Lumber Island - That Special Place Reviews

Just finished the game a while ago. Overall it's good with actually scary moments. No problem there, but the story is so convoluted and confusing that you don't actually know what's happening. I gave it a thumbs up because I like it and I had fun playing it. Just don't mind the story that much.

Typical unity indie horror game on steam, read notes that have a stuipid broken english story while being chased at points by a guy with an axe. Really unoptimised and unintuitive. Really tired of this time of game this isnt what horror is about. Game Tries to something like penumbra or outlast but really is just a shitty slender type game.

I wish I could recommend this game + Graphics, story (even though overly vague), and horror atmosphere are really nice. Unfortunatelly the gameplay and mechanics are very flawed to be an enjoyable game to play: - - puzzles hardly make any sense - - sometimes you die out of nowhere - - unskippable, slow, unnecessary and somewhat long cutscenes - - worst of all: there's no save so whenever you die you need to play the level ALL OVER from scratch The team has potential. I hope they learn from these details and achieve their true potential the following games.

So I got this game recommended for Halloween and while the atmosphere in the game is super eerie and creepy, the puzzles and bugs of the game just ruined the experience for me. I were multiple times able to run through objects and wall, and fall out of the map as well as the physics object were super weird. While some puzzles were really interesting and well thought out the majority of them were really hard to figure out and I ended around just clicking everything hoping to find something as there were not really much to go on from other than a few sound or visual clues on some of the puzzles, but those who did have the clues were really nice and seemed to be well thought-out. The game does also have a save decent function, and instead of restarting the game from the beginning it only takes you to the beginning of the level. The last level were pretty punishing as you needed to do certain things in a specific order or you'll get kill and restart the level from the beginning! The background music were the same 2-3 minute loop over and OVER again for the entire game, and it got really old fast and the few times there were a bit of silence or change to the music it was amazing. The main monster; while he were creepy and it did get me a few times, the hiding mechanic makes it so easy to escape it. Instead of the suspense of seeing the monster looking for you to seem to simply reset when to hide and the other "threats" in game were main cheap ass jump scares. I will say the game is decent and I'd probably not be this critical over it if I haven't paid 5€ for it, to be honest I've played better free horror games that had an equal 2-3 hours play time. I will however say the ending and the story the games tries to tell is pretty interesting and I've still not entirely figured out what it all means but I probably won't play the game again to find out which is a shame. Pros: Nice atmosphere Interesting plot Cons: Music gets trivial Bad Physics/going through walls Monster/Jump scares There's better free games Puzzles Probably wouldn't recommend this unless you're really running out of things to play.

Yikes. Not for me at all. The atmosphere was solidly spooky, so I'm really disappointed that there didn't seem to be much more to this game. I also didn't find anything 'psychedelic' about this game. Maybe the Dev meant 'psychological' horror? Didn't find much of that either. There is an ax man who wanders around and you're supposed to figure out what to do while he's pursuing you since the game 'does not hold your hand'. Well great, but if all this is going to be is some sort of convoluted scavenger hunt/guessing game-- could we at least have a gamma slider so we can actually SEE where to look? Jesus. Not knowing where to go or what to do or why is not fun for this pastel pixie. Sorry, friends. :(

Frantic at times... 6 of 5 must play. 5 of 5 great story great game-play. 4 of 5 great story average game-play. 3 of 5 average story great game-play. 2 of 5 play only if it's your favourite genre. 1 of 5 play if you have nothing better to do. 0 of 5 play if you're a masochist. -1 of 5 avoid. Lumber Island That Special Place score is 5 of 5.

Where do I begin? All you can do is run away from the hatchet man. There is no stealth mechanics or hiding mechanics, just run away until the game decides for dumb reasons that he isn't chasing you anymore. I have no idea what I am supposed to do - made all the more frustrating because all I can do is run from the stupid lumberjack rather than figure out what I am supposed to do. When I do get a breather and can search buildings, it's way too dark to see anything and there are no gamma settings. Additional Notes: I got past the first part posted above. The game doesn't get any better. The story is a confusing mess. The puzzles are mostly stupid scavenger hunts. Most of the horror/deaths are mostly caused by the game being asinine.

The game is dark and has a nice spooky atmosphere, however there was very little in the way of content to actually frighten players and frankly the story sucked. I completed the game in 3 hours. I felt the story made little sense and most of the written clues were in broken English. The apartment with the naked girl in the shower that does not acknowledge your presence was bizarre. If the two story lines were to represent a dream and cloudy reality, the creators of the game did a poor job. I really do not know what to make of it all. A couple of bugs I experienced: The game crashed when I clicked on the control menu. While running from the woodsman at the beginning of the game, I fell off the island next to my boat.

Apart from some trifling issues such as the odd crash, some dodgily translated documents, a rather difficult first level (at least until you suss what you're supposed to do), and a severe lack of save points, this is actually one of the better "budget" horror games you'll play this - or just about any - year. It looks amazing, is highly immersive and atmospheric, and has a genuinely intriguing plot...but again, ONLY if you show a bit of patience in the first area, which I'll confess I nearly gave up on (hint: it's not that hard, once you observe the A.I. for a while and play it super-safe). A minor gem lying in wait for those willing to persevere. Verdict: 8/10.

Positive aspects: It is a well-made, beautifully little Indie horror game. It offers a great and diversified level design with an astonishing attention to detail. Furthermore: Creepy atmosphere with solid jumpscares and a “twisted” plot. Please be aware of: It’s very dark, no checkpoint system within a level, sometimes it is difficult to figure out your next objective and be prepared for playing hide and seek with Mr. Lumberjack with deadly outcome. ;-) So please don’t get me wrong; it’s a clear recommendation for all horror adventure fans!