PAGER

wonderful weird little game. I'm still not quite sure what's it about

great game, though it is a bit short and the level select feels pretty weird to navigate at first also funny as hell

Its not really a horror game, more like a japanese-style dry comedy/satire on the absurdities of a cubicle job, but interesting neverthless. Just wish there would be some kind of ending.

Not a game for everyone I'd say, if you're interested though its worth a shot though. Here's some of the thoughts I had while playing through the game: game could noticeably use some sort of juxtaposing content to make the more unsettling content stand out more effectively. expanding on this specifically i think music would be the easiest and most effective way to do so as it can be designed to make you feel more comfortable with the audio but make you feel unsettled when needed or disappear/distort to make the player feel more alone in certain situations. Another thing I noted sound wise was that the audio between floors wasn't really all that distinct which although is fine. I more variety in the types of audio aside from the background humming would've greatly benefited the game. visuals are cool though they can hurt eyes after a bit some things like electrically shocking the employee would be more unsettling with sound effects some things like controls don't make certain things immediately obvious like for example one section where it asked me to run it didn't work as it was set to '&' but I couldn't tell whether it was intentional on the developers part to do so. Another thing like kicking a ball has you look forward to get the prompt to kick it which didn't feel really natural nor immediately obvious as I tried to look straight at it first which just flat out didn't work. dialogue like for example when you are given the gun and told you know what to do has some dialogue that doesn't feel quite appropriate if its attempting to be unsettling when shooting a person, instead of using something like "OMG you aren't supposed to kill them." I would instead use something that more effectively leaves the player unsettled by trying to lead their thoughts in a certain direction like for example "Who told you to kill them?" or something to try to take a dig at the way the player thinks in terms of games always assuming it means to kill. The one idea on one of the floors where when you looked down you fell is a cool and unique idea I haven't seen anywhere else. Although I do see the game as going for an eerie environment with the psychological horror, I don't feel like it always sticks the landing, for example I never quite felt unsettled or just fear in general, the most I would get is a minor jump scare which would maybe just make me jump in my seat as they didn't really achieve any sort of scare. Though the cockroach race part was more successful than the others I will note. One thing I think that could benefit the horror more is maybe smaller details that make so that the more you look the more unsettling your environment becomes like for example in one of the levels where you have to water the plants, what if one of the plants could was able to still be watered and kept changing more and more drastically to unsettle the player. One idea I saw used that achieved a similar effect were the eyes on the walls that you could poke on one floor. The server talismans section where you placed the talismans on the server was somewhat effectively eerie with a strange entrance to them and leaving one of them without a talisman, especially with how the background audio becomes wind passing through and the audio becoming more echoey. The part where you make the employees obey by hitting them is quite effective in being unsettling with the audio being a significant factor in this I'd say. The part where you catch the butterflies and eat them is effectively unsettling. Honestly I feel that the less words used the more effectively eerie the game is by leaving you with just your mind to work out the problems especially when things are very obviously linear. The puzzle where you needed to walk backwards to reach the door is cool. Same with the room that fills with coffee. game could noticeably use some sort of juxtaposing content to make the more unsettling content stand out more effectively. expanding on this specifically i think music would be the easiest and most effective way to do so as it can be designed to make you feel more comfortable with the audio but make you feel unsettled when needed or disappear/distort to make the player feel more alone in certain situations. Another thing I noted sound wise was that the audio between floors wasn't really all that distinct which although is fine. I more variety in the types of audio aside from the background humming would've greatly benefited the game. visuals are cool though they can hurt eyes after a bit some things like electrically shocking the employee would be more unsettling with sound effects some things like controls don't make certain things immediately obvious like for example one section where it asked me to run it didn't work as it was set to '&' but I couldn't tell whether it was intentional on the developers part to do so. Another thing like kicking a ball has you look forward to get the prompt to kick it which didn't feel really natural nor immediately obvious as I tried to look straight at it first which just flat out didn't work. dialogue like for example when you are given the gun and told you know what to do has some dialogue that doesn't feel quite appropriate if its attempting to be unsettling when shooting a person, instead of using something like "OMG you aren't supposed to kill them." I would instead use something that more effectively leaves the player unsettled by trying to lead their thoughts in a certain direction like for example "Who told you to kill them?" or something to try to take a dig at the way the player thinks in terms of games always assuming it means to kill. The one idea on one of the floors where when you looked down you fell is a cool and unique idea I haven't seen anywhere else. Although I do see the game as going for an eerie environment with the psychological horror, I don't feel like it always sticks the landing, for example I never quite felt unsettled or just fear in general, the most I would get is a minor jump scare which would maybe just make me jump in my seat as they didn't really achieve any sort of scare. Though the cockroach race part was more successful than the others I will note. One thing I think that could benefit the horror more is maybe smaller details that make so that the more you look the more unsettling your environment becomes like for example in one of the levels where you have to water the plants, what if one of the plants could was able to still be watered and kept changing more and more drastically to unsettle the player. One idea I saw used that achieved a similar effect were the eyes on the walls that you could poke on one floor. The server talismans section where you placed the talismans on the server was somewhat effectively eerie with a strange entrance to them and leaving one of them without a talisman, especially with how the background audio becomes wind passing through and the audio becoming more echoey. The part where you make the employees obey by hitting them is quite effective in being unsettling with the audio being a significant factor in this I'd say. The part where you catch the butterflies and eat them is effectively unsettling. Honestly I feel that the less words used the more effectively eerie the game is by leaving you with just your mind to work out the problems especially when things are very obviously linear. The puzzle where you needed to walk backwards to reach the door is cool. Same with the room that fills with coffee.

'The absurdity of office work.' A theme that's been over-exploited by indie video games ever since Stanley Parable opened the way and showed the world how much clout you could gather by clumsily emulating Portal's sarcastic wit. Pager is one of the laziest representatives of this trend I've ever played. Why bother constructing any semblance of a story, progression, or context to anything? Just randomly mix in stuff to make a certain amount of levels and be done with it. After all, what better way to denounce 'the absurdity of office work'? The graphics looked cool in the trailer vids but in fullscreen the overdone dithering filter will make your eyes bleed and the interesting visual ideas are few and far between, with a bunch of references to the backrooms, Twin Peaks, The Shining... Also note that you won't be able to change the controls, so if you're using a non-wasd keyboard you'll have to install a virtual wasd disposition and switch to it when playing (pretty easy to do). Thankfully, since the game has virtually no gameplay, this shouldn't be much of an issue.

very cool

i was rewarded a violent vertical gif for throwing a tiny man into the ocean 10/10 would follow the trajectory equivalent to the orientation of fish again