ZENOMATRIX

I was going to jokingly call it a game of tag with the hydrophobic kin of SCP-173 and weeping angels. But I have to admit those statues are rather unnerving. So calling it a horror-puzzle is justified. And I usually only care about gameplay, but the style here deserves praise too. So allow me to quickly describe both. Gameplay. Every level consists of several interconnected corridors that have an exit door, one or several switches to open it and some enemy statues that only become active once you walk in front of them. Those statues don’t move when you look at them and you get a couple other gadgets as you progress to help deal with them. New mechanics and statues get introduced every few levels, but those are the basics. Your objective is thus to plan your route around the level and choose when to look at the statues and when to let them move to the right position before making them freeze with your unblinking stare. To help you plan easier, the game even gives you a minimap. In short, everything is completely under your control, including the enemies. There are a few moments where you have to move and act quickly, but for the most part it’s about thinking and not reacting. But if the gameplay is so calm, where does the horror come from? It comes from having to let the enemies out of your sight to progress. And it gets extra unnerving when you have to control two of them at once and turn away for just a moment to let one enemy step into the right position. That said, it is specifically unnerving. There aren’t any jumpscares or loud sounds. It’s having to decide where to look and where not to look that is responsible for most of the tension. And aesthetics fit that atmosphere just perfectly. It’s the opposite of what you’d associate with horror: everything is bright and colourful (apart from a few levels) and there’s not a single speck of blood anywhere. I’d even say the environment looks sterile, like in a freshly cleaned art museum. The only horror-y thing is the distorted laughter of the statues as they approach you just out of sight. All this helps create the atmosphere that you’re both safe and not safe. In full control of everything, but also not really. And that’s probably the best kind of horror. One that maintains constant tension without relying on jumpscares or blood everywhere. All in all, this definitely looks like a labour of love and a puzzle game with both unique mechanics and unique atmosphere. As well as some horror sprinkled in. I also didn’t run into any bugs and my PC didn’t want to melt itself while playing, so I’d say it’s very well made. It even has a level editor and workshop support, so if you crave more after finishing the main game, then workshop shall hopefully provide. Probably not on the first day, but you know. Eventually. Until then, might as well appreciate the aesthetics. Shoals of wireframe fish swimming through the sky in some levels look quite beautiful.

Nice puzzle game, I like the silicon dream graphics. Technically it's not too long, but it's also kinda cheap, I say technically because that's the main maps, the game has a map editor so we can make custom puzzles. The game started crashing constantly after map 6-3, I limited the fps to 60 and that seemed to fix the issue. The puzzles themselves are mainly about those weird mannequin thingies, there are different kind of mannequins, each with their own "ability", they are enemies but at the same time you need to use them in some maps to progress. Just a heads up to anyone with the same muscle memory as me, there is no button rebind settings, so every time I wanted to pause the game I would press Esc, which sends you to the main menu, the pause button is P instead. There is barely any need to pause the game, most of the time there are a lot of areas in which if you stand still nothing will happen to you, but if you are also used to pause the game each time you want to alt tab or do something else, you will need to get used to not press esc. The game has a demo if you want to try it yourself before getting the full version. :)

I'm not one for long reviews but here's my two cents : In an era of games that are in constant price race and trying to give you a fragmented experience with DLC, microtransaction, seasonal content and multiGigabites day 1 patches that sometimes brick your console, you still have labors of love. This is one of them. It's afforable, it's a concentrated experience with only what counts; the gaemplay. You get in, you can get out as easily as you want. It's not a perfect experience by any means, but it has heart and it delivers on its premisses pretty well, without completely breaking your brain. It got me about 3h to finish it, which makes it a really good amount of fun per bucks with an easthetic that hasn't been explored too much yet.

neat little puzzle game! startled me a few times lol there's a small bug near the end, where if you look at the entity as it despawns you can get stuck in the immobile state, but it's not a big deal. thanks for making!

even though I`m not into horrors in any way, this puzzle game got me, loved it sm as demo version, bought at full price, no hesitations gameplay is basic but elegant and well-balanced, really enjoyed puzzles, those creeps` moves are simultaneously scary and hilarious, visual aesthetic is also on top highly recommend!

A very fun game with a number of neat mechanics to learn and figure out how to navigate and solve puzzles with. Usually I got the puzzle within the first couple of tries and from there it was just a matter of executing properly on my solution. I do wish there were more levels so I'm excited to see what people come up with in the level editor.

This game pitches itself as a "horror puzzle game," which honestly is a rather good way to describe it. The entire thing is about manipulating monsters -- who WILL kill you if you're not careful -- into doing what you want to open gates and flip switches. These monsters are genuinely off-putting (my first interactions with them were yelps) and the whole world has a surreal vaporwave aesthetic that surprisingly heightens tension by disorienting you. The puzzle design is focused on sightlines and navigating maze-like structures. Throwing some threats into the mix is a pretty good idea, with most levels forcing you to indirectly deal with the monsters lurking around every corner. Turning the monsters into puzzle elements does eventually diminish the horror aspects, but some late-game surprises ratchet the tension all the way back up, so it's not a big deal. It's a little rough around the edges, but this is a very solid experience at a fair price that I can recommend, so long as you know that the puzzle elements reign supreme over the horror parts.

