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Orten Was The Case

Orten Was The Case is a very novel and creative take on the adventure game genre that is bolstered by a unique art style that probably will alienate most gamers.
Orten Was The Case Game Cover
84%Game Brain Score
Most mentioned positive aspects:story, graphics
Most mentioned negative aspects:stability, grinding
94% User Score Based on 114 reviews
Critic Score 64%Based on 4 reviews

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Nintendo SwitchXbox Series X|SPCPlaystation 5CloudMac OSPlaystation 4Xbox OneXbox Cloud GamingXboxWindowsPlayStation
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Orten Was The Case Game Cover

About Orten Was The Case

Orten Was The Case is a single player open world management game with horror and mystery themes. It was developed by Woodhill Interactive and was released on November 29, 2023. It received mostly positive reviews from critics and very positive reviews from players.

Orten Was The Case - A Groundhog day in "Orten". Control Ziggy who's stuck in a time loop and uncover millenia-old mysteries in the caves and tunnels deep down below Orten, a suburb to a fictional Swedish metropolis.

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Orten Was The Case screenshot
Orten Was The Case screenshot
Orten Was The Case screenshot
Orten Was The Case screenshot
Orten Was The Case screenshot
Orten Was The Case screenshot
Orten Was The Case screenshot
Orten Was The Case screenshot
Orten Was The Case screenshot
Orten Was The Case screenshot
Orten Was The Case screenshot
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Reviews

94%Audience ScoreBased on 114 reviews
story13 positive mentions
stability4 negative mentions
  • Unique and captivating hand-drawn art style that grows on players and strongly defines the game's identity.
  • Intricately designed time-loop mechanic that encourages knowledge-based progression, puzzle-solving, and multiple endings.
  • Deeply engaging story with rich characters, witty dialogue, and a well-realized interconnected town that feels alive.
  • Movement and controls are often clunky and imprecise, especially during platforming sections, leading to frustration.
  • Presence of bugs, crashes, and awkward gameplay elements like combat and mini-games that feel out of place and underdeveloped.
  • Some puzzles and narrative elements can be unclear or poorly communicated, causing confusion and requiring external guides.

  • story

    39 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    33% positive mentions, 59% neutral mentions, 8% negative mentions

    The story is well-crafted, intriguing, and deeply integrated with the gameplay's time loop mechanic, revealing itself gradually through exploration and environmental details. While the guided quest structure can sometimes limit player agency and cause pacing issues, the narrative’s dark, mysterious atmosphere and unique art style create an immersive and engaging experience with multiple endings that encourage exploration. However, some players find contradictions in quests and uneven pacing detract from the overall payoff.

    • “Strong points: the story is very well written and every time you uncover something new you want to learn more.”
    • “Overall it was very fun and intriguing to discover how all the separate parts and plot points fit together and what was happening.”
    • “The story is fresh, the art is really neat, and the world has a ton of unexpected depth.”
    • “The game uses quests to tell you what to do in loops, and initially I liked this but the longer it went on the more I realized it was killing the agency of a timeloop game which is kind of the point.”
    • “After following the previous quest a new one popped up that listed every single step I already did, with a few more added, in painstaking detail robbing me of feeling like I figured something out.”
    • “Confusingly there are quests that contradict each other in terms of the overall goals of the game.”

  • graphics

    35 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    43% positive mentions, 48% neutral mentions, 9% negative mentions

    The game's graphics feature a unique, stylized art style that many find charming, detailed, and integral to its quirky, mysterious atmosphere. While some players initially find the visuals off-putting or confusing—especially when distinguishing environmental details—the art style generally grows on them and is praised for enhancing the game's character and storytelling. Overall, the graphics are considered a strong and defining aspect that complements the gameplay and narrative.

    • “The art style very quickly won me over; it's surprisingly detailed, with a unique charm.”
    • “This is without a doubt the best puzzle game I have ever played, the voice acting, the artwork, the puzzles, everything is just amazing, would play again 10/10!”
    • “I can't stress how much I love the art style of this game, it's so cool.”
    • “The art style and the protagonist getting high turned me off personally.”
    • “In terms of cons, it’s hard to tell where ledges are sometimes because of the art style but there’s checkpoints for the sections where that matters and fall damage is pretty forgiving.”
    • “My biggest critique is the jankiness of movement on flat backgrounds, but the art style is kind of required for the types of secrets the game hides.”

