"Dead for Dread" is a "template" flip. The "developer" filled out a basic template in the craptastic GameMaker Studio (a blight on gaming), changed the name/reskinned a couple of things, and put it on Steam as if it was their own game.
"Dead for Dread" is yet another of literally hundreds of lazy amateur 2D retro pixel platformers infesting Steam and lowering the average quality of all video games everywhere. This is the standard MO for Lieb/Hardi/Daniel Li/Johan Games/Fadygames/BHPG/TNT Studio/LocalJamStudio/Joi Max/Nikita Morti (watch how many fake Steam accounts this guy can make up to hide his identity and mislead gamers!)... make a minimum viable product, buy fake reviews, then bulk sell the game in random key bundles and other even less reputable vendors. That's why Valve calls stuff like this a "fake game". This is basically an empty, barely functional prototype of a game... an asset flip made of a stolen game template and stolen tilesets and sprites.
Nikita Morti/Hardi/Fadi Games (etc etc) have a known history of trying to scam people into paying them money for someone else's work, through this account or through closely linked/alt accounts. One example of Nikita Morti/Nikita Morti doing this is [url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/2313990]Robots - Invaders[/url], which is really the "[url=https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/templates/fps-microgame-156017]FPS Microgame[/url]" asset, written by the actual developers, Unity Technologies.
Taking this shovelware seriously as if it was a genuine attempt to make a game, it doesn't meet basic minimum requirements that most PC gamers expect as standard.
These technical defects push this game below acceptable standards for any modern PC game.
The poor quality of this game is reflected by how many people spent time with it. At the time of this review, SteamDB shows the all-time peak player number was only 3 players, and the worst part is these weren't genuine players, these were the Russian fake review accounts that the developer paid to make the fake reviews. Since the fake reviews are all done, now the only player activity occurs once or twice a month, presumably someone loading it up to see what it is then quickly uninstalling it. Considering there's over 120 million gamers on Steam and well over 100,000 games for gamers to choose from, the overwhelming lack of interest in this low quality game is to be expected.
[quote][b][url=https://www.ftc.gov/legal-library/browse/federal-register-notices/16-cfr-part-465-trade-regulation-rule-use-consumer-reviews-testimonials-final-rule]Warning: Review Manipulation![/url][/b]
This game features a number of fake positive reviews from accounts known to be in the business of review manipulation/paid reviews. They're all written in either Russian or broken English, appear at almost exactly the same time, very shortly after the game launched on Steam, all have a direct Steam purchase of the game, and the accounts are used consistently to write fake reviews for asset flips and other cash grabs/scams. The "Positive" review score on this game should be disregarded due to this blatant, unethical review manipulation. This is done to deceive and scam gamers into paying for a bad product.
Due to the 2024 FTC ruling (16 CFR Part 465), these fake reviews are a violation of US Federal Law.[/quote] It's possible this price is either for the purpose of money laundering, or simply to prevent genuine reviews from reducing the fake "positive" review score from the fake reviews the developer paid for. Either way, this is unacceptable manipulation of the Steam store for profit. It's harmful to gamers and to genuine indie devs, because it gives indie devs a bad name.
So, should you buy this asset flip? Is this one of the best of the 100,000+ games on Steam?
"Dead for Dread" has the far too high price of $30 USD, for which you could easily get any number of older AAA games. Given the defects and quality issues with the game, coupled with the unrealistic price, and the questionable ethical nature of the developer and/or their associates (as outlined above), this is impossible to recommend. It's possible this price is either for the purpose of money laundering, or simply to prevent genuine reviews from reducing the fake "positive" review score from the fake reviews the developer paid for. Either way, this is unacceptable manipulation of the Steam store for profit. It's harmful to gamers and to genuine indie devs, because it gives indie devs a bad name.
