Bubbaruka!

I want to stress first that I am one of the beta testers for this game. I did get it for free and I've been following the game in it's development for a while now. Do with that information what you will. Having said that, there are a tremendous amount of positives here and a couple negative as well and I'd like to start with those to get them out of the way. Cons: This game is not overly difficult, but the difficulty level is not horizontal. In fact, it's more like a wave. There are some parts that seem gift-wrapped for you and others that make it seem like you're on Santa's naughty list. I would have preferred a more evenly distributed challenge. Also, make sure you're attention to detail is on point or else you'll be backtracking a lot. Prepare for that. Pros: The amount of detail and charm put into this game is astounding, especially considering it's made by a one man army. This is no half baked money grab here. You can tell the developer is passionate about the genre and cares about every detail that he chose to include. This has been 1+ years in development and it shows. Every last detail (art, music, sprites, text, etc) save for a couple pieces of music i think are all done by him. He was very responsive to bug reports and I suspect he'll continue to be, so let him know what you find. It'll get fixed. And the story...can't say enough good things about that. No plot holes. No glaring weaknesses. Just a solid chunk of lore for you to bite into as you progress through the game should you feel inclined to do so. Anyway, so this is every bit the game he expected to deliver and I expected it to be. If you have a bit of nostalgia for fads of the 90's or the old gameboy aesthetic, or are just a fan of great horror stories in general and want to cleanse your palette from all the flashy stuff released nowadays, give this one a chance!

I would recommend this game to anyone who doesn't mind having a mini heart attack every time you see your pursuer. It's not just a simple jumpscare, it puts the actual fear into getting caught and trying to hide as to not lose progress.

The trailer makes it look pretty interesting, but the hour I played of it just didn't really do anything for me. Some cool visuals and overall concept, but just way too repetitive and simple in terms of gameplay. Exploration is rather tedious and time consuming because most of the challenge of the game is trying to map out the layout of the world in your mind, which is incredibly difficult when the graphics are so basic and every room and hallway looks so similar. The story is maybe interesting, but having it completely told through notes on the ground or scribbles on the wall just wasn't cutting it. I haven't played a ton of games in this style before so maybe it's just not my type of game, but I did enjoy "The Hex" upon someones recommendation so I figured I would try to give this game a chance as well since it seemed to have a similar idea going on. Unfortunately I didn't find it all that enjoyable. I would recommend checking out "The Hex" though if you are interested in this style of game.

Very interesting game so far! This game is captivating in all the right ways. It keeps you wanting to see what happens next. Going in completely blind is best recommended. I have yet to finish the game, and I will, but I'm too scared to continue alone without my pals around LOL. The developer did a wonderful job thus far and I hope this game gets more recognition! <3

Great spooky game! Very atmospheric. 10/10.... Well, usually, I am not one to make huge reviews, this was my old review. Very small and not much to say. Here is my new review. Bubbaruka is a great game, it horrified me, it was packed with major loads of content, HECK, EVEN THE DAMN FILE SIZE IS A GIGABYTE, MOST OF MY GAMES ARE A GIGABYTE AND THEY HAVE BETTER GRAPHICS, not saying these graphics are bad, they actually add a bunch to the horror, THIS GAME HAS SMALL PIXEL GRAPHICS, THIS MEANS, THERE IS A HELLA BUNCH OF CONTENT. The storyline is flawless, it's so interesting learning more about the story and the events that took place. The endings are great, I loved what happens in the good ending, very satisfying, and in the final boss. So great! It's fun! THE WHOLE DAMN GAME IS PERFECT! add workshop support and stuff pls. Like seriously, add workshop support! Keep updating this masterpiece. My favorite horror game. It scaried me. 10000/10000 funny

I don't recommend exclusively because this game ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ horrifies me. If you're a fan of horror games then give it a shot, but if you aren't stay FAR away.

