SCP - Containment Breach

Not as scary as Slender, but certainly more going on

For those that like Creepy Pasta (and I'm not talking about Conchiglie) or those that like the idea of being stalked by something that you can't realistically fight, or enjoy playing games like Slenderman and such, you might want to consider the up and coming development that is SCP - Containment Breach. A currently free game (as of writing) for people to download and enjoy the horror of being the sole survivor trying to escape a pseudo-supernatural force.

The guy on the left is a friend. He will help you. I'm trustworthy.

SCP, Secure Contain Protect is a community-run project of creepy pastas, or horror writings, involving bizarre and otherworldly entities supposedly being documents in a sort of scientifically realistic fashion. Ranging from mirrors that can access other dimensions, unkillable creatures from another reality, possibly God, stairwells that descend forever until a face floats its way up to you, doorways to mazes that change when the door is closed, infections that turn people clockwork, living plants, all possible flavour coke-machines, and a multitude of various monsters and creatures.

One of several locations that will stock equipment and essentials, blinking still at a premium.

This game features one such creature, SCP 173, which for all intents and purposes is a statue that doesn't move until it's not being watched, then it moves incredibly quickly and assaults with inhuman strength, anything it can get its grubby little hands on. As such, you have to avoid becoming one of these little victims.

Some areas are VERY dark and give rise to possibly seeing other SCP monsters roaming around.

You start off as a form of highly expendable person, thrown into high risk factors for the sake of throwing lives away and are confronted with trying to guide and manipulate SCP 173. Shit goes down, things get fucked up beyond all recognition (FUBAR) and you're left in the middle of chaos with an incredibly fast moving monster when you're not looking at it. It's very much like facing off against the Weeping Angels of Dr Who fame.

Ambient lighting and shadows give lend to a strong atmosphere in the game.

As per a lock down procedure, you've got a lot of locked doors that require key cards, traps and systems in place that stop SCP 173 from escaping but will also hinder you in the process. Also scattered here and there around the game are snippets of information relating to other SCP subjects as a happy nod towards the community driven entries. In your travels you will also come across other SCPs in various guises and some of which are just as deadly while others can be rather benevolent in helping you get through the game.

Sometimes it's too dark to see what's going on.

That said, having a near encyclopaedic knowledge of the SCP site isn't necessary but knowing of the most popular entries WILL be beneficial to your play through as you'll be able to identify and realise how to deal with various monsters and traps found within the game as you push towards your (as of the latest update) one of four endings.

One of the many containment cages, no you can't trap 173 in it.

As a game, it does create quite an effective level of suspense and atmosphere which is instantly broken and destroyed whenever SCP 173 glitches through a wall and snaps your neck before you realise it. On top of that, SCP 106 can easily spawn upon you and kill you almost instantly though the creepiness factor of some of the other SCP whose sole purpose of existence is to flit about within your peripheral vision, can be a little jarring at first and later just annoying but it keeps you pondering what's going on while ever mindful of the presence of SCP 173.

Almost everything in this game can kill you, including display monitors if they show a certain SCP.

It's still in development but for what it is, a randomly generated map setting, areas that can loop back on themselves and twist reality within the game so you're never sure if you're coming or go, monsters and creatures that can kill, help, hinder or delay you and an actual resolution to the game situation while exploring the underlying plot through reports and details, it's a promising looking series of developments that any SCP fan might want to consider while those with less of an understanding of the source material might want to skip this in favour of one of the other "ooh shit" scary games.

Bubble Witch 2 (iOS)

ADVENTURE!!! No, it's bubbles.

There's something about King that means their games are the equivalent of gaming cocaine. Whatever it is that there company agenda is, I hope it's not sinister as their approach to integrate themselves into items and devices has gotten themselves a potential method of taking over the planet. Not through violence but by distracting everyone with brightly coloured games that are a piece of piss of to start playing but quickly becomes a nightmare in trying to master and progress beyond a certain point. Bubble Witch 2 is no different.

What type of tree was that?

Bubble Witch 2 is a bubble popper game which was made popular by the game series Bust A Move, where you have a selection of brightly coloured balls in an arena and get to fire upwards into that arena, more balls to try and pop the balls that are there, by colliding balls of the same colour together in sets of 3 or higher. That's basically it. You can bank shots off the sides, slip them between other bubbles and use special bubbles if you need which can count as blank bubbles that connect and cause an instant correct colour to align. Failure to hit the right bubble will cause that bubble to be "stuck" and the game carries on until you run out of bubbles or achieve the objective.

You WON! Everything falls and gains points.

Thankfully in Bubble Witch 2, there's multiple objectives to be met from "Free the Ghost" Where there's a single ghost block in the middle surrounded by bubbles, all you've got to do is break the 6 bubbles surrounding it to free the ghost, within a very tight limit of bubbles. Other modes include "Get to the top" where you just get 6 bubbles removed from the uppermost line of the field, and "Free the Animals" where you've got to release multiple bubbles that have animals trapped in them. At the time of playing, I've yet to encounter more modes but there could be future levels and updates.

...So here's a witch in a fashion crisis

The first levels ease you in gradually, showing you the ropes and making it almost impossible to lose unless you're going WAY out of your way to deliberately scupper yourself, though if you've got yourself linked into Face book you can also compete with other like-minded 'socialites' for the best score though most will just be glad to have gotten through the level by that point. You can also donate gifts of lives and such for the other players or if they ask for it, tickets to get through to the next set of levels. Thankfully even nobby-no-mates can progress as once you hit the end of a level and win, you automatically go through after a day of waiting. Or pay...

Lesson 2: Grandma and sucking eggs.

Yes it's a freemium game. You can pay for bonus time, bonus balls, extra moves and special and almost anything else you can think of save from actually BEATING the level itself. With enough cash you can pass most things but the challenge is to get through the game without paying a penny. Which makes the harder levels even harder. It becomes a point that you're going to NEED to be lucky to make much progress in the harder levels as you'll be stripped down to the bare minimum of balls needed to beat a level and THEN you better hope it's the right sequence of ball colours. Thankfully, removal of ALL of a colour negates any more from turning up, even if they're already in the "Next to play" position.

Lots of levels, you likely won't see them all.

The game is banking of frustration to make money. "I just nearly beat this level and need one more bubble that's red to beat this, I'll pay for the 5 more bubbles" no reds show up. Or it will after 15 bubbles, you've no real control on that front. It makes a nice change though to see that there's no block on people progressing and nor is there a compulsory purchase, but the structure and difficulty means that you will feel very pressured by the game to buy things you don't really want to. Be careful as well when playing as the game gives you a small amount of in-game cash and there's no "Are you sure?" if you go to spend it, it will just take it on the first button press.

Multiple ball types keep the variation going

The game looks lovely, but then it should do given the simplicity of the underlying engine, the company has made a living out of looking nice and accessible and once again, they've done it here too. Bright, colourful and pleasantly appealing to the eye for almost all ages. A solid core of a puzzle game with just enough unique things to separate it from the others but having said that, I'd personally prefer to see Bub and Bob on either side of the bubble cannon and fight it out with Baron Von Blubba once again.

...someone kill the writer.

It's nice and it'll make them a fortune, but it's the same structure used once again. I suppose if it works, there's no need to fix it.