First, a little bit of introduction is necessary before going into this review. Note that this is a one person army game, meaning that one guy alone, with a bit of help here and there for voice acting, music and textures, created that game from scratch in the Unity game engine. That alone is impressive!
Second, note that I am myself a veteran designer in the industry for over 15 years now so I do not see the design of any game like most player does, so take everything what that perspective in mind.
All right, now, for the interesting part. I will try to go in as much details as possible without spoiling the story or the main subject surrounding it, as it is part of the experience of the game. The game start as the main character woke up in a bed, stuck in room from which you need get out of. It's a bit of a thriller mixed with a puzzle game and in this case, it's working pretty well to tell it's story and engage you in what's to come next. The story is short but that doesn't mean it is not interesting. By the way, as you'll discover what happened and what is happening, some may find it hard to digest.
For the design of the game itself, it is a pretty simple game but you have to remember that it was done by 1 guy alone so we have to give him some credits of what he was able to do. If you're used to classic Resident Evil/Silent Hill puzzle gameplay, you'll find yourself at home. Explore, find locked doors, find items, use items to open doors, rinse and repeat. This is simple but very efficient and helps telling the story while adding a bit of gameplay to it, making it an interesting game. The only part that was very ambitious and that lack a bit of development to make it interesting is (again, avoiding to spoil anything) a hide & seek gameplay, in which you need to be stealth. Now, for being a dev myself, I do know that making AI and detection patterns is pretty hard, especially for one guy alone. However, that part is the less interesting in my opinion as it's 1 or 0, hit or miss, win or lose. You have close to no way of knowing if you'll get seen without getting seen (or risking it and being lucky). The rest is pretty standard but fun and simple gameplay.
The voice over were a nice surprise! I was not expecting voice overs for a small game like this and even if not perfect, it adds a lot to the intrigue and characters.
The menus are also interesting for a small, 1 guy army game. You would expect a standard menu like most games that tries to focus on gameplay or stories but Cathy and the Other adds a little twist with it's stylized menus. Even if sometimes, finding a specific option like quit might not be obvious at first glance.
Finally and again, without spoiling anything, the game has a nice surprise at the end, with the possibility of ending the game in multiple ways, which again, was not expected of small game like this one.
To sum up, the game is very interesting and definitely worth your 5$. I highly recommend giving this little gem a shot, especially since the main subject is a really sensitive one.
