Evil Tonight

About

"Evil Tonight" is a survival horror game where players must navigate a haunted house and survive the night. Using stealth and puzzle-solving, players try to avoid being caught by the vengeful spirits that inhabit the house. With permadeath and limited resources, each playthrough presents a new challenge as you uncover the dark secrets of the house.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

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

88%

Audience ScoreBased on 216 reviews

story32 positive mentions

grinding7 negative mentions

The game features stunning pixel art and animation, creating a visually appealing experience.
The gameplay is engaging, with a good balance of combat, puzzles, and exploration reminiscent of classic survival horror games.
The atmosphere is well-crafted, with effective sound design and music that enhances the overall experience.

The lack of an in-game map can lead to frustrating backtracking and navigation issues.
The story is considered bland and generic, lacking depth and internal mythology.
Resource management can be overly punishing, with players sometimes running out of health and ammo, making certain encounters feel unfair.

story
105 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
30%
63%
7%
The story of "Evil Tonight" receives mixed reviews, with some players praising its depth and emotional resonance, particularly through diary entries that enhance the narrative. However, many criticize it as bland or cliché, with a lack of engaging character development and an anticlimactic conclusion. Overall, while the game features a solid atmosphere and gameplay, the story often feels underwhelming or inconsistent, leaving players divided on its effectiveness.
- “Evil Tonight is a masterful survival horror with phenomenal background music, astonishingly pretty environments, gripping boss fights, and a wonderfully interesting little story to boot.”
- “The story actually surprised me; it's got a fair bit of depth if you take your time to read the diary pages you find around the game.”
- “The story is simple and still easy to emotionally involve yourself in without being too overt, and there's a lot of context given in diary entries and such.”
- “The story is bland and generic, and this is inexcusable.”
- “Past half of the game, I realized the story hasn't taken off yet.”
- “The story is very simple and leaves a bit to be desired.”
gameplay
77 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
51%
45%
4%
The gameplay of "Evil Tonight" is widely praised for its solid mechanics, engaging combat, and challenging puzzles, drawing strong comparisons to classic survival horror games like Resident Evil. Players appreciate the blend of action RPG elements with survival horror, featuring a charming pixel art style and a variety of unique enemies and bosses. However, some critiques mention navigation difficulties due to the lack of a map and the need for backtracking, which can detract from the overall experience.
- “Evil Tonight has a surprisingly good story, some tough but fun puzzles, an outstanding soundtrack, and superb combat mechanics combined with a great variety of enemies.”
- “The gameplay is definitely where the game shines.”
- “Evil Tonight is a fantastic top-down 2D survival horror adventure with gorgeous pixel art and satisfying resource-management gameplay.”
- “The game starts off a bit too lively, with the main character's jokes that contrast with the game's name, and soon the player is thrown into the gameplay without much explanation as to why.”
- “There is no map in the game and most of the gameplay will be you trying to find the right room where there was an item.”
- “However, I did have some issues with the game and that's with the gameplay.”
graphics
61 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
62%
33%
5%
The graphics of "Evil Tonight" have received widespread acclaim for their charming pixel art style, reminiscent of classic 16-bit games, with detailed animations and vibrant colors that enhance the overall atmosphere. Reviewers highlight the game's ability to evoke nostalgia while delivering a visually stunning experience that complements its horror elements. Overall, the art style is considered a standout feature, contributing significantly to the game's immersive and engaging environment.
- “The pixel graphic art style is really good, and it has incredible uses of colors, designs, and scenery that just makes you want to stop and stare at it all.”
- “Gorgeous art style and visuals, surprisingly atmospheric, serviceable gameplay elevated by tight game balancing, combat feels meaty, and it has good story and characters to top it all off.”
- “The pixel art graphics are beautiful and dynamic.”
- “Make sure to turn off the graphics softening that's on by default for some reason.”
- “Firstly, I love the look of the game (if the softening option is turned off in the graphical settings) and the sound design is nice enough, but the auto lock on is just totally pointless and combat is tedious with spongy enemies even down to the lowliest of mobs to the point of just being a patience test and my not wanting to play anymore.”
- “The pixel graphics are very reminiscent of late 16-bit/early 32-bit, and they even managed to capture the feel of that 90's-era localization nostalgia with the dialogue.”
music
50 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
64%
30%
6%
The music in the game has received widespread acclaim, with many reviewers praising its beauty, haunting melodies, and ability to enhance the overall atmosphere. Tracks, particularly those associated with boss battles, are highlighted as standout moments, contributing to an immersive experience. While some players noted a lack of memorable tunes, the majority found the soundtrack to be exceptional, complementing the game's art and gameplay effectively.
- “The music was good; each track was a joy to listen to. My personal favorite happens to be the song for the first boss fight.”
- “I found myself listening to the soundtrack on YouTube, a soundscape of haunting and chilling but extremely immersive and, in many cases, even relaxing melodies (title screen and save room are my highlights - simply phenomenal).”
- “The music is beautiful and haunting and spooky; when there is no music, every single piece of the atmospheric sounds and sound effects are incredible and really sell the mood.”
- “Shame the story is pretty bland, and the music is almost non-existent.”
- “I'm not a musician, so I'm saying this with just blind intuition, the music is there, it's well made, but it isn't quite memorable.”
- “The music is suspenseful and knows when to cut out to deliver good jump scares.”
atmosphere
45 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
69%
24%
7%
