I picked up a wonderful little game called “Scauage” today. It’s a word I was unfamiliar with so a quick Google search let me know that it’s an olde English term for a tax levied on goods. Now, it might not make sense in the beginning or as you play the game, but I believe by the end, if you complete the game, you’ll know exactly what “Scauage” is all about.
When the game starts, you’re given some expository information about a town that has fallen on hard times and the abandoned houses and stores are now hovels and makeshift shelters for the homeless or the otherwise down and out. You happen to be one of these fine folk and you’ve come upon a two story home which looks to have not been disturbed thus far so maybe you can walk in, take a look around, and possibly find something of value.
You’ve just entered the house and behind you is the closed front door. You can open that front door, but don’t, as it will trigger the “short” ending and you may be teased about not having any backbone or something.
What now ensues is a game of exploration and you’ll need to make your way through the house examining your environs as you move along, picking up any item that might be worth something, or examining items to see if they may be of any help. Though the game is short, the puzzles, if you can even call them that, are not the most intuitive and it took me some walking around and backtracking, plus using the ole melon to try and figure out what to do next.
The house is dark and without electricity, for the moment, so you’ll be walking around with your flashlight illuminating a somewhat limited amount of space which at first I thought I might be limiting, but as you get into the game it actually works out perfectly. You’ll need to swing your flashlight around, up, and down to discover the layout of the house as well as discover any items which may be placed around the house.
I was able to complete the game without any help and this was very satisfying, though I did have to think and call upon all my experience in previous horror games I’ve played to get all the way through the game to completion. As you play the game the ambiance, surroundings, and sound design are horror perfect and will keep you on the edge of your seat straining to catch any sounds which might be of any help or an alert to put some caution in your step. I played the games with headphones and if you are able to, it’s highly recommended. The game took me about 45 minutes to complete.
“Scauage” is a free title on Steam and you can fight it right here.
Another quick horror short, ala a demo, which does have a good scare at the end is the “Evil Lurks Below.” This is just another demo unrelated to the Scauage review above I am adding on because it can be played and completed in 20 minutes or less and is ok for what it is. Being demo I believe “Evil Lurks Below” is currently in development and you can pick it up on Steam for free at https://store.steampowered.com/app/3286560/Evil_Lurks_Below/
I’m just including it here as a reply as I don’t believe it garners a full review and is another short title you can get a quick spook from without getting too invested.
I do however highly encourage you to play and complete “Scauage” as that was a fun game.
I downloaded 13 short games and/or demos from Steam and am going through them now. Will write reviews if I find anymore that are fun, scary, or that I enjoyed. Thanks.
Holy Crud I finally fixed my broken like buttons! Turns out it was a janky plugin name EWWWW Image Optimizer. Man this has been bugging me for like 6 months! Also fixed the checkout, donations, and product buy buttons today. Today was the day to I decided to spend on fixing all the little broken stuff on the site and I can proudly say everything is working now. I currently getting dental work done which is going to be expensive for me so if you can find it in your heart to leave a little donation (thanks to all those who have already left donations) I would highly appreciate it. I’m a Linux Systems Engineer and maintain many WordPress sites and work freelance as a Linux guru. I’m an old fart who has spent a lifetime working in the systems engineering world I love so if you have need of any Linux or Unix work, WordPress work, or anything related, I have vast amounts of experience and could work as an on call or monthly regular to make sure your sites are up and running, or I can resell a VPS through my partner Ionos and build you your own WordPress or any content management web site you might need. This site is a standard LAMP (Linux Apache MySQL PHP) setup but I have experience in all major and minor server based software. Thanks.