Is Simon There? 40 Minutes of Genuine Terror (Review)

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Release Date: May 6th 2022

Developer: Stanislaw Truchowski

Platforms: PC (Steam)

Price: $4.99

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“Hi, is Simon there?”

These four words will be ingrained into your memory after playing this short indie game developed by Stanislaw Truchowski. After having been released on Steam on May 6th 2022, Is Simon There? Has been given great reviews and an all-time score of Very Positive on Steam. 

I was mainly interested in this game as I am really into walking simulators at the moment, the last few games I’ve been playing have been along the lines of What Became of Edith Finch, Gone Home and Firewatch. When I discovered Is Simon There? on Stream, it was a no-brainer for me to purchase - walking simulator AND horror? Sign me up! Stanislaw Truchowski does an amazing job at keeping the atmosphere simply terrifying throughout the entire game. Players are informed before starting the game that it will take approximately 40 minutes to complete. For me, it was much, much longer. Players are also informed that the game is best experienced using headphones, with the lights out and alone. I will hold my hands up and openly admit that I did none of these things, and even so - the game was still terrifying.

The gameplay is in first-person view, and you are not given much context - you wake up to a blaring alarm clock (which is, for some reason sitting on a very high shelf) and as you progress through the game, the protagonist is plagued by phone calls all of which are from somebody asking whether Simon is there. The story takes place in the protagonist's home which is small and can feel claustrophobic, especially when the lights are out. As the narrative progresses the protagonist is convinced there is somebody in the house - the main objectives are to find the intruder. I found the game's atmosphere to be so terrifying that even the tall potted plants that were dotted around the house were giving me jump scares. The game does a very good job at messing with you - quite often as you make multiple trips throughout the house things appear that were not there earlier, and you start to feel as though you’re going crazy right along with the protagonist. 

Although it is mainly marketed as a psychological horror walking simulator, there are some puzzles that need to be solved and this was the part of the game that I found to be most frustrating. There is very little guidance or even clues as to how to solve the puzzles. In particular there is a section of the game where you need to find a code to open a safe, and as far as I can tell, there is nowhere that shows any digits or gives any clue as to what the safe code is. It’s entirely possible that I could have missed it, the game did have me too scared to stay in any one place for too long. 

Given that the game is set in a single household, in first person view with jump scares, a terrifying atmosphere and cryptic puzzles, I can’t help but compare this game to P.T by Hideo Kojima which famously released on PS4 back in 2014 and later removed due to the cancellation of Silent Hills. It feels, in some way that this game may be a tribute to P.T.

Considering the game didn’t really have much context as the beginning, the story is revealed throughout the game and everything begins to fall into place as you keep exploring. I will admit that I started to feel sympathy for the protagonist as things started to become clearer. Some people may say that 40 minutes is too short for a game, but as previously mentioned, it took me much longer than this to complete the game. There are also multiple endings and achievements up for grabs if you want to extend your playtime and get your money's worth.

In summary, this game was a real gem - I’m so happy that I stumbled across it one day while browsing the steam store. If you love horror games and also enjoy walking simulators and puzzle solving, this game is definitely worth a try.

Pros:

• Genuinely scary.

• The graphics were nice.

• Excellent theme and atmosphere.

• Multiple endings.

• Well priced.

Cons:

• Quite cryptic, some puzzles are difficult to solve.

• Some may say it’s on the shorter side (playtime wise.)

Two Point Campus Review

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Release Date: August 9th 2022
Developer: Two Point Studios
Platforms: Microsoft Windows (Reviewed), Linux, Mac OS, XBox One/Series X & S, Playstation 4/5, Nintendo Switch
Price: $39.99

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After the success of Two Point Hospital (2018) I was really excited to play its successor, Two Point Campus. The original Two Point Hospital was a love-letter to Bull Frog's Theme Hospital back in the 90s - however, it was never a game I played that much as a child. I was, however a huge fan of Theme Park. The idea of building my own University Campuses sounded like a lot of fun, so I decided to give this game a go.

The game retails at $39.99 on every system, which I find to be a little expensive. However, if you have an Xbox Game Pass subscription, you can play the game for free on PC or Xbox systems as it is included in the game pass catalogue. Luckily I was already a game pass subscriber, so this was a no-brainer for me, I was even allowed to pre-install the game, so I could play straight away on release day.

I don't normally play simulation games such as these due to the fact that they can sometimes overwhelm me with endless menus and options. However, Two Point Campus does a good job at guiding you through the different options and menus, teaching you at a nice pace how to build your campus, hire staff, and keep your students happy. I found the controls a bit confusing and difficult to get used to, as this was the first time I had played a simulation game on mouse and keyboard (I had previously played some Two Point Hospital on Nintendo Switch). At the time of writing this review, I still do get caught out on panning the camera around in certain directions!

Much like its predecessor, Two Point Campus works in much the same way. There are a certain number of campuses you can unlock across a vast overworld map - each campus slightly more grand and fancy than the previous. On each level you start off with a slightly higher income for building the campus, this comes in handy later on in the game when you have gotten the hang of how the campuses work - meaning you need to have a good amount of entertainment for the students, multiple lecture theaters, dormitories, a student's union, staff room, libraries etc. One addition I enjoyed in this game was being able to schedule events in the different rooms. For example, you can schedule movie nights in the campus lecture theaters. or organise parties at the students union which really help with increasing student happiness (not sure why it costs $4000 to put a movie night on, though!)

There are many items for sale in the inventory for making your campus bright and fun. You can unlock these items using an in-game currency called 'Kudosh' which is earned by completing objectives, completing career goals, and getting through the academic year. It's a fun system, and I can definitely see myself losing hours of my life to this game trying to unlock fun posters and rugs for my students' dorm rooms and beautiful water features for the campus grounds.

As you work your way through the levels you will begin to unlock more courses to teach your students, you also unlock the ability to build research and training labs so that you can improve your classrooms and train your staff.  Each level has three stars which you can work towards gaining for your campus. It is quite simple to unlock the next level, but you can choose to continue playing your current campus and level it up to being a 3 star campus.

The sound design and music is very well implemented. I always find games like this to be quite relaxing once I've got the hang of how they work. As in Two Point Hospital, Campus also has tannoy announcements which can be quite entertaining to listen to whilst you are building classrooms and dorms, my personal favourite so far being 'Announcement: “Education will brighten your future but cloud you with debt”. There are also radio talk shows and interviews that are broadcast throughout the academic year which also make for an entertaining listen.

Although I have enjoyed what I have played of the game so far, I can't help but notice just how similar to Two Point Hospital the game is. There are some changes however sometimes it does feel like I am playing a re-skinned Two Point Hospital. The game can get a little repetitive as you progress, even with the additions of new courses that present themselves at each new levels.

PROS:

• Pretty graphics, it looked and ran beautifully on my 3070ti graphics card

• It is relaxing when you get a hang of what you're meant to be doing

• The announcements and talk shows are funny

CONS:

• It can get repetitive

• Too similar to Two Point Hospital