Desktop Explorer

Desktop Explorer is a quite fun concept, and I think that the execution is quite strong on the puzzle front. It is difficult to judge a game based upon the puzzles, because their difficulty is dependent on the person doing them! (For my money, only two or three puzzles here were quite hard. Other than that, its coasting.) Where this game shines for me is the vibes. And the vibes are truly *[u]Chefs kiss[/u]* If this had a mode where I could just put one of the desktops on and chill out with the music, chunky ui, notetaking app, that would be very rad. Moving past the presentation, the structure of the game is pretty straightforward. Each pc user profile is a different chapter, and they tell a story of a family all together. Milage will vary, but I found one quite good, and one quite whatever. I think that the story the game is telling goes to some interesting places, but [spoiler] the story is fundamentally a difficult thing to tell, and the game doesn't land it.[/spoiler] [spoiler] The thrust of the story is a family that has fallen apart i guess? But the actual text of the game doesn't really make this clear, and in fact the characters relationships are a bit murky. [/spoiler] Anyhow, the game runs well and only had one issue with the actual performance of the game. In the arcade, I had a wonky camera trigger. Still, it was absolutely playable and was no hinderance whatsoever. In conclusion, great vibes, fun puzzles, interesting story that doesnt nail its landing. Very much a good game to hammer through over the weekend.

Somehow the second act of this game is a more faithful remake of Silent Hill 3 than anything Konami will ever cook up. Highly recommend.

i was hooked on this, was so fun! fun puzzles, neat story, cozy vibes. Need more games like this.

Haven't finished yet but there is a LOT more to this game than I was expecting. Puzzles range in difficulty and get harder as it goes on, some of them were quite tricky but satisfying when I finally figured them out. I'm honestly surprised by the variety of puzzles in this game and just how much is packed into the game. Love the story so far and the creepy atmosphere. For fellow fans of games like Hypnospace Outlaw, I'll say that this game is even better.

Muy buen juego, muy buena historia. Admirable su trabajo, muchas gracias!

Well that was certainly a game of all time. I had issues on my Steam Deck, the story wasn't interesting but it did not actively offend me, developers stuck the landing on the ending, the puzzles are intriguing for at least half the game, and they went an interesting direction with narrative framing. For this reason, I award Desktop Explorer a passable 9/10. This game absolutely cannot be completed on a Steam Deck. The last "level" involves a terminal and the on-screen keyboard pops up at every opportunity, whether you're typing or clicking or sneezing or breathing or being conscious. I got no response on the discussion boards when I complained so I assume either everyone is smarter than me and figured this out, or no one played this on a Deck. None of the puzzles ever resulted in an incredible "aha" moment, but for the first half of the game they were just clever enough to get me across the finish line because I kept believing they'd get better. They did not. In what seems to be a recurring problem for clever mystery games, developers ran out of actual puzzles and just started throwing HOMEWORK [spoiler]nonograms, mazes, code breaking, chess(ish)[/spoiler] and whatever else at you after the game's midway point. Big let down. I can't say the story was mind-blowing. It was exceedingly Standard Issue Horror Game and never really committed to anything. Despite very much embodying the spirit of Great Value horror centrism, I *was* impressed with how much Desktop Explorer bucked narrative framing stereotypes typical of spooky in-game computer (IDK what the kids call it now) games. Stereotypes bucked: (1) jump scares is plot (2) violence against women is plot (3) everyone is white (4) main character is either not gendered or is male (5) the internet works (6) the only mental illnesses are schizophrenia and depression This also kept me intrigued enough to get to the ending because I expected a payoff. Desktop Explorer didn't let me down there and I was happy with how things ended, so kudos to developers for sticking the landing.

what a beautiful, tight little puzzle game. Its paced so well you can blow through the whole thing in just a couple of hours or you can take your time as there are clear points where you can stop playing and come back to it. Atmosphere was kind of unreal, able to pluck on your emotional heart strings and also be tense and also send chills up your spine. fantastic

Very good. Tho...I have to say...This is kind of a game for grown up. The puzzles SOMETIME can be confusing,but by no mean as hard and esoteric as some others adventure games. Theres always kind of an obvious logic to it. The kind that,when you realise,your like: Omfg im so dumb. Thats so obvious. Plus...You always have your -friend- to help you with useful advice in times of needs. Game deserve its overwelmingly positive status. Love it. People whining on the forums have the reading skills of a pre-teenager.