Glitched Out: Chapter 1

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Glitched Out: Chapter 1 is a single player survival action adventure game with horror, comedy and post-apocalyptic themes. It was developed by SHB Games and was released on December 13, 2024. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

Glitched Out tells the story of IT Engineer ‘Lex’, who wakes in a government research facility to learn a malware has run rampant. The facility is home to many alien entities who have escaped containment and now stalk our hapless hero through the complex. Lex’s only hope is to team up with an A.I companion known as ‘Chip’ and hack her way to freedom. Along the way Lex and Chip encounter a host of …

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73%Audience ScoreBased on 244 reviews

gameplay27 positive mentions

stability14 negative mentions

Unique and charming hand-drawn art style with a vibrant, cartoonish aesthetic that fits well within the horror setting.
Engaging and intriguing story with strong worldbuilding and lore that encourages exploration and theorizing.
Fun and well-designed hacking mini-games that add variety to gameplay and are generally well-balanced.

The hacking mini-games, especially the pattern-matching one, are frustratingly difficult and punitive, often requiring players to restart entire sequences upon failure.
Numerous bugs and glitches severely impact gameplay, including save system issues where death causes restarting from the beginning, enemies clipping through walls, and softlocks.
Gameplay pacing issues such as slow movement speed, excessive unskippable dialogue, and repetitive or tedious segments detract from the overall experience.

