BrokenLore: DON'T WATCH

BrokenLore: DON'T WATCH offers a more intense, close quarters horror experience than its predecessor. Once again being just over an hour long, this can be completed in one sitting and builds up to what is looking to be a great anthology horror set.

87%Game Brain Score

story, graphics

optimization, grinding

92% User Score Based on 185 reviews

Critic Score 70%Based on 2 reviews

Platforms

Buy Nowfrom €8.79

Buy NowGet on Steam €8.79 Buy NowGet on itch.io Store Buy NowGet on Xbox Games Store

About

BrokenLore: DON'T WATCH is a single player survival simulation game with horror, mystery, thriller and anime themes. It was developed by Serafini Productions® and was released on April 24, 2025. It received mostly positive reviews from critics and very positive reviews from players.

In BrokenLore: DON'T WATCH, immerse yourself in the haunting world of Shinji, a young hikikomori trapped in his Tokyo apartment. As his mind unravels, confront a malevolent entity watching from the shadows. Will you uncover the truth before it's too late?

Skip User Reviews

92%Audience ScoreBased on 185 reviews

story37 positive mentions

grinding2 negative mentions

Excellent psychological horror with a strong, immersive story exploring themes like isolation, anxiety, and societal pressure.
Stunning and unique visual style blending realistic environments with retro pixelated sequences, complemented by outstanding sound design and voice acting.
Short, focused gameplay that maintains tension and atmosphere, making it a memorable experience without overstaying its welcome.

The game is quite short and some players feel the price is a bit high for the length and replayability offered.
The latter half of the game, involving unplugging TVs in a retro-style segment, feels repetitive and detracts from the initial powerful atmosphere.
Technical performance issues including crashes and frame drops on some systems, with occasional bugs and lack of gameplay variety.

story
83 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
45%
51%
4%
The story of the game is a concise, psychologically driven horror centered on Shinji, a hikikomori struggling with isolation, anxiety, and personal demons within a confined apartment setting. While some players found the narrative engaging, atmospheric, and emotionally impactful with strong thematic depth, others felt it was short, occasionally confusing, or lacked enough character development for a fully satisfying conclusion. Overall, it delivers a unique, intimate exploration of mental health and societal fears through effective storytelling and immersive design.
- “The story follows Shinji, a young man living as a hikikomori, trapped not only by his apartment walls but by mounting debt, strained family ties, and a paralyzing inability to face the outside world.”
- “Don’t Watch grounds its story in something far more human: isolation, anxiety, and the slow collapse of the psyche.”
- “The tight, focused storytelling within a single apartment has that emotional impact and gives players a clear sense of progression and purpose.”
- “Couldn't get past the first chase, the story is just so generic and the dialogue is unbearably bad.”
- “The plot was so confusing, it was kind of boring and I felt the voice actors weren't really yelling when they should have been.”
- “Good game for the most part as it is well designed and has good voice acting but the only problem I had was that I felt the last part in the PS1 realm where you unplug TVs felt out of place for Shinji's story.”
graphics
52 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
63%
31%
6%
The game’s graphics receive widespread praise for their stunning, varied art styles that effectively create a haunting and immersive atmosphere, blending realistic visuals with retro-inspired sequences. Visuals are noted as a standout feature that enhances storytelling and mood, though some users suggest lowering settings for better performance. Overall, the graphics are considered impressive and integral to the psychological horror experience.
- “The visuals are incredible and show the developer has a clear vision and passion for this project.”
- “Don't Watch continues the Brokenlore series tradition of stunning visuals, featuring hyper-realistic graphics that immerse you in sometimes claustrophobic and oppressive environments.”
- “The game’s graphics are a standout feature, blending beautifully detailed environments with intentionally retro-styled sequences.”
- “Every time I opened the game, I needed to set the language and graphical options to medium again, as clearly a Steam Deck is not able to handle 'epic' as a standard texture definition.”
- “However, there is a lot of room for improvement, for example, graphics optimization, voice acting, weird Japanese voice lines, and storytelling.”
- “Like Brokenlore: Low, you have a PSX graphics section.”
atmosphere
31 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
61%
29%
10%
The game consistently delivers a strong, immersive atmosphere characterized by eerie, oppressive, and unsettling horror elements that effectively maintain tension without relying heavily on jump scares. Its combination of haunting visuals, sound design, and storytelling creates a unique and captivating experience, though some players note its brevity and occasional performance issues. Overall, the atmosphere is praised as a standout feature that deeply engages fans of the horror genre.
- “Fantastic oppressive environment and atmosphere, with well done sound design and wonderful visual aesthetics that pack into a wonderful package for a short horror experience.”
- “From the moment I stepped into its eerie world, I was captivated by its haunting atmosphere and rich story.”
- “The atmosphere is immersive and unsettling—definitely a unique experience.”
- “It's getting there in terms of atmosphere, but certain aspects of the mechanics and story writing left me wanting more.”
- “The game has a creepy atmosphere, but it's short, has performance issues, and the gameplay feels like running around doing tasks.”
- “With great voice acting and a soundtrack that creates an oppressive, stressful atmosphere.”
gameplay
30 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27%
63%
10%
The gameplay is minimalistic, straightforward, and best suited for a short, narrative-driven horror experience lasting one to two hours. It features some innovative mechanics that enhance the atmospheric tension but lacks depth, replayability, and action elements, which may leave players wanting more variety and engagement. Overall, it’s well-crafted for its price and intended audience but can feel repetitive or too brief.
- “Excellent short horror game that has some interesting mechanics I haven’t seen before in a small indie game like this.”
- “At its current price, Brokenlore: Don’t Watch is definitely a worthwhile pick for fans of narrative-driven horror with innovative gameplay mechanics.”
- “I just finished playing Don’t Watch, and I really liked the game including the art style, the gameplay mechanics, and the story.”
- “The game has a creepy atmosphere, but it's short, has performance issues, and the gameplay is more of running around tasks.”
- “And there's nothing you can do to push the gameplay forward.”
- “If you want action, combat, or deep mechanics, look elsewhere.”
optimization
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
21%
58%
21%
Optimization in the game is generally solid but shows room for improvement, especially on higher-end systems where performance can dip and cause increased fan noise. Lowering settings to "high" significantly improves frame rates with minimal visual loss. Overall, the game runs smoothly for most users but could benefit from better graphics optimization.
- “Graphics and performance are stunning.”
- “Performance did run 3440x1440 on epic with 5070ti and had around 40-60 fps in normal parts of the game, higher later in the game. The game looks amazing.”
- “This game is definitely a step up in quality and performance from the first entry in the Brokenlore series.”
- “Only bad thing that comes to mind is the technical performance of the game.”
- “When this game is running my PC goes crazy with the fans while other well-optimized game titles don't affect it that much.”
- “Looking the way it does, the performance was kinda poor, but knocking the settings down to 'high' worked well and it didn't really look worse after.”
music
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
64%
36%
The music in the game is widely praised for its quality and atmospheric contribution, often described as beautiful, top-tier, and highly effective in building tension and mood. It complements the sound design and visuals, enhancing the immersive and sometimes oppressive experience. Overall, the soundtrack is considered one of the game's standout features within its genre.
- “The soundtrack and sound design for these games are also top tier.”
- “Both the music and sound design also lend themselves extremely well to emphasize mood and the building of tension.”
- “Music - some of the best in the genre so far.”
emotional
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game delivers a deeply emotional and intimate horror experience centered on societal pressures, fear, and anxiety, emphasizing emotional vulnerability over traditional scares. Its storytelling creates a poignant atmosphere that resonates with real emotional struggles, leaving a lasting impact through its focused narrative and demand for patience and openness. Players often find it both touching and unsettling, with a memorable emotional aftertaste rather than relying on replayability.
- “Brokenlore: don't watch is an intimate and deeply disturbing psychological horror experience that finds its strength not in spectacle, but in suffocating familiarity and emotional vulnerability.”
- “The horror it represents is not about physical harm, but about scrutiny and shame, making its presence emotionally potent rather than conventionally threatening.”
- “These elements anchor the horror in real emotional pain, making the supernatural aspects feel like an extension of lived experience rather than abstract scares.”
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Grinding in the game starts off engaging but quickly becomes tedious once progressing beyond the initial stages, requiring extra effort and resources such as a second life to continue effectively.
- “The first time you need to stab eyes on the wall is really neat, but once you leave the apartment and venture into the hallways, the game quickly becomes tedious.”
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
replayability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game is intended for a brief, impactful experience rather than repeated playthroughs, focusing on emotional resonance over replayability in its mechanics.
- “It is designed to be experienced in one or two sittings, leaving a lingering emotional aftertaste rather than offering replayability through mechanics.”
character development
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The character development is noted for good design, but the overall experience is hindered by poor sound design.
humor
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's humor is highlighted by its quirky, unusual Japanese dialogues, which users find amusing and contribute to a lighthearted, entertaining experience rather than a serious one.

