Hidden Gems: Free Unknown Games

[BandorKitty]

Like the title says, I’d like to share some free games I love that I feel don’t get the attention they deserve. If you have any contributions you’d like to share, please feel free to comment. Also, you may not want to read any further if you don't want to read about heavy topics such as suicide.

 

The Strange Men Series (Adventure, Puzzle Solving, Horror)

 

This series was created by Uri, a solo developer from Japan. The games centre around a cast of characters and their encounters with “Strange Men”. I’ll give you a brief rundown of each game, no major spoilers.

 

The Crooked Man – David Hoover has just moved into a new apartment after a break up with his fiancée. However, many strange and frightening events begin to happen around the apartment, and as a result David finds some items that lead him on a hunt around the city looking for information about the previous tenant. On his travels, he runs across a few people who may or may not be related to the grisly man that has taken a liking to his soul.

 

The Sandman – Sophie Grundler has been suffering from insomnia for the last few weeks, the reason unknown to her. One night, she notices that the clock has stopped ticking, and with it everyone in her town as fallen into a deep sleep, unable to be disturbed. She eventually finds her way to the fairy world, where she meets the mysterious Sandman, who has decided to curse the world with eternal rest.

 

The Boogie Man – After an incident with the media about a case gone wrong, Keith Baring, a cold detective who only has his mind on his job, reluctantly takes his boss’ heavily suggested advice to take a holiday with his wife, Helena. The destination is an old historic castle that has been renovated to attract tourists from all over. While struggling to enjoy what the castle has to offer, Keith has an opportunity to repair the gradually deteriorating relationship with Helena. Before this can get underway, however, a serial killer calling himself “The Boogie Man” emerges from the shadows to create a life or death game where the only the most cunning can survive. Helena has gone missing, and the rest of the castle's inhabitants have either been killed or are in grave danger. It's up to Keith to unmask the perpetrator, or die trying.

 

The Hanged Man – Will Morton is a young runaway, only carrying the clothes on his back and his talking rat, Pop. After causing trouble at a local shop, he makes an escape from his cousin’s house and takes shelter in an old abandoned mental hospital. Shortly after, Pop goes missing. As Will searches for him, he runs into a few familiar faces from his past. He must learn to come to terms with his position and discover how the past and the present intertwine to save both his life and the lives of some new friends.

 

The main drawing point from these games are the story telling. Uri knows how to tell a strong story, both on the surface and underneath. Each story may stand on its own, or if you play the games in order, you may discover hidden call backs. The one of the main themes of each game is personal demons, as all the villains are a manifestation of their respective character’s inner turmoil and strained relationships. Each character is fleshed out in its own right, and all recurring characters have some sort of connection to each other. I’d like to delve more into the themes and analyse them, but I believe the games are best experienced with little knowledge about what’s to come. Instead, I’ll give you a brief overview of the mechanics of the games.

 

The games themselves are varying in quality, getting better as they go on. The Crooked Man is rather simple. Solve a few puzzles to progress the story and occasionally run from the Crooked Man or do a short boss fight. The bad endings are also rather easy to come across and avoid. Pick the wrong choice from the presented dialogue and a short bad end cutscene shall play. Then reload to continue the game. The Sandman ups the challenge a bit, with more varying puzzles, mini game sections and improved chase sequences. The endings to this game are a lot more diverse than The Crooked Man, requiring multiple playthroughs to see them all. The Boogie Man is the first game in the series to have voice acting, and although the voice actors are not professionals, they do a great job at playing their characters. Rarely is there a moment where the acting breaks the immersion. So far, this is the game that feels most like a real game with choices that affect the story, and could quite possibly be the best in the series. There are choices, both obvious and requiring exploration, from early on that affect the ending you get. The imagery in this game is also much more brutal than the previous games. The final game in this series (so far, there is a new game coming soon, although it is more of a spinoff) is the Hanged Man. It sits between The Sandman and The Boogie Man in terms of story and quality. Although it does have a standalone story, it also serves a purpose to give a final conclusion to the recurring characters’ stories. This game also has voice acting, and it could be considered a step-up in quality compared to The Boogie Man. The puzzles are up to par with The Boogie Man standards while also bringing some new elements to the table, reminiscent of but improved upon the mini game sections in The Sandman.

