like you need to buy this game, wait for it to go on sale again.

First impressions - Certainly not going to be to everyone's tastes, but is a wonderfully strange experience, ostensibly an Icepick Lodge (the Void, Pathologic) game. Looks nice - I especially enjoy watching the Lodger harrumphing about like an aggrieved caretaker - sounds nice, if a little repetitive, and plays nice, although the mechanics are decidedly minimalist. At this point, I would implore that, while I understand research must be done, don't seek out the mechanics of the game discussed in mechanical terms. This game may be fairly simple and give straightforward instructions at first, but after a few basics Knock-Knock! becomes more enigmatic, and that's what I'm enjoying. Once again, not to everyone's taste, but it's not trying to be. Fans of Icepick Lodge have probably already applied; anyone else searching for something unconventional, apply here!