RATSHAKER Steam Charts & Stats

This was a treat. Short. Atmospheric. Solid lil play especially for the price. Personally I love the VA in the game.

[h1] Summary: [/h1] ✅ [b] Noticeably excellent sound design [/b] - Some cool effects related to the environmental sound design (depending on where you are in the house) as well as the interactions with the rat. ✅ [b] Shifting Atmosphere [/b] - Starts deceptively peaceful, but becomes claustrophobic and eerie. ✅ [b] Narrative that reveals itself [/b] - Story unfolds gradually through visuals and atmosphere. 🟡 [b] Simple gameplay, deviating from traditional horror games [/b] - The gameplay itself is simple and may not meet expectations for some players ❌ [b] Strong ending with unresolved questions [/b] - The ending recontextualizes everything experienced in the game, yet leaves some ambiguity for the player. ❌ [b] Limited interactivity with the environment [/b]- The game primarily focuses on the shaking of the rat, with little other way to meaningfully interact with the environment. For full thoughts, please see everything below. I hope you enjoy. [h2]💭Introduction💭[/h2] [i]RATSHAKER[/i] presents an experience that is unlike any other that I've experienced. It starts out in a seemingly peaceful and unassuming environment: a wheat field, an orange-hued sky, and a simple premise: shaking a rat. Beneath this absurd premise, however, is an unsettling journey through a house that has a deeply haunting atmosphere. As we descend through the house, the game's atmosphere grows heavier and heavier, despite the humorous, light-hearted quips from the rat throughout. Though [i]RATSHAKER[/i] doesn't rely on traditional jumpscares of what we may think of when we think horror, or the immediate threat of a creature around the corner, it instead decides to immerse the player in a story with visual storytelling that gradually reveals itself in disturbing ways that leave a lasting impact on the player. [h2]✅The Good✅[/h2] ✅ [b] Noticeably excellent sound design [/b] – The voices that the player hears in their head about shaking the rat, the echoes of the rat's pain and laughter in the house, and the general environment in the game feels very high quality for a game that is about shaking a rat. It feels memorable and I enjoyed it. It was something where whenever I was just shaking the rat I was saying to myself, “Wait, was there a voice in the background that was just talking about shaking the rat?” It brought some levity to the otherwise grim environment. ✅[b] Shifting atmosphere and tone of the game [/b] - The game initially starts out in a deceptively peaceful environment: in a wheat field with an orange glow of the sky, and your hand with a rat in it. There is a house before us and before even entering the house, the rat declares, almost mockingly, with a reference to Dante's Inferno, "Abandon All Hope, Ye Who Enter Here." At the time of the Rat's saying this, it feels silly and I dismissed it, but the aptness of the declaration of the rat becomes more apparent as we descend into a house that feels more and more claustrophobic the more we descend into it. ✅ [b] Absurd and fresh Mechanics [/b] - To add to this, there is an element of oddness at the beginning of the game: an advertisement about getting rid of your problems by shaking a rat. While initially we do only shake a rat, it does end up being a key part of the game. The absurdity in integrating this as a core mechanic almost reminds me of the reload mechanic in [i]Cruelty Squad[/i]. (In [i]Cruelty Squad[/i], the player has to reload, but swing the mouse up and down in order to correctly reload the gun. It is a very unconventional way to reload a gun as far as expected game mechanics go. Typically one might reload a gun in a game with "R".) ✅ [b] A Narrative that reveals itself over time [/b] - While initially the game appears to only be about shaking a rat, there is a narrative that unfolds with some high quality visual storytelling over the entire length of the game. 🟡 [b] Simple gameplay, deviating from traditional survival/psychological horror games [/b] - The gameplay of [i]RATSHAKER[/i] is condensed, simple, and the game relies on a dark atmosphere, immersion in the game, and excellent visual storytelling. While there may be an allure of the game due to its absurdity, and the clear direction for it being a horror game, those expecting a traditional horror game with direct threats like [i]Amnesia: The Dark Descent[/i], or [i]Outlast[/i] may find the slower pace of the game to differ from what we would expect from a horror game nowadays. 🟡 [b] A full playthrough of [i]RATSHAKER[/i] may be two hours or less [/b] - Even though you're potentially looking at [i]RATSHAKER[/i] for a fairly cheap price compared to most games, the themes of the game may encourage at least one more playthrough, especially if the player wants to get to the hidden ending of the game. ❌[b]The ending is powerful, but leaves some questions open [/b]- While the final reveal of the game is fairly devastating and certainly recontextualizes all of the experiences the player has had up until this point, it might leave the player wishing for some more clarity on certain aspects with the story's resolution or pieces of the story that were unclear throughout. ❌ [b] Lack of meaningful interactivity with the environment/story of the game [/b] - The game clearly thrives on its strong visual narrative, the haunting atmosphere, and the core game mechanic of shaking the rat while interacting with the environment. Despite this, the lack of variety and meaningful interaction with the environment, the characters, and the effects on the story may also leave you wishing for more interaction with the environment, story through in game actions, or even the rat itself. [h2]💭Conclusion💭[/h2] [i]RATSHAKER[/i] has delivered a thought-provoking and atmospheric experience that blends surrealistic gameplay with grim visual storytelling elements. The strength of the game is the way that it is able to draw you in with the absurdity of the game but the inevitable claustrophobic world that ends up feeling haunting and introspective. However, the game's slower trod through the story and experience overall, the minimal interaction with the environment, and missing pieces for the story may leave players wanting more. For its strong efforts in a unique approach to visual storytelling as well as its memorable, haunting atmosphere, [i]RATSHAKER[/i] earns itself a light to strong 8 out of 10. An excellent experience. ✅✅✅🟡❌ [b] 8 / 10 [/b]