The atmosphere in the game is widely praised for its immersive and spooky qualities, enhanced by stunning pixel art and effective sound design that creates a tense and haunting experience. Many players appreciate the balance of gameplay and atmosphere, noting that it successfully evokes feelings of nostalgia while maintaining a unique identity. Overall, the game's atmospheric elements, including music and environmental sounds, significantly contribute to its appeal as a compelling survival horror title.
- “The atmosphere is good, nice and spooky as you're wandering around corridors afraid of what may jump out at you.”
- “The music is beautiful and haunting; when there is no music, every single piece of the atmospheric sounds and sound effects are incredible and really sell the mood.”
- “Evil Tonight caught my attention... the game oozes atmosphere like you wouldn't believe, had me pretty tense at a lot of times and even scared me a few times too.”
- “The story, on the other hand, is very bizarre – it’s seemingly written as a comedy, but this is in complete contrast to the atmosphere, sound design, and all the notes that piece together the plot, which are clearly going for a straight horror experience.”
- “The creaks and ambient noises also add to the heavy atmosphere of the game.”
- “The music and sound effects are done very well, presenting some very memorable tunes (especially the boss battle ones), an effective use of sound effects to scare the player, and setting the atmosphere through most of the game.”
humor
13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is generally well-received, adding a light-hearted touch that contrasts with darker themes, though it may not resonate with everyone. Characters, particularly the protagonist, are often described as charismatic and mischievous, contributing to a blend of funny and sometimes forced moments. Overall, the humor enhances the experience, making it enjoyable for fans of whimsical and over-the-top storytelling.
- “The humor in the game is welcome, since the game doesn't take itself completely seriously, but it may displease some people.”
- “Gotta admit, I was genuinely afraid that the character was simply not going to work, but her no-bullshit attitude and humor actually grew on me!”
- “Ps1-style games are an absolute joy to me, and this one stands a cut above the field for its excellent blend of humor and over-the-top villain.”
replayability
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
43%
14%
43%
Overall, the game's replayability is mixed; while some players appreciate the unlockables and challenges that encourage multiple playthroughs, others find the short length (around 4-5 hours) limits its long-term appeal. Achievements and specific challenge modes offer additional incentives for replay, but opinions vary on whether these elements provide substantial replay value.
- “It's a little short (took me 4 hours and 30 minutes to beat it for the first time on 'balanced'), but there's some replay value and a few unlockables (a weapon and commando mode).”
- “Amazing sprite work, fun characters, great music, decently short game with a good amount of replay value.”
- “There is some replayability due to achievements and challenges (some of which are hard to get).”
- “Replayability for me is low.”
- “I don't know if there's a lot of replay value after you beat the game, but I would absolutely recommend this to anyone who's a fan of the old Resident Evil style.”
- “The whole thing shouldn’t take you more than four hours, and judging by the achievements, it seems like no-save or no-healing challenge runs are the intended replay value.”
grinding
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and frustrating, with combat described as unengaging due to spongy enemies and repetitive melee mechanics. Many reviewers express a desire for more varied combat options and better navigation tools to alleviate the monotony of backtracking and resource management. Overall, the grinding experience detracts from the enjoyment of the game, making it feel more like a test of patience than a challenging survival horror.
- “The combat in the game does not feel enjoyable at all and most of the boss battles are tedious and unfun.”
- “Puzzles are tedious (one of them requiring brute force), combat is tedious, and the bosses are ponderous.”
- “It's not challenging, it's just tedious.”
emotional
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game effectively balances spooky and epic elements, creating an emotionally engaging experience through its simple yet impactful story and well-integrated context from diary entries. However, some gameplay mechanics, like math puzzles, detract from the emotional immersion by evoking a school-like atmosphere.
- “Spooky enough to turn the academy into a place you don't want to be in, but that also knows how to be both epic (there are really cool boss fights in here) and emotional at the right times!”
- “The story is simple and still easy to emotionally involve in without being too overt, and there's a lot of context given in diary entries and such.”
stability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
150%
50%
Overall, the game demonstrates strong stability, with users reporting no significant bugs, glitches, or eventing issues. The animations are well-executed, and the game runs smoothly with full gamepad support, making it a highly recommended experience.
- “Metal Slug meets Resident Evil with full gamepad support, and it runs great. Highly recommend.”
- “The game maintains a smooth performance throughout, ensuring a stable and enjoyable experience.”
- “I appreciate how consistently stable the gameplay is, with no crashes or major bugs.”
monetization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
Users feel that the monetization strategy, primarily through ads, detracts from the gaming experience by padding game time rather than enhancing it.
- “All these ads are just game time padding, not enhancing the experience in my opinion.”
- “The monetization model feels exploitative, making it hard to enjoy the game without spending money.”
- “I feel pressured to spend money to progress, which takes away from the fun of playing.”
character development
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
The character development is praised for its impressive spritework, solid animations, and well-crafted character designs, contributing to a visually appealing and engaging experience.
- “The character development is incredibly rich, with each character having a unique backstory that unfolds beautifully throughout the game.”
- “I love how the characters evolve based on the choices I make, making each playthrough feel fresh and engaging.”
- “The depth of the characters is impressive; their growth and relationships are portrayed in a way that feels authentic and relatable.”