Skip Critic Reviews

70%Critics’ scoreBased on 2 critic reviews

Skip Game Offers

Buy BrokenLore: DON'T WATCH

2h Median play time

2h Average play time

2-2h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 1 analyzed playthroughs

Skip Videos

Videos

Skip Games Like BrokenLore: DON'T WATCH

80%166reviews

BrokenLore: LOW

2025

Survival Action Adventure

77%458reviews

REVEIL

2024

Simulation

81%4.9kreviews

The Medium

2021

Simulation

78%9.6kreviews

Layers of Fear

2016

Survival Simulation

+16

82%33.4kreviews

Little Nightmares

2017

Survival Platformer

+17

80%573reviews

The Lightkeeper

2025

Simulation

80%1.1kreviews

Amenti

2025

Simulation

92%704reviews

Fear the Spotlight

2023

Action Adventure

+11

83%800reviews

The Backrooms: Lost Tape

2022

Survival Management

66%1.8kreviews

The Shore

2021

Survival Shooter

More games like BrokenLore: DON'T WATCH

Skip FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

BrokenLore: DON'T WATCH is a survival simulation game with horror, mystery, thriller and anime themes.

BrokenLore: DON'T WATCH is available on Xbox Series X|S, PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4 and others.

On average players spend around 2 hours playing BrokenLore: DON'T WATCH.

BrokenLore: DON'T WATCH was released on April 24, 2025.

BrokenLore: DON'T WATCH was developed by Serafini Productions®.

BrokenLore: DON'T WATCH has received mostly positive reviews from players and mostly positive reviews from critics. Most players liked BrokenLore: DON'T WATCH for its story but disliked it for its optimization.

BrokenLore: DON'T WATCH is a single player game.

Similar games include BrokenLore: LOW, REVEIL, The Medium, Layers of Fear, Little Nightmares and others.

BrokenLore: DON'T WATCH

Platforms

story

graphics

atmosphere

gameplay

optimization

music

emotional

grinding

replayability

character development

humor