Mine of my Mind

The game opens with you sitting in an interrogation room, facing a police officer who wants to know what happened. As you begin telling your story, you're taken back a few days to what seemed like an ordinary evening. You're starting another night shift in the mines alongside your best buddy, just like always. Things quickly take a turn, though. After mentioning to the team that you're about to get promoted and leave, everyone starts acting strangely. They head into the mines without you, claiming you drank too much and passed out. Then there's your best friend, who somehow keeps appearing when you least expect him, and before long, you begin seeing things that may or may not be real. My first impression was positive, mostly because of the visual style, even if it takes a little getting used to. The camera is pulled back slightly, making everything in the center of the screen look normal while the edges appear stretched. It creates an effect similar to a fisheye lens. Since there's no option to disable it, you simply have to adapt. It works well in the cramped mine tunnels where it enhances the claustrophobic atmosphere, but it feels less convincing in the outdoor sections. The assets and textures are fairly simple, but they never feel cheap or overly minimal. There is plenty of environmental detail, even if you'll spend most of your time underground. Like many games in this style, the characters have unsettling, distorted faces, but thankfully it avoids relying too heavily on excessive filters or washed out textures just to imitate an old game. The overall presentation feels distinctive enough to stand out on its own. The gameplay also introduces a few interesting ideas. The basics are straightforward. You move through different areas, mostly the mine tunnels, follow your coworker, listen to conversations, search for an occasional item, and complete objectives listed in your inventory. The inventory itself features a wheel in the center that stores important tools such as your lamp and pickaxe. Unfortunately, the more unique mechanics are also the game's biggest source of frustration. You notice this almost immediately when you're asked to break open crates. To do so, you first have to hold two keyboard keys to fill a meter. Before the meter drops, you must perform several mouse gestures and press two additional keyboard keys. If you hit the wrong key or run out of time, you have to start over. Since the required keys are random, they can appear anywhere on the keyboard, making the process far more awkward than it needs to be. It becomes even more frustrating once you start using the drill in the mines. First, you hold both mouse buttons, then quickly press three random keyboard keys before the drill overheats. This often turns into an exercise in finger gymnastics because one hand stays on the mouse while the other scrambles across the keyboard. Let go of a button or overheat the drill, and the entire sequence resets. Most interactions in the game work this way, turning simple actions into small mini games. Thankfully, the same mechanics aren't constantly repeated. Most are limited to specific situations and change things up enough to keep them from becoming completely repetitive. For example, using the pickaxe has you clicking on targets that appear on the screen rather than repeating the same key combinations. The game also lasts only about an hour, which works in its favor. While some mechanics can definitely become irritating, they never stick around long enough to completely wear out their welcome, making it easy enough to see the story through to the end. There’s an ending but also “to be continued”, and a couple of optional chests that require a code, which I haven’t been able to find.