Our Secret Below (Literally Underground Stalker Escape Game)

 

This is such a great idea for a game. Has it been done before? I don’t know, but probably not this well so I won’t bother investigating. DarkStone Digital is like my buddy. He sent me one of the first games I reviewed on here, specifically his terror BDSM space puzzler The Subject. Guy has a knack for understanding first-person horror with puzzle action, so I was psyched to know he applied that to a thriller based on the escape room phenomenon where you’re Nia, a young girl kidnapped by an obsessed stalker who will eventually kill you if you can’t escape his psycho thrash metal dungeon basement. There’s not any thrash metal, actually, but Our Secret Below doesn’t need it to slay.

 
 

This one relies on you navigating a creeper’s basement to get the hell out of there as symbolic revenge for all stalked women. As Nia you have to experiment with everything to pick at the clues until you eventually reach an ending, of which there are three. The awesomeness here is in the reality triggering of Our Secret Below. There are never truly clear hints for what you need to accomplish, it’s all trial-and-error and it definitely feels like a kidnapping experience. This is because it’s totally up to you to get out; a number code here, a computer to try it on here, maybe this locked box over here, etc. until you find what works, leading to the next object to manipulate and puzzle to solve. The tension is spectacular as navigate what was the last living quarters of previous victims. You’l fail, several times, at first, and the lack of spoon-feeding may discourage provincials, but this is cult classic and literally underground on several levels.

 

Our Secret Below Official Steam

Written by Stanley, Devourer of Souls

Our Secret Below
DarkStone Digital (developer and publisher)
4.7 / 5