Listen mates, I know being unbiased here is all but impossible. Not only because I got the game for free, even though God's my witness, I was willing to dish out some quids for it even before it came out. Not only because "Technovaporwave with Weeping angels" is 97% ABV (V standing for "VIBE") for me. It's because I was there, from the very first days of the project and I got to see it grow and evolve, and bloody hell what a journey it was. Hell, I got to voice the trailer for crying out loud, and to this date it is one of my more proud pieces of work. What I liked: - Again, the visuals. One need not add more. From the aspect ratio, to colors, to textures. Just play Macintosh Plus in the background for complete Vaporwave experience. Hell, I'll say it now that Zenomatrix has some of the most Vaporwave visuals I have seen in videogames. - I liked the puzzles, and I think the game gets objectively better in the latter half, granting me many "aha!" catharsis moments when the potential solutions finally click in my brain. - I love how the game teaches you new mechanics/explains enemy weaknesses and resistances without a single word spoken - It is all show, no tell. - The mannequins, on the Audiovisual front they are amazing. The way these things dance towards you, while screeching out a distorted mix of a child's laughter and a magnetic tape being wound at 5x speed holds up even after 6 hours of me playing it. And that snap, that sudden, loud, crystal clear, visceral sound of your upper most vertebra violently detaching from its neighbor never failed to make me jump a tad at least ONCE per session. I would say, that Zeno's best achievement are the mannequins, and their multiple "subspecies" that keep the gameplay interesting. Funny enough, I was asking him to "make them a bit more well endowed" but then again, playing the game with a gear shift sticking out of your pants is...counterproductive. - The minimap is a godsend and helps with navigation. - All in all it is a solid package that Is EASILY worth both your time and money. What I did not like/ What kinda irked me: - My first and most glaring issue was the ESC button, which immediately sends you to the main menu. When you've been stuck on a puzzle for a while, only to accidentally get sent to the menu on an almost successful attempt - it can get annoying at times. By the time I reached the "Urine Dimension" It had stopped being a problem, but it took time for that adaptation to set in. - Some puzzles were a tad too obtuse, and because of that, certain levels went from genuinely good headscratchers to frustrating moments of trial-and error. Out of the whole game, I had maybe 2 of such moments, which is not all that bad considering the game's length. - Audiofeedback - While the dev did tell me that there is a proximity audio feedback when a mannequin approaches you...I kinda ask "Is there though?" Like yes, you will hear them being far if they're dancing towards you from the capital of Mongolia, but the moment they enter your proximity, you will not be able to tell if the're breathing down your neck like that one Jeffrey guy on a minor, or if they're at the other end of a room. This made gauging their approaches difficult, something I wish I could have finer control over. - Occasionally they don't snap your neck. Yeah that happens, it's like you have to be in the middle of a movement cycle for them to be able to end your existence. But, in the game's defense - Press the R button, and then a second later the level restarts. Not a massive niggle, but something I noticed. - Occasionally, two enemies can get permanently stuck on each other, necessitating a restart. It was more apparent in the later levels. - "The first horror puzzle game" never really sat all that well with me. I respect what he was going for but...I kinda not see it. Yes the enemies are indeed a vital piece of each puzzle but still... Additional comments: - On a lighter note, I would have loved to be able to use the "ball" launcher to firmly plant my balls into the mannequins' faces more frequently. But, sadly, you don't really get to do that all that much in the latter half. As the dev himself commented, he kinda "Dropped the ball" on that! - It would have been so much more awesome if each of the variants had like a vocal filter that would accentuate their "unique origin" - You'll know what I mean once you see them. - A very minute spoiler/not-so-spoiler - I am sorta sad that the the eye in the sky got nerfed. To avoid giving away too much, I'd say that it and the final enemy type used to share the same ability. - The very final variant is REALLY cool concept-wise, but is a bit rough, don't want to spoil it here so I cannot say much. Maneuvering around it is a bit...jank I guess. Final Verdict - Do get it. The price is affordable and just right for the experience it offers. Thank you for reading this far. And thank you to the dev for making the game and giving me the key. God speed professors, Sebastian.

Aesthetically pleasing light horror themed puzzle game revolving around avoiding entities that move when not looking at them. Puzzles are challenging, but not frustrating. Good sound design too.

So there is a level of bias because I will not lie to the people. But still this is a very solid game! $5 for a horror dreamscape with scary entities that want to hug you is always a fun time. It’s even more fun when it is actually a fun game! IMO we are at the tail ends of the whole back rooms genre but this is delving backwards in time and striking a chord with early vapor wave 90s computer aesthetics! For the price of a bar beer I’d rather play this game and drink my beer at home. I can’t wait to finish it and see how it evolves!