Nyctophobia

About

Nyctophobia is a single player action game. It was developed by Lightning Man Media and was released on January 16, 2015. It received negative reviews from players.

Nyctophobia is a 3D game that offers a tense and challenging experience as players navigate through the dark woods, relying on a flashlight to see and stay away from their fears. The game features an expansive map with various environments, and the goal is to collect key items to bring back light, while fighting off the darkness by managing battery power. With numerous challenges and chilling surprises, Nyctophobia provides a fresh and visually compelling experience for players to face their fears.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

+12

Skip User Reviews

37%

Audience ScoreBased on 210 reviews

gameplay5 positive mentions

graphics11 negative mentions

The game features a strong atmospheric design that effectively utilizes darkness to create tension and suspense.
The soundtrack is immersive and enhances the overall horror experience, making players feel more engaged.
The game offers easy achievements, which can be appealing for completionists.

The gameplay is repetitive and often feels aimless, with players spending too much time wandering around and encountering frustrating mechanics like landmines.
The graphics and overall presentation are poorly executed, resembling outdated designs that detract from the horror experience.
There are significant control issues, including a lack of mouse sensitivity options and clunky movement, which hinder the gameplay experience.

graphics
35 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
49%
31%
The graphics of the game have received overwhelmingly negative feedback, with many users describing them as low-quality, poorly designed, and reminiscent of outdated assets. While some appreciate the atmosphere created by the visuals, the consensus is that the graphics detract significantly from the overall experience, often appearing ugly and unpolished. Despite a few positive remarks about the aesthetic, the general sentiment is that the graphics are a major flaw in the game.
- “The combination of haunting visuals and spine-chilling sound effects creates an unsettling ambiance that will keep you constantly on your toes.”
- “Overall, I like the atmosphere you've created - it has a very nice aesthetic, despite its jarring lack of polish, but there remains a lot of work to be done overall.”
- “It's an indie game, but I thought the graphics were nice looking in-game.”
- “Graphically it is tragic, the game is ugly, the map is small and there are several items on it, each of which is similar to another.”
- “Graphically the game looks like slapped up assets from the Unity Asset Store.”
- “I can't see a damn thing for the most part, and that is intentional because as soon as anything is lit up in light, you realize just how awful the graphics are.”
gameplay
29 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
17%
73%
10%
The gameplay of this game has received mixed reviews, with many players criticizing it for being repetitive and lacking depth, primarily involving item collection and flashlight management. While some appreciate the atmospheric tension and stealth mechanics, others find the gameplay dull and frustrating, with poorly designed mechanics that detract from the overall experience. Overall, the game struggles to deliver an engaging and immersive gameplay experience, often leaving players feeling bored or confused.
- “With its unique gameplay mechanics and atmospheric tension, this game offers a nerve-wracking experience that will leave you on edge.”
- “The first thing that strikes you about Nyctophobia is its masterful use of darkness as a core gameplay element.”
- “Its atmospheric presentation, immersive sound design, and stealth-based gameplay combine to create a nerve-wracking experience.”
- “The gameplay is boring and bad.”
- “Its absolute dull gameplay.”
- “Gameplay is ok.. but, gets frustrating when you really have no clue what to do or where to go.. plus the devs use a weird font so you hardly can read the pop ups messages & notes...”
story
22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
14%
72%
14%
The story in Nyctophobia is minimal and unfolds through a few notes, providing a vague narrative that many players find lacking in depth and coherence. While some appreciate the retro approach of a straightforward plot, others criticize it for being poorly designed and overly simplistic, with the main objective revolving around escaping an evil spirit. Overall, the storyline is considered weak, with a gameplay duration of about 30 minutes and little to engage players beyond the basic horror elements.
- “The storyline of Nyctophobia unfolds gradually, offering intriguing narrative elements that add depth to the horror experience.”
- “There's a few notes to be found from 'the keeper' which comprise any story element you expect to find.”
- “Nyctophobia offers a short story and after you beat it you unlock the 'Own the Night' mode, which adds a little more content to the game.”
- “The story is told through several notes, which are only 6 in total.”
- “To be honest, there isn't much story in this game, and you'll get most of the plot as soon as you start the game.”
- “The story of this atrocity is almost non-existent.”
music
19 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
16%
68%
16%
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some players finding it the only positive aspect, describing it as tense and exciting, while others criticize its poor implementation and lack of proper looping. Many users noted that the soundtrack often feels out of place or builds up to nothing, detracting from the overall experience. Additionally, there are concerns about the improper crediting of the composer, Kevin MacLeod, which further diminishes the appreciation for the music.
