A Room Beyond

About

A Room Beyond is a single player action adventure game with fantasy and mystery themes. It was developed by René Bühling and was released on June 13, 2017. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

Solve a mysterious criminal case in this dark pixel-style fantasy point and click adventure game inspired by literature, art, games and movies in the genre of victorian horror fiction.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

67%

Audience ScoreBased on 18 reviews

story5 positive mentions

gameplay3 negative mentions

The game features beautiful optics and a creepy atmosphere that enhances the overall experience.
The story is intriguing and well-written, with a solid narrative that keeps players engaged.
The puzzle design is decent, offering a mix of easy and challenging puzzles that encourage exploration.

Controls and navigation are frustrating, making it difficult to move around and interact with the environment.
The game suffers from technical issues, including bugs that can prevent progression, particularly in chapter 3.
Combat mechanics feel out of place and are poorly executed, detracting from the overall enjoyment of the game.

story
17 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
29%
53%
18%
The game's story is described as intriguing and well-structured, with a gradual build-up across five chapters that allows for exploration and character interaction. However, some players feel that the narrative loses momentum towards the end and that character development is lacking, making them forgettable. While the story's atmosphere and unique presentation are praised, gameplay issues detract from the overall experience, leaving some players disengaged despite their initial interest.
- “Beautiful optics and intriguing story so far.”
- “Now for the long one: the story builds up very gradually, letting you set your own pace when exploring the area or talking to the other characters.”
- “The combination of pixel art style and surreal story create an absolutely genuine atmosphere which makes the game's greatest feature.”
- “Simply moving and interacting is a chore; each chapter introduces new mechanics that clutter the game with instant deaths and distractions, and the plot seems barely present.”
- “The first few minutes of the game drew me in and made me interested in the story, but fighting with the controls, pathing, camera, and hotspot issues drained my motivation, and killing spider after spider in the dull and frustrating combat pushed me until I just couldn't be bothered with it anymore.”
- “I'm still interested in the story, but not enough to actually play the game.”
graphics
15 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
60%
20%
The graphics in "A Room Beyond" feature a unique 2.5D pixel art style that creates a surreal atmosphere, though some players find the indistinct visuals can obscure important details. While the pixelated graphics are a draw for many, they can also lead to challenges in visibility and clarity, with some scenes appearing drab and character designs being blocky. Overall, the game's artistic approach is polarizing, with some praising its originality while others note its flaws in execution.
- “This game's pixelated graphics are a big draw for me, and I was really surprised to see that the 2.5D environment is really well done.”
- “The combination of pixel art style and surreal story creates an absolutely genuine atmosphere, which makes the game's greatest feature.”
- “Quiet, thrilling, and dark, A Room Beyond uses an unusual art style and challenging puzzles to rope you into a gloomy world.”
- “The art style can definitely make it challenging to see certain things.”
- “Already built upon a vague premise and indistinct graphics, the episodes that chronicle this adventure feel wildly disparate and uneven.”
- “But the art style doesn’t quite click, obscuring many points of interest behind indistinct pixels and forcing you to use the obnoxious highlights multiple times per scene.”
atmosphere
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
20%
40%
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its creepy and eerie qualities, enhanced by a combination of pixel art and a surreal narrative. While the soundtrack is sparse in some scenes, the sound effects and overall design contribute to a genuinely unsettling experience, making it a standout feature of the game.
- “Loved the creepy atmosphere of the game throughout.”
- “The combination of pixel art style and surreal story create an absolutely genuine atmosphere which makes the game's greatest feature.”
- “Although the soundtrack isn't always present in the game (some scenes are almost completely silent if we ignore the sound effects of walking and interacting with objects), I think it mostly does a really good job at creating an eerie and slightly uncomfortable atmosphere.”
- “For me, composition, atmosphere, design, and maybe even the title seem to be influenced by The Last Door.”
music
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
40%
The music in the game is generally well-received, with users appreciating its ability to create an eerie atmosphere, particularly noting the effectiveness of Kevin MacLeod's compositions. However, some players feel that the lack of consistent background music during gameplay detracts from the overall experience, suggesting that additional quiet tunes could enhance immersion.
- “Sound - the music in a room beyond is very nice, but it's what you'd expect from Incompetech; Kevin MacLeod's music fits the title very well.”
- “+ nice music”
- “Much of the game is played without music; a couple more quiet background tunes wouldn't have gone astray.”
- “Although the soundtrack isn't always present in the game (some scenes are almost completely silent if we ignore the sound effects of walking and interacting with objects), I think it mostly does a really good job at creating an eerie and slightly uncomfortable atmosphere.”
gameplay
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
60%
Gameplay in "A Room Beyond" is reminiscent of traditional point-and-click adventures, featuring inventory management and puzzle-solving mechanics. However, players have noted frustrations with certain mechanics that can feel cumbersome and lead to instant deaths, detracting from the overall experience. While the game introduces new elements in each chapter, these often complicate rather than enhance the gameplay, leaving the plot feeling secondary.
- “Gameplay in 'A Room Beyond' plays like many other point-and-click adventures, complete with inventory and the usual combine-this-with-that-and-use-it-on-that-other-thing puzzles.”
- “That was confusing for a bit, but once I realized that I didn't have any other gameplay issues.”
- “It’s a frustrating journey as well, thanks to some mechanics that just don’t work as well as they should.”
- “Simply moving and interacting is a chore; each chapter introduces new mechanics that clutter the game with instant deaths and distractions, and the plot seems barely present.”
- “The downside is with some aspects of gameplay.”
stability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players have reported significant stability issues, particularly experiencing freezes in the cave section that prevent game progression.
- “The game frequently freezes in the cave, preventing any progress.”
- “I encountered multiple crashes that made it impossible to continue my adventure.”
- “The stability issues are frustrating; I lost hours of gameplay due to unexpected shutdowns.”