This game has had me hooked for a week straight. I initially watched a friend played and tried to help solve the puzzles in this, then decided to get it for myself when we got stuck on the apple one.
THE GOOD:
Klobgniak's House is a liminal-horror masterpiece, even at just the start screen I was already unnerved by the eerie atmosphere and strange music. Though I went into this game expecting it to be a silly, relaxing time. Oh boy was I in for a surprise when a horrifying mannequin yelled from across the room in that booming voice before full-sending it my way with loud clacking feet and distorted audio and visuals.
Every second spent in this game has you on the edge of your seat, especially when the price you pay for your failure being your progress resetting. Initially not a terrible thing, but I'll come back to this point later.
The atmosphere throughout the house leaves you feeling like something is wrong, like you've stepped into a strange fever dream and you're the only one who's aware that something isn't right. All the ''Others'', as Askaspras describes them, simply follow you with their gaze, sitting there like half-sentient puppets, the only one that actually moves being the ''Resident.''
The mystery behind Klobgniak and where he's hiding had me extremely intrigued and excited to get to explore the story behind it. The entire time I was wondering what had happened to him, where he was and what it'd be like to meet him.
THE BAD:
Gameplay-wise, it's a very entertaining game but over and over again I'd find myself frustrated, struggling to figure out the goal or the ''riddles'' behind certain puzzles. It sort of feels like the game doesn't entirely know what it wants yet, which is to be expected for such a new release. The puzzle me and my friend found ourselves stuck on the most was the apple one, the ''flames'', the strange TV's and Klobgniak's mysterious basement door.
The apple one I managed to solve now in the updated version of the game (my friend had an outdated version), mostly thanks to the helpful indication markers of where the puzzles are. After that the Flames puzzle clicked into place naturally as well.
However the TV's seem to be either be broken, non-functional (yet?), or just as mysterious as Klobgniak's door.
STORYTELLING, GOOD AND BAD:
The story told throughout the game is extremely vague. You go into it only knowning that Klobgniak's one of the main characters and clearly so, as he's the only one with accessories and a proper name (albeit a very strange one.) Though after translating the Latin picture frames in the game, the story becomes at least a little clearer. As well as when you become punished, the Resident is replaced by what seems to be Klobgniak himself, but horrifyingly ''punished'' as well.
Whilst I'm only shy of 3 hours on here, I have played so many hours on my friends computer at this point that I can safely say that the mystery behind Klobgniak's door is TOO HARD.
There is a puzzle indicator that the door can be solved, yet there is absolutely NOTHING even giving you the slightest hint of what to do! The only thing that seemed logical was getting punished and trying to survive and go down there or escape, but even then, THE DOOR WAS GONE!
Either the puzzle is too difficult or this is a cruel joke that Askaspras has played on me, where the ''real'' truth behind Klobgniak all along was that he's just the Resident now but reskinned in some sort of creepy alternate dimension.
MECHANICS:
There actually isn't a whole lot of mechanics, nor bugs to be found in this game. You drag things open, pick them up, fling them around, or get them added to your hotbar. The HUD is extremely simple and there's no Inventory, once you pick up a key or tool, it's there forever, and that's totally fine! However I do wish there was a way to see what Klobgniak items you'd picked up and turned in, because I found myself often having to rethink my chaotic routes whilst trying to avoid the Resident who patrols like crazy in whatever pattern he likes.
I imagine a simple tutorial or ''Help'' menu could be useful as well when you pause the game. Just instructions on how items work and what you can interact with. Like for example ''The hammer removes nails and breaks objects'' and ''The scissors can cut open patched pillows.'' Cause it took me quite a while to realise how the scissors worked.
BUGS:
Probably the FUNNIEST thing in this game, honestly. Inevitably after playing for so long, you become less and less frightened by the Resident and decide to do ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. That ♥♥♥♥ being breaking the game in one way or another. My absolute favourite technique was item-surfing. What I'd do was essentially skip getting the Gold and Cyan key and instead use a number cube, position it under me, jump up on it and spam jump ontop of it, causing it to push me up into the air. This way I could jump up onto the balconies, enter the Gold and Cyan room, and also causing the Resident to be unable to enter the rooms whilst I was in there, safe to do the puzzles at my own pace. You can also glide on the cubes by standing on it and turning your mouse around, you'll be sent flying across the large rooms at super speed, flying up into the ceiling. You can also cause your character to spin uncontrollable and be flung across rooms by simply walking over cubes or apples, very nauseating. I'd make the player pass through them like the Flame-cubes to prevent this bug from happening, but also it is quite hilarious and not really game-breaking in any way.
The more annoying bugs on the other hand were the ones who led my die or crash over and over. Interacting with the Green TV in the spawn-room sometimes caused by game to just freeze permanently. Sometimes the game would just decide to freeze randomly either way. When entering certain positions you'd be permanently locked into a limbo if the Resident caught you, for example jumping ontop of a table or crouching into a tiny house too late. If the Resident catches you just at the right time, he'll be unable to catch you and respawn you, but you'll be locked in place unable to move your body or mouse at all, and you'd have to restart the entire game.
Door-blocking is a technique I created to speedrun easier. The Resident can hear you walking and running to some degree, but as soon as I heard him coming I'd just walk up to the door, causing the Resident to be unable to open it and eventually loose aggro and leave. This might be intentional, and if so I'd recommend fixing the bug where sometimes he'd catch you THROUGH the door somehow, because that made me so mad way too many times.
There's also a glitch where the Gift guy gives you like, 8 grey keys lmao.
FINISHING STATEMENT:
Overall, this game isn't bad. In fact, I really enjoyed sinking my teeth into this for hours on end, becoming quite the pro and speedrunner at one point. The game actually does pose a good speedrunning potential and I hope that sometime in the future it'll become more popular within that community.
For being an indie project, this game is beautifully made and surprisingly bug-free. Sure, the graphics aren't what a lot of people expect these days, but the simplicity of it is what makes it so good. You can tell just from a picture that this game is WEIRD, and it sure as Hell is!
However storytelling-wise it's a bit disappointing. After so much buildup around who Klobgniak is and what he did to be locked away, there really isn't a satisfying answer. There's also no answer to why you're there, who you are, who the other people are.Are you trapped in another dimension? Why are some people boarded up in their rooms? Why are Klobgniak's belongings and body-parts scattered around the house?
Perhaps the answer lies behind that black door in the basement, where someone is knocking or hammering on the other side... But for now I'll simply have to settle for what I got.
Thank you, Askaspras. For this awesome, uncanny game that will stick with me forever.