gameplay
73 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
37%
59%
4%
The gameplay is centered around unique hacking mini-games and puzzle-solving, offering a refreshing and engaging experience beyond typical walking simulators. While the hacking mechanics are praised for their creativity, some players find certain mini-games confusing or frustrating, and the stealth and movement controls—such as slow pacing and crouch mechanics—could use improvement. Overall, the gameplay is enjoyable with interesting enemy behaviors and mechanics, though it may feel repetitive or underdeveloped in parts, leaving room for refinement in future chapters.
- “The gameplay is pretty good; like many of these types of games, you have to walk around picking up objects and solving puzzles, but what keeps this interesting is the hacking mechanic.”
- “The mechanics are smooth and the mini-games for hacking are all fun and challenging.”
- “Very fun and amazing, loved the mechanics and loved the game, can't wait for the next chapter!”
- “Good concept, nice story... but terrible gameplay.”
- “Don't whine and say I didn't spend enough time on it, because this was a half hour of buggy, unfun, poorly thought out mechanics.”
- “The hacking minigames (which are the main mechanic mind you) are infuriating at worst and annoying at best, the password minigame being the worst offender with the timer making me rush leading to mistakes which forces restarting the whole minigame.”
story
58 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
53%
42%
5%
The story is widely praised for its intriguing concept, engaging lore, and strong world-building, with many players excited for future chapters. Environmental storytelling and scattered narrative clues encourage players to piece together mysteries, enhancing immersion. However, some reviews note pacing issues due to gameplay elements, and a few find the story occasionally cliché or hindered by technical frustrations.
- “Now then likes, the story is really good like a lot of these episodic first episode stories, it gives plenty of lore, but not telling everything allowing you to piece together and make your own theories and conclusions. The story is also very engaging and I definitely love the world building. It makes me excited to find out more about the facility and the world at large when more episodes are made available.”
- “They have scattered the story in different ways (maps on the walls, notes that not only talk about puzzle hints but also the setting, your companion chip will lay out some exposition, radios with audio messages from other characters in the game, messages written on the walls, a recording you can play on a projector). They mix good environmental puzzles, which promote paying attention to the environment which is fun because you get to find more clues about the setting and story. The moment they say something relevant about a recorded message left behind by someone else, it instantly increases the engagement with the story.”
- “Story and writing seemed fleshed out and engaging, and it was cool to notice small touches in the writing that reminded me of SHB videos which gave the game an authentic and nostalgic feel and convinced me that it was a passion project and not just outsourced to developers.”
- “It feels like it's lacking in not only the story but some of the mechanics.”
- “The story was definitely well thought out, but that was really the only good thing I could think about it.”
- “Story, dialogue, gameplay, graphics, and most everything else you could mention are lacking.”
graphics
41 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
37%
56%
7%
The graphics are widely praised for their unique hand-drawn, sketchy art style reminiscent of "Bendy and the Ink Machine," blending vibrant, cartoonish visuals with a horror aesthetic that suits the game's atmosphere and humor. While some find the visuals engaging and fitting, a few note technical issues like slow rendering and occasional overlap in UI elements. Overall, the stylized, colorful graphics effectively complement the game's tone and lore, enhancing its distinct identity despite minor performance quirks.
- “Most of the textures are hand-drawn, and the aesthetic works surprisingly well within a horror setting.”
- “The glitch aesthetic isn't just visual flair - it messes with your head in the best way possible.”
- “It captures the atmosphere of the classics from the genre while adding its own unique cartoonist art style and does it beautifully.”
- “Two small issues I had in the fuse section: when Chip brings up his handy graphic, you can't read the entries by pressing tab, since both graphics will overlap.”
- “The game renders really slowly even on the lowest graphics settings, and the puzzle inputs are sometimes unresponsive, making it feel like an unfair experience.”
- “Also, the artwork is a choice, it just feels and looks like playdoh.”
stability
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game currently suffers from noticeable bugs, glitches, and occasional freezing, which some players find detracts from the experience and makes it feel unpolished. However, many acknowledge it's an early release and appreciate the developer's ongoing efforts to fix these stability issues. Despite technical problems, some users still enjoy the game and are optimistic about future updates improving stability.
- “This was a half hour of buggy, unfun, poorly thought-out mechanics.”
- “It’s too unoptimized and buggy for me to play on my laptop.”
- “The game sometimes freezes or glitches, affecting the experience.”
humor
13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is characterized by dry, ironic quips and a distinct personality, largely carried by the charming and funny character Chip. While some find the humor and character interactions enjoyable and fitting, others feel that the protagonist's dialogue slows the pacing and that voice acting detracts from the experience. Overall, the humor blends well with the game's atmosphere, though it may not appeal universally.
- “The characters were interesting and the humor was perfect for Chip.”
- “I really like this game's personality, hand drawn feeling to the art style and sense of humor.”
- “Chip is a really cute, likable, and funny character for the most part.”
music
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
58%
17%
25%
The music in the game is generally praised for its quality and how well it complements the atmosphere and visuals, with many players finding the soundtrack engaging and fitting. However, some users feel the ambient music and certain sound effects, like those during enemy encounters, are less impactful or a bit dull. Overall, the music enhances the experience but could benefit from stronger ambient elements.
- “The story is well thought out, the enemy design is incredible, the music is on point, and even the little hacking minigames were a ton of fun!”
- “The soundtracks are amazing, the lore is really good, the atmosphere is also really good.”
- “The hand-drawn, paper-style design is incredible, the hacking mechanic is super cool, the music fits perfectly, and the story had me hooked.”
- “And this game has very weak ambient music and noises from seeker are dull.”
- “Like the music during picking up fuses... but when you take out the funny music, you are still picking up the fuses and then just putting them into a machine.”
- “Like the music during picking up fuses... but when you take out the funny music, you are still picking up the fuses and then just putting them into a machine.”
monetization
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization aspect is criticized for misleadingly presenting an unfinished, non-existent game as a purchasable product, effectively functioning as an advertisement rather than a full game. This practice is seen as harmful to gamers and the gaming community, unfairly occupying marketplace visibility and offering no real value beyond free ads on other platforms. Overall, such monetization tactics are not recommended and considered detrimental.
- “Glitched out is a product that hasn't even been made yet, and while it's a promising looking adventure game, we have to ask first what's good for gamers... and advertisements for products that don't exist isn't high on that list at all.”
- “While it might seem like an innocuous mistake, publishing demos and advertisements as if they are full games is misleading and in some ways harmful.”
- “Often developers may choose to incorrectly publish demo/advertisements as separate games as a cheap way to bypass paying Valve for marketing presence on the Steam front page, which may seem clever to them, but it's harmful behaviour and it's not good for gamers.”
atmosphere
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
43%
57%
The game delivers a strong horror atmosphere that effectively combines classic genre vibes with a unique cartoon art style, creating a calm yet stressful mood. Its reliance on atmosphere over jump scares, supported by excellent soundtracks and lore, enhances the immersive experience, though occasional commentary can occasionally disrupt the mood. Overall, the atmosphere is praised as one of the game's standout features.
- “Great horror atmosphere.”
- “Had a really good mixture of horror and humor, calm but stressful as well, also I love the atmosphere and art style.”
- “It captures the atmosphere of the classics from the genre while adding its own unique cartoonish art style and does it beautifully.”
grinding
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
17%
83%
Grinding in the game is generally seen as tedious and repetitive, especially in hostile areas where it undermines tension. While some minigames like hacking are somewhat enjoyable, the overall experience is bogged down by repetitive item collection and frequent restarts after failure, making progression frustrating for players.
- “It becomes tedious very quickly, and even more so when you're in a hostile area, where it just kills all the tension (even though the enemy can never kill you while you're hacking).”
- “The hacking minigames are alright, although fun, they do get tedious sometimes.”
- “There are some sequences where the character talks a lot, and if the player dies before getting a save, going through it multiple times is tedious.”
optimization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game suffers from poor optimization and bugs, making it difficult to run smoothly on lower-end laptops and limiting overall enjoyment.
- “I wish that I could enjoy the game more, but it’s too unoptimized and buggy for me to play on my laptop.”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users found the emotional aspect somewhat hindered by confusing hacking mechanics, suggesting that clearer, in-game demonstrations rather than text explanations would enhance understanding and emotional engagement.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Glitched Out: Chapter 1 is a survival action adventure game with horror, comedy and post-apocalyptic themes.

Glitched Out: Chapter 1 is available on PC and Windows.

Glitched Out: Chapter 1 was released on December 13, 2024.

Glitched Out: Chapter 1 was developed by SHB Games.

Glitched Out: Chapter 1 has received mostly positive reviews from players. Most players liked Glitched Out: Chapter 1 for its gameplay but disliked it for its stability.

Glitched Out: Chapter 1 is a single player game.

Similar games include Bendy and the Dark Revival, Indigo Park: Chapter 1, SCP: Secret Files, Bendy and the Ink Machine, Bushside Rangers and others.

Glitched Out: Chapter 1

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gameplay

story

graphics

stability

humor

music

monetization

atmosphere

grinding

optimization

emotional

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