Infinitap Games lead designer Matt Gilgenbach’s personal struggles with depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder influenced him to create a game with that same feeling of bleakness and hopelessness.
Neverending Nightmares is a horror game inspired by these themes, and is a far cry from the developer’s reverse rhythm shooter, Retro/Grade.
In Neverending Nightmares, players control Thomas as he awakens from a nightmare only to discover that he’s still asleep. As the name implies, you’ll guide Thomas through increasingly twisted nightmares, exploring environments and avoiding monsters.
It also features a line-drawn art style inspired by Edward Gorey, an artist who lived with their own personal struggles of reclusiveness and sexuality, but whether this was a personal choice or a coincidence, it’s hard to disagree with its effectiveness.
Neverending Nightmares is shaping up to be a solid indie horror game that deals with much more than just running from hideous monsters. It’s generated quite a buzz from major publications like IGN, Polygon, and was listed by The Escapist as one of the best games at E3 2014.
After a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2013, Neverending Nightmares‘ current beta build is now available for purchase on OUYA for $24.99, and works similar to Steam’s Early Access program. Buying in to the game now will give you the full retail version when it becomes available, but you can play it in its current state immediately, providing valuable feedback to the developer in the process. According to the Neverending Nightmares‘ OUYA page, the full retail version will be reduced to $14.99 upon release.
The retail version of Neverending Nightmares will release for OUYA, PC, Mac, and Linux simultaneously, although a concrete release date has yet to be announced. If it’s anything to go off of, the game’s Wikipedia page shows September 2014 as a possible release window.
Bradley Keene is the Executive Editor here at What’s Your Tag?, generally handling reviews, public relations, and our social media communications. He’s an aspiring video game journalist, Baltimore native, and a diehard Orioles fan that favors roguelikes, horror games, and point-and-click adventures. His favorite console is the Dreamcast, favorite game is the original Metroid, and he could watch The Goonies for the rest of his life. Contact him by e-mail at the address above, or follow his insanity on Twitter.
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This really does look like something incredibly different. I love indie games like this, one’s that eschew modern gaming trends for an altogether more eclectic style. I’ve yet to find a AAA game that can outdo LIMBO for tone, beauty and aesthetic. This is a game I’ll certainly be checking out. On release though. My Beta habit has become far too expensive.
Yeah, I personally found it odd that the beta release is $10 more expensive than waiting for the retail release, instead of the other way around.
LIMBO is a gorgeous game and definitely one of my favorites of all time. I felt the same way about Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons.
I played the free Ouya demo through and this game has a great horror feel to it, especially if you turn all the lights off. Besides the unique art style, I found the sound chilling and equally impressive. There’s this part in the demo where you step outside of the mansion into the forest at night, and the ambient sound blankets over with crickets and howling wind, coyotes in the distance
I watched the trailer on the OUYA store and it looked really, really good. I can’t wait to check it out, but the current price point is just a little too steep for me. Once the retail version hits the store though, it’s a day one purchase for sure.
Thanks for going a bit more in-depth about the gameplay!