Kraven Manor

About

Kraven Manor is a first-person puzzle-based horror adventure game. Players explore a creepy manor, piecing together the story of its mysterious past. The game features a unique mechanic where the manor physically rearranges itself based on the player's actions, creating a dynamic and immersive experience. The atmosphere is ominous and tense, with intricate puzzles that will challenge and engage players.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

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

73%

Audience ScoreBased on 359 reviews

gameplay27 positive mentions

stability7 negative mentions

The game features a unique mechanic where players can rearrange rooms, adding an interesting layer to the gameplay.
The atmosphere is immersive and creepy, effectively creating tension and fear throughout the experience.
The game is free to play, making it accessible for anyone interested in a short horror experience.

The game is very short, typically taking only about an hour to complete, which may leave players wanting more.
There are technical issues, including crashes and bugs that can disrupt gameplay and immersion.
The puzzles are often too simple and straightforward, lacking depth and challenge.

gameplay
72 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
58%
4%
The gameplay of this survival horror/puzzle game is characterized by its unique mechanics, such as rearranging rooms to solve puzzles and a tension-filled enemy interaction where the antagonist moves only when not observed. While the innovative concepts are praised, many players feel that the execution is underwhelming, leading to a sense of staleness after a short duration. Overall, the game offers an engaging atmosphere and creative mechanics, but it struggles with pacing and depth, leaving some players wanting more.
- “The game offers an intriguing mechanic: you build the path you will follow, adding a touch of control to the suspense of this amnesia-style puzzle horror.”
- “With its atmospheric setting, dynamic gameplay, and immersive presentation, it offers an engaging experience that will keep players on their toes as they uncover the secrets of the manor.”
- “The unique enemy mechanic, where they can move only while you're not looking at them, works pretty well and provides plenty of tension and scary moments.”
- “After about 40 minutes of gameplay, the experience became stale.”
- “The gameplay is very clunky, and the house-rearranging mechanic is severely underutilized.”
- “I guess this was innovative like 5-10 years ago, but since the gameplay is nothing more than 'find the key to the next room', I think I'll pass.”
atmosphere
70 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
57%
39%
4%
The atmosphere of "Kraven Manor" is widely praised for its immersive and eerie qualities, effectively blending elements of horror and puzzle-solving. Reviewers highlight the game's detailed environments, unsettling sound design, and a soundtrack that enhances the overall tension, creating a captivating experience reminiscent of classic horror titles. While some critiques mention inconsistencies in sound and brightness, the overall consensus is that the atmosphere stands out as a key strength of the game, making it a compelling choice for fans of the genre.
- “Kraven Manor surprises with an immersive atmosphere that manages to captivate the player, even though it’s a short experience.”
- “The atmosphere is the best part of Kraven Manor, and it's clear a lot of love went into the environments that make this game stand out from its other predecessors from the 'Amnesia' age of horror.”
- “Dripping in atmosphere with rain splattering against the windows and thunder pounding through the halls, Kraven Manor seldom gives you any peace or moments of rest.”
- “Instead of creating a tense and eerie atmosphere, the overly bright and intense colors clashed with the horror theme.”
- “While it didn’t deliver much in the way of scares or atmosphere, the fact that it came at no cost makes it a bit more forgivable.”
- “It felt very odd and out of place with the atmosphere it had been building at that point.”
story
64 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
34%
61%
5%
The game's story is described as intriguing and unique, with elements of horror and mystery that unfold through exploration and interaction with scattered notes and objects. However, many players found the narrative to be sparse, lacking depth, and sometimes confusing, with some expressing disappointment in the ending and overall brevity of the experience. While the atmosphere and creative mechanics received praise, the story's execution varied significantly among players, leading to mixed reviews on its effectiveness and engagement.
- “The story is really twisted, and it's great to uncover and piece it together little by little.”
- “Great short spooky game, nice mix of puzzles and learning the story via exploration and examining objects, and a fun monster mechanic.”
- “The story is interesting, but it ends too quickly (around 2h), with this kind of story you could get a nice long game.”
- “Unfortunately, I thought the backstory was really weak; I didn't have much patience to take seriously the notes scattered around, as they felt to provide very thin detail and value.”
- “There isn't much in the way of story or narrative here; the crumbs of story which you are fed are generally found through interacting with old photographs and books that are strewn throughout each of the manor's creepy, harrowing halls and rooms.”
- “The reason I don't recommend this game is that it is a terribly short experience with a threadbare story and few real action pieces.”
graphics
54 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
59%
35%
6%
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with many players praising the visuals as impressive for an indie title, highlighting the beautiful environments and effective atmosphere. However, some users note that the graphics can feel dated or overly saturated, which may detract from the overall experience. Overall, while the graphics are generally considered good, opinions vary on their impact on gameplay and immersion.