I hate this game! This is a great game don't get me wrong! but sometimes there's bugs like Having the items even though you haven't collected them yet The game casually freezing, but thank god for keep inventory lmao The boss fight (imo tho, maybe im just bad) (SPOILER) I will blame my incompetence on not being able to parry/reflect the attacks on the boss fight (onaga's) and yes, while writing this review I haven't beaten Onaga and I think It will take me a year to do so. I wish there was a way to attack other than parrying/reflecting the balls or whatever

Fun, cute, charming, and legitimately quite distressing at times! Bubbaruka is a game that saw what it was expected to be and went above and beyond those expectations purely for the love of telling a good story.

장점: 개성있는 그래픽, 무난한 스토리. 단점: 목적과 방향을 알려주는데에 불친절함. 여러 형식의 게임을 조합한 것은 좋으나 그 게임에 적응하는 과정은 순전히 눈치싸움으로 파악해야 함. 기반이 된 호러 게임 장르의 지식이 없으면 무한히 헤멜수도 있음. 한없이 불합리한 일부 기믹과 스테이지. 손가락 꼬고 특정 기믹을 기도해야 클리어 할 수 있는 마지막 보스. 사랑과 우정의 힘으로 쓰러지는 초월적 존재. 단점이 전부 갉아먹는 게임의 경험.

Bubbaruka is a great take on a tamagotchi horror game, and repeatedly subverted my expectations time and time again with every chapter. The story of the in-game development team was very interesting, and while its bread crumb trail told me the lore piece by piece, it simultaneously answered questions that would be difficult to explain when translated into gameplay (Such as how there is so much content for a tamagotchi game, for instance.) The gameplay is primarily simple puzzles and chases, but the devs did a great job adding just enough variation into the game so that it doesnt feel too repetitive. I think the designs for the main enemies ([spoiler]Mow, Arti, and Warn[/spoiler]) are great in both visuals, mechanics, and lore. [spoiler]The encounters at the end of each act are a great addition as well, to add a sudden change to the fairly monotone gameplay. Their use in the final boss is amazing, especially given that to attack Onaga you have to let him approach to jumpscare you[/spoiler]. The visuals and audio, while nothing to cheer about, blend in perfectly with the tamagotchi style. I really like how the aesthetic is broken more frequently as you near [spoiler]The Creature[/spoiler] at the end of the game. The only criticisms I could give on the game is that the true ending's mechanic doesn't feel used enough, and the difficulty feels very spiky. [spoiler]The true ending relies on you collecting keys to open doors between the three acts' locations so that you can collect secret items to delete The Creature's face. I feel like these could have been used much more, as you only have to enter them twice for a couple of items and keys[/spoiler]. The difficulty on the game feels less about the enemy chasing you, and more about the complexity/size of the map and puzzles. I found that a lot of my issues while playing stemmed from just losing myself in the map while being chased, rather than the chaser itself. Along with that, I don't believe that the hunger bar and food shop serve enough of a purpose. It's only really brought up one time in Act 1, and since I've started playing I had never let it fully run out a single time without even trying. Overall though, for simply 5 dollars, there is a lot of content here that I really like. I can't wait to play the postgame, and will update my review when finished. POST-GAME EDIT The post-game being more of a simple survival horror is eh. It's not as great as the main portion of the game, in my personal opinion, but an extra 4-ish hours of content for free is nothing to complain about at all. You dont need to understand the lore from the main game to get what is going on in the post-game. The primary story can take some time to understand, so a simple mostly-disconnected aftermath story is something I really appreciate. The gameplay, along with the sound and visuals, aren't anything to really hype, but still fit the tamagotchi vibe that the game wants to meet. You have to return to the main game locations and complete tasks such as cleaning up scary messages, killing corrupt enemies, etc. Flipping the too-easy difficulty of the main game, I find this part of the game to be too difficult. The clunky, orthogonal movement just simply isn't built for quick mostly-parrying combat. Rooms with multiple enemies can easily leave you overwhelmed and take a few lives to clear. The tasks are non-linear as well, so you're likely to play a good portion of the game without unlocking any helpful stores. Lastly, the final boss is a good conclusion, but it just feels kinda anticlimactic after what we experienced in the main game. It is clearly made with love though, so I believe it's still worth playing to some degree. Like I said, 3-4 hours of content for free is nothing bad.