 

Overall, I thought this was a neat little series. It has stuck with me for many years and I always come back to it every now and then to replay it. It might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but its worth trying out at least.

 

 

Blank Dream (Adventure, Puzzle Solving, Horror)

This is another game that I often replay, especially when I’m feeling down and having dangerous thoughts. I replayed this for the umpteenth yesterday and wished that more people would give this little gem a try, which is what inspired me to create this post in the first place. The game was created by Teriyaki Tomato, another dev from Japan. The main character, suffering from amnesia, wakes up in a strange, dark place in front of a mirror. When she looks into the mirror, she remembers one specific event that has transpired recently. She, Mishiro Usui, is dead. Drowned by her own hand in the lake. Her dying wish, that her life had never existed. She wanders this strange world she has woken up in and comes across another few souls, all who have died with a wish in mind. Not all the souls she meets are friends though, one shadowy soul in particular hunts her down every step of the way. Why this soul has a grudge against Mishiro, she does not know. But in the end, its Mishiro’s choice to grant her own wish.

 

The game itself is quite confronting on the issues it presents. To regain her memories, Mishiro is sucked into mirrors she finds. To exit the mirror, Mishiro must commit suicide. There is no way around this fact. The text after this happens details the pain Mishiro is feeling as a result, and describes Mishiro’s feeling of losing a part of herself in exchange for regaining her memories. As the story behind Mishiro’s life and death is unfolded, many other issues are presented to the player, including bullying, incestual rape, feelings of being attracted to the same sex, cheating/divorce and its impact on family, accusations of pedophilia, and dealing with the death of a loved one. All these issues are dealt with the appropriate tone, and none feel particularly forced. Many of these will not come up unless you explore and are on the path to the true ending. Speaking of endings, there are multiple endings to get. Two bad endings, two good endings and the true ending. One bad ending is dependent on one choice you make in one mirror, while all other endings are dependent on whether or not you strive to help the other lost souls regain their memories. Of course, finding out the other souls’ wishes are the key to the true ending, and are the final pieces of the whole story.

 

The main theme of Blank Dream, in case it wasn’t obvious, is suicide and what drives someone to it. Of all the characters presented, the most prevalent cause of death is suicide, and you have to actively choose to commit suicide multiple times to progress. The game even warns you how much pain Mishiro will be in. This may turn off a lot of people who are sensitive to that sort of stuff. The true ending, if you have enough strength to work towards it, is very rewarding though. It all ties together.

 

You may be asking why I would keep coming back to playing this game given the themes. First of all, the issue of suicide is not taken lightly, or given a positive spin. It is presented as an action to end it all. That’s it. The rest of the story comes from what happens to the soul after. I’ve been struggling with suicidal thoughts for a while now, and I discovered this game during one of my highly vulnerable points. It gave me something to hope for, especially when I got the true ending. For the first time in ages, I cried. I missed what I couldn’t experience while I was feeling like this. To appreciate what you have while you still have it is a gift you need to learn to have, unfortunately. To be given another chance at life is a beautiful thing indeed. For the people who have sacrificed a lot for you, the best thing you can do to repay them is to live your own life. This game has taught me this, and more. This is the reason I keep coming back to this game. Whenever I’m feeling like I want to end it all, and the voices in my head get stronger and stronger, this game helps silence the voices and bring back my positive outlook on life. Blank Dream is more than just a game to me, it’s an experience.

 

And wow, I’ve only spoken about one game and one series and it turns into something so long. I’m sorry for that. I had a few more games in mind, but maybe I’ll just list them.

 

From Mogeko (another Japanese dev, can you tell I like these and horror?)

-          Mogeko Castle (Horror, Adventure) (Implied rape warning)

-          The Gray Garden (Horror, Adventure, RPG)

-          Wadanohara and the Great Blue Sea (Horror, Adventure, RPG) (Another implied rape warning for an unavoidable bad ending)

From LusterMX

-          Lunar Wish Orbs of Fate (RPG, Adventure)

From Gibmaker

-          Professor McLogic Saves the Day (Puzzle Solving, Logic)

 

And there’s probably a few more but I don’t want this to go on for too long. Thanks for reading if you made it this far and I’d like to hear your favourite free unknown gems.