Borstal

About

Survival roguelike novellas with meaningful choices and multiple endings! There are two scenarios currently: first one is set on a small island. It's 1926, you're 13 years old and it is raining. You're looking for your lost father. The second scenario puts you in the role of a mountaineer trying to climb an eight-thousander.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

40%

Audience ScoreBased on 25 reviews

humor4 positive mentions

gameplay4 negative mentions

The game offers high replay value with multiple storylines and endings, encouraging players to adapt and learn from their mistakes.
It provides a unique experience as a minimalist survival game with a focus on text-based storytelling and randomized encounters.
For its low price, it can be an interesting choice for casual gamers looking for a short game to play in brief sessions.

The game suffers from numerous glitches and random events that can lead to sudden, unexplained deaths, causing frustration.
Many players find the gameplay overly simplistic and reliant on RNG, leading to a lack of strategy and engagement.
The content is limited, with some players feeling that once the game is completed, there is little reason to continue playing.

story
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
50%
25%
The story has received mixed reviews, with some players appreciating its unique and unexpected narratives, while others criticize it for being poorly written and lacking depth. The overall experience is described as mediocre, with a focus on text-based storytelling and randomized encounters rather than engaging gameplay. Despite its silliness and vagueness, some players found enjoyment in the change of pace and the survival mechanics.
- “Until this week, I encountered storylines that I had not previously seen, having already played each scenario dozens of times.”
- “Pitched in the description as more interactive novellas, the two scenarios provided play out like only the most classic turn-based survival, harkening more to the style of Neo Scavenger than Rust in that the most engaging aspect is the text-based story and randomized encounters rather than the graphics and crafting.”
- “The overall story is a bit too vague, and I feel as if I missed some huge context clues, but the change of pace and setting to what I've been playing recently and the simplified but reasonable survival mechanics made it a joy.”
- “Everything here is mediocre or just plain bad, even the narration, which should be the core of a game like this - which lacks real gameplay - is badly written and all the settings and plot ideas are stupid.”
- “This is a silly story about a human-snail journey, so after a week you've only found a couple of houses.”
- “The overall story is a bit too vague, and I feel as if I missed some huge context clues.”
gameplay
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
10%
50%
40%
The gameplay is criticized for being poorly developed and glitchy, with core mechanics that feel mediocre and unengaging. Players find the survival roguelite elements dull, often reduced to reading poorly written narration and facing random, frustrating deaths. While some appreciate the change of pace and simplified mechanics, the overall experience is marred by a lack of depth and coherence in the story.
- “The overall story is a bit too vague, and I feel as if I missed some huge context clues, but the change of pace and setting to what I've been playing recently and the simplified but reasonable survival mechanics made it a joy.”
- “The core mechanics are just awful; this game is glitchy and not well developed.”
- “Everything here is mediocre or just plain bad. Even the narration, which should be the core of a game like this, lacks real gameplay and is badly written. All the settings and plot ideas are stupid.”
- “A dull survival roguelite game, where the gameplay consists of reading badly written narration text and randomly dying for pathetic reasons.”
graphics
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
63%
38%
The graphics of the game are described as overly simplistic, which some players find unimportant compared to the engaging text-based story and randomized encounters. While the visuals may not impress, they do not detract from the enjoyment for those who appreciate a more narrative-driven experience. Overall, the graphics are functional but not a focal point of the gameplay.
- “Pitched in the description as more interactive novellas, the two scenarios provided play out like only the most classic turn-based survival, harkening more to the style of Neo Scavenger than Rust, in that the most engaging aspect is the text-based story and randomized encounters rather than the graphics and crafting.”
- “There's no skill or strategy here, it's just 100% RNG, combined with utterly simple graphics.”
- “It's not the overly simple graphics that make this game fail, because I am one of the few gamers these days that can have a hell of a lot of fun with simplistic graphics.”
stability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The stability of the game has been criticized for its numerous glitches, particularly game-ending ones that can disrupt gameplay significantly. Early development stages were marked by instability, and these issues continue to affect the overall experience.
- “When I first purchased Borstal, it was still in an early stage of development and had many glitches.”
- “But--and this is a big enough but for a Sir Mix-a-Lot song--Mountain suffers from some game-ending glitches that shocked and baffled me each time they happened.”
humor
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is described as both smooth and unexpectedly entertaining, with players finding it amusingly nonsensical and "accidentally stupid." Many reviewers noted that the comedic elements significantly enhanced their enjoyment, making it one of the most memorable aspects of their gameplay experience.
- “It made me laugh; it's so smooth I think they scripted it this way... it doesn't make sense. By the way, I talked about this for so long because this was the most entertaining time I had with the game.”
- “In the first minutes of gameplay, I thought: 'If this game keeps being like this, I could actually like it, because it's so accidentally stupid it's funny!'”
music
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The music in the game is noted for its calming and soothing qualities, providing a relaxing experience that allows players to feel at ease.
- “I relaxed for 5 minutes listening to this music, long enough to realize that I would be okay.”
replayability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
150%
Users consistently highlight that the game has high replay value, indicating that players find it enjoyable to revisit and play multiple times.
- “The replay value is incredibly high.”
- “The game offers a lot of replayability.”
- “There are numerous ways to experience the game, making it highly replayable.”