Shiver

very very good game

This is a quick point and click horror game. I found it entertaining for the amount of time it took me to finish it, although I did wish that there was a little more depth to the story.

...

好

This was a nice experience. It took about 40 minutes but I don't have any complaints for a free game. All of the puzzle solutions were either naturally intuitive, or the information you needed to figure it out was given to you in a non-cryptic way.

Shiver is a short point and click horror game that puts me in a pretty simple situation that quickly becomes unsettling. I am travelling to visit my father when I end up stranded in the abandoned Windy Oaks National Park. The park was closed after a serious sinkhole accident, and there is clearly more going on than I first realise. From there I have to explore the area, find clues, solve puzzles and work out how to contact help before I become another part of whatever is hiding there. The story is small, but the setup gives me enough reason to keep looking around. The atmosphere is easily the strongest part for me. Shiver uses a mixture of painted artwork and photography, and I actually think that unusual style works really well for horror. The environments feel like real places but still have something slightly wrong about them, especially when I am walking through the empty park with no idea what happened to everyone. The sound design helps too. There is a lot of quiet and environmental noise, which makes the occasional strange sound or discovery stand out much more. I do not need constant jump scares when the game can make an ordinary empty building feel uncomfortable. The puzzles are fairly straightforward, but I think that suits the short length. I am mostly searching the environment for objects and clues, then working out how they fit together to let me move forward. There are a few moments where I have to pay close attention to what I have found rather than simply clicking everything in sight. I like that the game lets me focus on the atmosphere instead of throwing complicated puzzle systems at me. There are also 11 achievements, which gives me a few extra things to look for if I want to explore everything. The biggest weakness is definitely the length. The game is designed to take around half an hour to an hour, so I can finish it in one sitting without much trouble. That is not automatically a bad thing, especially for a free game, but I do feel like the story ends just as the setting starts getting really interesting. I wanted more time in the park and more answers about what was happening there. The short runtime makes the experience feel more like a horror episode than a full adventure. I also think the gameplay itself is not particularly deep. Once I understand how the point and click mechanics work, there are not many surprises in terms of what I am actually doing. The atmosphere and mystery are carrying most of the experience, so if I am not interested in exploring every strange detail, there is not a huge amount else to keep me going. Some of the puzzles can also feel a little basic, although I would rather have simple puzzles that keep the story moving than puzzles that completely break the pacing. What helps Shiver is that it does not try to be something much bigger than it is. I can start it without needing to commit to a long campaign, and the free price makes the short runtime much easier for me to accept. I also like the early 1990s setting because the lack of mobile phones and modern technology makes the situation feel more isolated. I have to actually find a way to get help instead of simply pulling out a phone, which fits the whole survival horror setup nicely. Overall, Shiver is a small horror adventure that I think succeeds mainly through atmosphere. I like the abandoned national park, the strange artwork, the environmental sound and the mystery surrounding the sinkhole and the missing people. The short length and simple puzzles stop it from reaching the level of my favourite horror games, but I still think it is worth playing when I want something quick and atmospheric. It feels like a compact horror story that gives me just enough to investigate before it ends, and considering that it is free, I think the experience is well worth the short time it asks from me. Rating: 7.7/10