  • gameplay

    29 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    17% positive mentions, 73% neutral mentions, 10% negative mentions

    The gameplay is centered around a well-executed and satisfying time-loop mechanic that drives exploration and puzzle-solving, creating engaging "aha" moments and a strong atmosphere. However, secondary elements like combat, movement, and traversal feel less polished and can disrupt the flow, with some mechanics appearing inconsistent or unnecessary. Overall, the unique core gameplay is praised despite minor gripes with janky or underdeveloped supporting mechanics.

    • “The overarching mechanic of time looping is cool and well executed.”
    • “The gameplay is satisfying and the "ah ha" moments continue at a good rate without you getting stuck.”
    • “The puzzles strike a perfect balance of difficulty, while the combat mechanics are surprisingly well-tuned for a puzzle game.”
    • “These mechanics tend to feel less refined than the core exploration and puzzle systems, occasionally interrupting the flow rather than enhancing it.”
    • “There are also other mechanics that are simply not well executed, like combat.”
    • “But what really pushed it over the edge for me is the senseless addition of mechanics which don't belong, and which don't respect the player's time.”

  • humor

    7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    The game's humor is praised for its quirky, mysterious, and culturally specific Swedish comedy, featuring hilarious characters and witty dialogue enriched with diverse accents and stereotypes. Its funny storytelling and unique, weird elements provide continuous amusement throughout the playthrough. Overall, the humor is considered a standout aspect, especially for those familiar with Swedish culture.

    • “The best thing about this game is just how mysterious, weird, spooky, and funny it is for the entire playthrough.”
    • “The conversations and characters are hilarious, they're a mixture between a ton of different stereotypical people, dialects, and accents.”
    • “Fantastic indie game with fun puzzles, amazing artstyle and funny storytelling.”

  • music

    5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    60% positive mentions, 40% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    The game's music is consistently praised for being good and fitting well with the overall vibe and art style. Although the soundtrack is limited, its simplicity complements the characters and enhances the immersive experience.

    • “The character design is great, the soundtrack is limited but consistently good, and the overall vibe is excellent.”
    • “This game is impressively good. I randomly found it on Steam, and after playing the demo, I was impressed. The art style is cool, the soundtrack is very good, and the puzzles are well made.”
    • “The music and the Swedish voice actors fit very well with everything in the game.”

  • stability

    4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    0% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 100% negative mentions

    The game's stability is mixed, with frequent bugs and occasional control imprecision that can affect gameplay. While these issues may cause some frustration, they generally do not ruin the overall experience.

    • “Character controls can sometimes feel imprecise, and there are occasional glitches and bugs.”
    • “Very buggy and feels awful to control.”
    • “Sometimes buggy or hard to tell where you are moving, but nothing that ruined the experience.”

  • atmosphere

    3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    The game delivers a strong and immersive atmosphere, enhanced by its unique time loop mechanic and distinctive art style. While movement may have some shortcomings, the engaging story and overall vibe make the experience highly rewarding.

    • “Everything works together to create a strong atmosphere, and the time loop mechanic just feels great.”
    • “Such a dank vibe and atmosphere, such a rad art style, and a really unique puzzler.”
    • “Not the best movements, but overall the story and the atmosphere are 140% worth it!”

  • character development

    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    50% positive mentions, 50% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    Character development adds depth to the story, though pacing can feel uneven when puzzle-solving overshadows it. The character design is praised, contributing positively to the game's overall atmosphere.

  • grinding

    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    0% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 100% negative mentions

    Grinding in the game is described as tedious and time-consuming, especially in endgame activities like fishing, where progress feels slow due to low rewards for repetitive tasks.

    • “Repeating some of the end game loops can be a bit tedious.”
    • “So, I trudged up the hills to the fishing spot, did the tedious mini-game to catch a fish, sold it, and received 1/35 of what was required.”
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Critic Reviews

64%Critics’ scoreBased on 4 critic reviews
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Play Times

5h Median play time
5h Average play time
5-5h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 1 analyzed playthroughs
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Frequently Asked Questions

Orten Was The Case is a open world management game with horror and mystery themes. Common tags for Orten Was The Case include indie, exploration, gaming, 2.5d, metroidvania and others.

Orten Was The Case is available on Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X|S, PC, PlayStation 5 and others.

On average players spend around 5 hours playing Orten Was The Case.

Orten Was The Case was released on November 29, 2023.

Orten Was The Case was developed by Woodhill Interactive.

Orten Was The Case has received mostly positive reviews from players and mostly positive reviews from critics. Most players liked Orten Was The Case for its story but disliked it for its stability.

Orten Was The Case is a single player game.

Similar games include The Sexy Brutale, Chroma Zero, Grunn, Ultros, The Forgotten City and others.