- “The pretty much only positive thing in this game is the background music, even though the short loop at the end doesn't loop properly.”
- “As a horror game, I didn’t find anything intimidating apart from the tense music that would trigger at some points of the game.”
- “The music and the theme of the game is scary and exciting!”
- “The game itself isn't scary at all except the music (I had to turn off the music just to continue playing) and I'm scared more of dying instead of seeing the 'scary' things in the game, which consists of a 'jumpscare' that isn't scary at all, and a zombie that can't move.”
- “The sound effects and soundtrack are so out of place; sometimes there's music building up to... nothing.”
- “In terms of music, I am a big fan of Kevin MacLeod, but his compositions are wasted here (and as another reviewer pointed out, at least credit the guy properly!)”
atmosphere
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
58%
17%
25%
The game's atmosphere is a mixed bag, with some players praising its immersive sound design and tension-filled environment that enhances the horror experience, while others criticize it for being unoriginal and lacking polish. While certain elements create a bleak and oppressive feeling, leading to moments of genuine fear, others find the atmosphere underwhelming and reminiscent of other titles. Overall, it offers a somewhat creepy experience, but opinions vary widely on its effectiveness and execution.
- “With its unique gameplay mechanics and atmospheric tension, this game offers a nerve-wracking experience that will leave you on edge.”
- “The eerie and unsettling audio cues immerse you further into the terrifying atmosphere, making every creak and whisper a source of apprehension.”
- “At first I was spooked by the atmosphere and the spooky sounds, but I quickly remembered that I heard the same sound effects in other horror games and my fears faded away fast.”
- “The atmosphere is bleak and oppressive, making you really feel alone and helpless.”
humor
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is described as a mix of unintentional comedy and amusing design choices, with players finding laughter in the absurdity of gameplay elements like battery pickups and enemy animations. While some aspects are disappointing, the overall experience is often seen as hilariously bad, leading to moments of genuine amusement despite the game's flaws.
- “Also in regards to the pickups, I found that this could have been a commercial for Duracell, which made me laugh, but at least you placed enough batteries all over the map to actually keep light.”
- “This game sucks big time, but that just makes it more hilarious.”
- “The sound effects are horrible; the enemies who are supposed to scare me made me laugh myself to tears, and the game itself can be completed in 30 minutes with full achievements.”
optimization
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The game's optimization has been widely criticized, with players reporting performance drops, especially during camera movement and as they progress through the story mode. Many users note a lack of adjustable performance settings, leading to issues like low draw distance, pop-in, and visual glitches, even on high-end systems. Overall, the game is perceived as outdated and poorly optimized, resulting in a frustrating experience.
- “There are no options to adjust performance, and so even on a great computer like mine, it has low draw distance, horrible pop-in, and weird artifacting from any 3D object in the distance.”
- “Performance worsens the more you play the game (through its story mode).”
- “I experience performance drops whenever I try to move my camera, but that might just be because of my old laptop.”
- “Poorly optimized and buggy game with bad controls and visuals.”
- “I don't know why, but performance worsens the more you play the game (through its story mode). Horribly designed environment and setting, some of the objects glitch out and disappear in frames, and finally, barely any sounds or music.”
- “The game itself feels extremely outdated and poorly optimized.”
stability
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game suffers from significant stability issues, characterized by poor optimization, numerous bugs, and frustrating glitches that can disrupt gameplay, such as clipping through objects and unexpected physics interactions. Players report frequent instances of getting stuck and falling through the map, leading to an overall negative experience.
- “The game is also really buggy; you can clip and get stuck in most items and places around the map, and getting out of them is a pain.”
- “Buggy mess: I walked into the boat and was then thrown 50ft in the air and fell into the water.”
- “I would not recommend this game as it is extremely buggy and boring.”
replayability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's replayability is rated very low, with a score of 2 out of 10, indicating that players find little incentive to revisit the game after completing it.
- “Replay value: 2/10”
- “Replayability is lacking.”
- “The game offers little incentive to play again.”
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and clunky, particularly due to the lack of a save system, which forces them to restart from the beginning upon dying. This design choice contributes to a frustrating experience as players must repeatedly navigate the same areas.
- “It's clunky, and there's no save game system either, so if you die, you have to restart the tedious plodding around all over.”
emotional
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players report a strong emotional impact, often feeling deeply moved and experiencing tears during pivotal moments in the game, particularly when the stakes become clear. This highlights the game's ability to evoke powerful feelings and connect players to the narrative.
- “Tears welled up in his eyes when he realized what exactly was at stake.”