Alone in the crowd

stalking and searching strangers with physical attributes such as height, weight, and color of their skin is something we can't do in this politically corrected world. and this game fills that unsettling void in our lives. some mechanics are similar to Papers, Please, but quite original on its own. + art. + creepiness. + stalking people by increments of seconds. + thorough in-game explanations. + mysteries. + extensive game depth with combinations of all the gadgets. - long tutorial. - no option to make gadgets stationary so they won't swap. - joystick for the camera is too sensitive. - extremely confusing camera & building position and orientation. - knocking.

Had a great time playing this game. Towards the end though when you've really understood the game it starts to feel like It's saying "ok it looks like you understand the concept but let's really make sure you understand the task" After each little task you get a dialogue option but not in a "choices matter" style as ultimately you will read through all of them and it doesnt make a bit of difference what order. Things really click and it's quite satisfying how you have this huge guess who board which you filter down to 1 person and fulfill whatever task you may have but there isn't much emotion or drive to the story like papers please (if you take to long you dont get much money and you have to make tough choices, incorrect judgement you get fired) and once you get the gadgets down you're effectively just rinse and repeating. I'd buy it again but I don't think I'll get replaying out of it when the achievements are simply a case of how much you want to go against the grain 10 more times to get all outcomes where choices really don't matter.

It really saddens me that this game doesn't have enough attention that it deserves. It is AMAZING in terms of mechanics, plot, and idea. Don't hesitate to buy if you enjoyed Papers, Please, Mind Scanners, or Encoded war

Although this game reeks of Papers Please, it's gone out of it's way to create some really fantastic, unique experiences. It's such good value for money, it's almost unbelievable. Full review below. https://youtu.be/4tbcbQ7AnTM

Similar to papers please but requires more thinking.

Alone in the Crowd offers a captivating puzzle-driven experience that skilfully combines a dystopian atmosphere with moments of unexpected humour. The game's visuals are highly polished, and the soundscape draws you in, creating a world that is both fascinating and eerie. The clever use of gadgets and the underlying mystery kept me engaged throughout the entire seven-hour playthrough. With multiple endings and various approaches to completing tasks, the game offers high replayability. If you're a fan of thought-provoking games like Papers, Please, this is definitely one to check out. Plus stalking people is just fun.

Found this game during a recent sale (bought for $5.39 CAD), and after seeing a bit of the gameplay and the clear passion + dedication the dev has towards this game, I bought it! And I'm so glad I did! I've always wanted to play papers-please, but after seeing full gameplay walkthroughs of it, I wasn't really burning to play it. At first glace from the store page, this game is in the same genre, but definitely has very unique spins on the mechanics and gameplay, plus the story is more future-dystopia based. It's my first time actually playing a game of this genre, so I found the tutorial/walkthrough a bit of a slog because I put pressure on myself to understand everything... But it was absolutely necessary and I didn't find anything confusing by the end of it; in fact, overall, utilising the systems the game gives you is rather intuitive! But if you're a vet of this genre it'll probably be easier! It seems this game is overall more forgiving and cares quite a bit about onboarding, which was good for a newb like me. There are definitely some "tricky" tasks, even in the beginning, but they are just curveballs the game throws at you to keep things fresh and keep your gears oiled. Very intrigued by the video and navigation system, it feels really cool to observe and find people w/ the way the game does it. I personally haven't encountered a game system that was thought-out this much in other games, and can really appreciate the effort put into the system and how dynamic it can make the variety of puzzles/challenges/clues in the game play. Overall, the gameplay is smooth, I love the style, and I'm intrigued by the world-building. The sound design is also good; I appreciate the low ambient ost (really immersive "boxed-in" feeling), along w/ how crisp buttons/wheels/machines sound. The occasional challenges bring me the perfect bit of frustration that is soothed and satisfied when I figure out what needs to be done. I also like how it saves often. Typically, when I play, I go for longer sessions, but I've been too exhausted for those, recently. This game allows me to play for however long of a session, and easily let me stop when I feel done. I can pop in to my box job for maybe 30 minutes, and then leave when I feel done because it auto-saves after you ask a question-- I don't feel like i have to force myself to play until a certain "checkpoint", which I now realise I greatly appreciate from this game. I'll try to come back and update the review once I have played through even more of the game (i.e. reached 1-2 "endings"), but after nearly 2 hours of play (split over a few sessions), I already knew I had to leave a recommendation for this game. I like the achievement system too; from what I can tell, I should be able to play this game w/o referring to external guides, which is very nice, and shows that the devs care quite a bit about a smooth user experience, so, props! Regarding the price-point, in my opinion, this game is VERY good for the price-point-- to reach my first ending, I expect around 15-20 hours (I'm a bit of a slow gamer to be fair); and by extension, for $9, it seems that the overall/total content from this game is surprisingly extensive. For a while now, I had an itch to scratch, and was looking for a new game, but I just couldn't find anything that would satisfy it. When I stumbled upon "Alone in the crowd", something just clicked-- and I'm quite glad. I would say that even within the genres this game is part of, this game is very unique and definitely deserves more attention! Solid game, if you've read this far in the review, definitely at least give the demo a try!