I had an unexpectedly hilarious time shaking a rat! It wasn’t anything malicious, of course—just a harmless game of pretending I was shaking a toy rat to see how it would respond. The ridiculousness of it made me laugh nonstop. I marveled at the silly thoughts racing through my mind: Would it squeak? Would it run away? The rat’s exaggerated motions as I shook it—complete with floppy limbs—had me in stitches. The more I shook, the funnier it got. It was a quirky, absurd moment of pure joy, proving that sometimes the simplest things bring the most laughter!

Not too bad -- moments I found annoying I could brush aside because of the low price. The checkpoint system later on can sometimes send you back pretty far if you end up dying.

GREAT GAME! Every time i shook the rat it cracked me up. I didn't think the game would have much, but surprisingly it was more than i thought. The fact that the rat has a human voice is hilarious.

Going in completely blind, Ratshaker turned out to be an, interesting, experience. The game has a unique aesthetic, blending cartoonish visuals with horrific imagery that makes you screw your face in disgust as you explore a twisted house, with your only company being a rat you violently abuse throughout the game. The imagery in question at first glance comes across as corny and generic, but you later realise the scenes have a much deeper meaning with the ending presented to you, it really gets you thinking. The pixel overlay enhances the horror, as it makes certain models appear more detailed to the eyes. Scenes have great tension between them, despite the comedic remarks of the rat. The main gameplay is pretty much a walking sim, but with a cartoony rat you can use to interact with items and reveal secrets by violently shaking and squeezing him, and is a very fun mechanic to toy with. He has a wide variety of dialogue and gargling sounds, so he never outstays his welcome. My only complaints with the game are the infrequent checkpoints, and the lack of direction in some areas, where it's easy to get lost if not paying attention. I certainly enjoyed my time with Ratshaker, with its blend of horror and comedy, distinct visuals, and moment to moment rat shaking gameplay.

For an immortal rat I managed to kill it quite often... Ratshaker is and indie horror that, lets be honest is much more funny than scary. It did take me a while to get into the house cause I kept dieing (IRL) everytime I shook the rat. And that is quite a big part of the game. You'll be shaking that rat for 30-45 minutes depending how much you die of laughter. Gameplaywise the game is simple, mostly a walking simulator where you shake or abuse a rat to interact with things. You don;t even have to open doors yourself, you have a rat for that. When you reach about halfway they game starts taking on a more horor theme and ends in an unexpected outcome. Ratshaker is a short but fun game that manages to build up and maintaining a very sinister atmosphere that ramps up over time while still finding option to just be weird. I'd advise everyone to pick up and rat and shake it.

Wholesome story about a man and his Rat. 10/10 Rats, would shake again. Spread this game like the plague.

This horror game kinda hilarious where u literally shake a rat !! tho i kissed him maybe for 12000 times..So about graphics n stuff r creepy,and the jump scares will have you laughing and screaming at the same time. its kinda like a twisted pet simulator -- shaky shaky the rat while dodging spooky surprises.......Give a try ! kind of a wild ride Tips : [spoiler] when shaking the rat,time your actions carefully or just STOP doin things a.k.a stand still to avoid jump scares [/spoiler]..

I was an expert at the mechanics of this game prior to playing, i guess I'm a natural. Don't go into the farmhouse.