Metaphobia

About

Metaphobia is a single player action game with horror and mystery themes. It was developed by Digital Mosaic Games and was released on February 10, 2020. It received positive reviews from players.

Metaphobia is a dark mystery detective story, inspired by classic adventure games from the 90's. The game has been created with passion not credit cards so it is completely FREE TO PLAY.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

83%

Audience ScoreBased on 317 reviews

story80 positive mentions

grinding3 negative mentions

Impressive production value for a free game, including fully voiced dialogues, quality pixel art, and smooth rotoscoped animations.
Engaging, mysterious storyline with conspiracy and cosmic horror themes that keep players interested throughout the game.
Puzzles are generally logical, not overly difficult, and complement the narrative, providing a good flow without excessive backtracking.

The ending is widely considered unsatisfying, abrupt, and leaves many story threads unresolved, reducing the overall impact.
Some puzzles and solutions rely on unintuitive logic or require pixel hunting due to unclear interactable object highlighting.
The main character is perceived as bland or unlikable by some players, and there are occasional issues with voice acting and pacing.

story
212 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
56%
6%
The story is generally engaging and intriguing, centered around a murder mystery entwined with conspiracy theories and secret societies, which keeps players invested throughout much of the game. However, many reviewers note flaws such as a rushed or unsatisfying ending, some contrived plot elements, uneven pacing, and occasional incoherence or simplistic writing, which detract from the overall narrative experience. While not universally praised, the story often stands out positively, especially given the game's free status and nostalgic point-and-click style.
- “A simple point & click RPG with a good storyline/writing and puzzles that make sense.”
- “The good parts are the story with its deeply mysterious undertones of secret societies and conspiracy theories.”
- “Awesome game, amazing voice acting and an extremely deep and intriguing storyline.”
- “The writing on this is pretty bad, I get a sense of naivete from the story, it's also ridden with clichés.”
- “The story on the other hand is so close to being cool that its failure to come up with anything special or interesting is what hurts this game the most.”
- “Halfway through the game I told a friend it felt like going through a story made to justify the "reptilian overlord" conspiracy theory to the player, but I pegged that on just bad writing combined with the theme.”
graphics
59 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
54%
41%
5%
The game features pixel art graphics that evoke a nostalgic 80s and 90s point-and-click aesthetic, with many praising its faithful, high-quality pixel and rotoscoped animations. While some find the visuals simple or muddy, leading to occasional pixel hunting, most appreciate the atmospheric, sombre art style that complements the mystery narrative. Overall, the graphics are considered impressive and effective for a free game, though opinions vary on their appeal depending on players' preference for retro visuals.
- “The graphics are beautiful and suiting this particular game.”
- “The graphics is impressive; it has lots of rotoscoped animations; the story is interesting.”
- “[b]graphics & animation :[/b] faithful pixel art of high standards, faithful animation of high standards (for a game of this genre and style)”
- “This features really godawful pixelcrap "art" instead of real graphics.”
- “It's hard to say if this was because the developer didn't have the skill to do the job of creating 3d visuals, or couldn't afford to hire someone who does, but it also doesn't matter.”
- “There were one or two instances of annoying pixel-hunting because of the muddy graphics, the one in [spoiler]_____iran_____[/spoiler] standing out in particular.”
music
38 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
45%
47%
8%
The music in the game is consistently praised for its atmospheric, moody, and well-crafted soundtrack that effectively sets the tone and enhances the immersive experience. While some find it subtle and occasional, most appreciate its quality and variety, often citing it as a strong complement to the retro art and voice acting. Overall, the soundtrack is regarded as a standout feature worthy of support through soundtrack purchases.
- “The music and sounds worked very well for setting the mood in numerous scenes.”
- “[b]music :[/b] excellent score, the atmospheric piano track sets the mood wonderfully well, great variety.”
- “The music really sets the scene and I got the spooks a few times.”
- “The developer expects a $5 USD "donation" for the soundtrack DLC on Steam, which is already included in the game, essentially digital panhandling.”
- “The art style is nice if you're into Adventure Game Studio graphics, but the music is mostly forgettable. The audio levels were off during the last dialogue; the music was so loud I could barely hear what they were saying.”
- “I played with the music turned off.”
gameplay
25 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
28%
60%
12%
The gameplay is generally simple, somewhat linear, and features straightforward puzzles with similar mechanics, which can feel repetitive or occasionally unclear about objectives. While some find the retro style and nostalgic mid-90s feel charming and immersive, others note outdated or time-consuming mechanics and a rushed ending that detracts from the overall experience. Despite its short length, the engaging story, dialogue, and atmosphere help balance the gameplay's shortcomings.
- “Dated, sure, but in a very charming and nostalgic way that doesn’t detract from gameplay (and is a plus if, like me, you prefer retro mystery gaming).”
- “I love the style, gameplay, and thematic elements of the game!”
- “The plot is actually very well told with nice voice-overs and all the regular well-done game mechanics of collecting and finding which objects to use to advance in the game.”
- “And the gameplay had some flaws, like not being explicit about where the player needed to go and that kind of stuff; there were some parts that were just a little hard to guess.”
- “On the gameplay front, Metaphobia is bogged down by some outdated and time-consuming mechanics.”
- “I can safely assume at least 1 of those 4.5 hours of gameplay was me trying to guess what the game wants me to do.”
atmosphere
13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
62%
38%
The game is praised for its strong and immersive atmosphere, enhanced by suspenseful pacing, quality voice acting, distinctive characters, and an excellent soundtrack that evokes nostalgic, mysterious vibes. Despite some criticisms regarding story clichés and puzzle design, the overall atmosphere effectively draws players into its dark, conspiratorial world with engaging audio-visual elements and creative storytelling.
- “It's a very atmospheric adventure game with a surprisingly good production value.”
- “Nicely pixelated visuals, immersive story, lots of complex characters, well-written dialogues and great voice acting, creative, medium difficulty puzzles, deep dark atmosphere based on conspiracies and secret powers.”
- “The game, albeit short (with an aloof pace and much exploring, approximately 5 hours to finish), is an exceptional attempt to bring back the mysterious atmosphere of old (yet golden) classics.”
humor
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's humor is widely appreciated, featuring unexpected and genuinely funny moments that often made players laugh out loud. While some jokes are subtle or situational, like easy puzzles or quirky character interactions, the overall comedic tone adds a charming and enjoyable layer to the experience.
- “This game is hilarious!”
- “Some of the explanations (back alley - before the island) that brought the story forward made me laugh out loud.”
- “Also, I don't know if it was the developers' plan but there are some somewhat funny interactions I discovered while playing it.”
grinding
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Grinding in the game is characterized by repetitive and tedious tasks, particularly involving "find the symbol" puzzles, which many players find unenjoyable and monotonous.
- “To the point where it's tedious.”
- “It's a tedious and not very fun process.”
optimization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
Users have noted that the game's optimization, particularly regarding resolution settings, could be improved for a smoother experience. However, performance issues aside, other aspects like voice acting have been well received.
- “The main thing I had an issue with is probably the game resolution's optimization.”
- “The main issue I had was probably the game's resolution optimization.”
character development
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
Reviews of character development are mixed, with some praising it as superb, while others criticize the lack of meaningful growth and clear narrative progression.
- “The lack of character development and understandable story progression left a poor impression.”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users found the game's emotional responses from characters to be unconvincing and lacking authenticity.