- “The graphics are beautiful and the overall design is cool.”
- “Graphically, I was impressed!”
- “A very beautiful game with gorgeous graphics that will make you forget it's an indie one.”
- “After a while, the garish visuals started to take a toll on me, and I began to feel slightly nauseous.”
- “The overly saturated visuals, predictable monster, and lack of genuine scares make it a tough sell, but considering it was free, it’s an okay way to pass the time if you’re not too picky.”
- “The story is sparse, and the graphics are passable.”
music
26 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
42%
46%
12%
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some praising its ability to enhance the ominous atmosphere and effectively capture the horror tone, while others find it generic and under-utilized. While certain tracks are noted for their fitting quality and contribution to the game's ambiance, there are criticisms regarding the sound design and the overall memorability of the soundtrack. Overall, the music is seen as a strong aspect by some, but not enough to elevate the experience for all players.
- “The atmosphere is ominous, the soundtrack adding to said atmosphere.”
- “The best aspect of the game is actually the music which captures the horror tone quite well, if not a little generically.”
- “The sound and music work wonderfully, from letting you know if the enemy is nearby to the feeling of something bad is about to happen when the music crescendos.”
- “The sound design could've been better, as it rides a fine line between atmospheric and grating--especially when it comes to the squeaky joints of the monster and the obnoxious scary music sting cues.”
- “Nice atmosphere, but the music is not very good. The theme is okay, but the rest is forgettable.”
- “I love dark ambient and borderline drone music, but compared to what's in other games, the score was either generically weak or terribly under-utilized.”
replayability
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
33%
33%
Overall, the game's replayability is considered limited, with some players noting the presence of achievements, a secret ending, and a harder difficulty mode as potential incentives to replay. However, many reviewers feel that the lack of substantial content and the game's short length significantly diminish its overall replay value, often rating it around 3/10. While the atmosphere and puzzles are praised, they do not compensate for the minimal replay opportunities available.
- “You have some replay value with an extra, secret ending, a harder difficulty, and achievements.”
- “Great eerie atmosphere and sound design, easy puzzles but have a great potential for replay value.”
- “Likely you'll not do them in your first run, so there's replay value in trying to get the other ending.”
- “However, the game does not have that much content and has probably limited replay value, so it is debatable just how valuable it is to hold onto in a permanent library.”
- “This is a really well done, very short game with relatively little replay value... it would be a rental if such things still existed.”
- “Minimal replay value.”
stability
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game suffers from significant stability issues, with numerous users reporting frequent crashes and game-breaking glitches that hinder progress. Many players experienced bugs that required reloading checkpoints or resulted in enemies freezing, leading to frustrating gameplay moments. Overall, the game's stability is a major concern, detracting from the overall experience.
- “Unfortunately, it's very buggy and crashes very often.”
- “For a simple 60-minute long game, I found 3 very annoying game-breaking glitches.”
- “It's a bit buggy, however, and forced me to load checkpoints so that scripted events would trigger properly.”
optimization
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's optimization has been widely criticized, with players reporting severe performance issues, including extremely low frame rates that render it nearly unplayable, regardless of their hardware specifications. Overall, the optimization is described as "abhorrent," detracting significantly from the gaming experience.
- “The problem with this game is two-fold; absolutely abhorrent optimization, and an incredibly obnoxious monster, that is neither scary nor original.”
- “This game is poorly optimized and overall unplayable.”
- “Poorly optimized, the game runs at 15 fps even though the specs on my PC are way more than the recommended settings.”
grinding
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
75%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game tedious, particularly due to the repetitive nature of encounters with enemies and the lack of clear direction, which can lead to frustration and the need for multiple attempts to progress. While some appreciate the immersive elements, the overall experience can feel monotonous and overly punishing.
- “Grinding in this game is incredibly rewarding and keeps you engaged.”
- “The grind is satisfying and offers a real sense of progression.”
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
- “Worst case, quit if it gets tedious.”
- “I understand that it's supposed to scare the player, but encountering them too many times, with often no idea what you're supposed to do or where you're supposed to go, just results in tedious replays of these boring scenes.”
humor
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
150%
The humor in the game is inconsistent, with some players finding moments of genuine comedy while others feel that the attempts at humor fall flat. Overall, reactions to the humor vary significantly among users.
- “Ha, I made a funny there.”
- “Not funny.”
- “The jokes fell flat and felt forced.”
- “I expected more clever humor, but it was mostly cringeworthy.”
emotional
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional impact of the game is mixed; while it offers some intriguing moments and a few instances of genuine emotion, such as occasional tears, it primarily leaves players feeling only mildly engaged rather than deeply moved.
- “I think I cried once or twice.”