"Pretty sure my mum is a Siberian husky because I never stop ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ running" - The ghost in this game, probably

It's rare that I find a horror game that hasn't already been extensively reviewed by everyone. I'm slow to the punch a lot of the time, but I wanted to try something a bit more new and deliver my thoughts on it.

Cursed Halls is an escape room game, seven exits, seven different ways to get out. There's only one demon, and it's a ghostly woman who howls and screams louder than an ex-wife with a new partner... or so I would assume.

I had my doubts about this game going in. When I first started it up, it did that thing where the screen resolution was a right tosser and pushed all the text to the right so that some of it trailed off. Didn't know whether to use the flashlight for finding things or to start a rave in the middle of the halls.

Further to that, I paused the game, came out of it for a second to check something and came back to it, only for me to have busted the ghost. And not in the fun way with 80s technology far beyond our own, but with me being able to walk right up to the ghost and she pays me absolutely no mind. She ignored me like most of the female student body back in school, felt very nostalgic, and somewhat awkward when I was able to run around without the ghost wanting to throw hands.

Of course, she eventually decided that she did actually have a problem with me, dashed up to me while screaming her lungs out and ♥♥♥♥♥-slapped me. Felt somewhat anticlimactic. It's almost as if the jumpscare is the obnoxious screaming, and her catching you (with her ridiculously large hitbox) is just the icing on the cake.

Here's the thing, I actually liked this game. For all intents and purposes, it's basic as anything. It's very replayable, you're constantly determined to find everything you need to get out, and at the same time: The game makes it clear that you're not meant to be going into every single drawer and taking everything you find, you're only meant to find what you need for the exit of your choice, and maybe one or two other things for a contingency.

There's a lot that needs polishing with this. It's one of those games that's a very obvious independent project, and while it's got a lot of promise, it also feels a bit like a more basic version of Monstrum with a few added exits and less steps. So, as you can tell, I'm very much of two minds about this. I genuinely think it's worth a shot, but the devs got a lot of work to put in to make it pop and make it interesting enough to keep you engaged for a long enough time to warrant the (reasonably small) price.

My biggest gripe with this game is that even though it encourages you to be stealthy, you can only ever really *be* stealthy when you're in one of the rooms, because as soon as you step out into the halls, usually the ghost knows where you are specifically in the building. And while you're given things to distract her, it's not really enough. Not to mention, as soon as she starts chasing you, she's not gonna leave you alone until you find a hiding spot, or you manage to run far enough and loop her through the building enough to confuse her AI a bit. While understandable that the ghost is relentless, it still comes across more tedious than anything else to have to constantly be running and hoping that the ghost isn't doing what she's kind of always doing: Camping the spot you're in and hoping you'll come out. Oh, randomly: I'm not sure if this is a bug or what, but - I had infinite stamina in the game, and it shows that the game has a stamina bar in the trailer.

I think this is an interesting game, it just needs... time, and polish. I will end this on a positive and say that I quite enjoy the randomised elements, the way the game has a way for you to check what items you have for what exit. But I will say this, it would be nice to have a button to look back while we're running. Feel like that would help a bit.
6.5/10

Hi dev team! Gracias por este juego! I like playing horror game especially with some mechanic (not just a walking sim). I really appreciate with this AI for the ghost in this game. It's really challenging!!! because when you only take a peek in the hall it will chase you! But finally I figuring how to escape from it after I remembering the map. Absolutely fun to play! I hope there's any update for the future especially the ghost and the map.

I'm really enjoying it, it's a very replayable game, it's developed by a single dev and it's going to give me a heart attack, 100% recommended a lot of tension and a lot of fun.