Paper Cut Mansion
- October 27, 2022
- Space Lizard Studio
- 2h median play time
Paper Cut Mansion is a strange, sometimes spooky but mostly unique take on the tried-and-true adventure roguelike genre.
Get on Steam
Get on Xbox Games Store"Paper Cut Mansion" is a roguelite horror game set in a creepy, papercraft world. As detective Toby, you'll explore a mysterious mansion, uncovering its story and collecting evidence in runs that feature perma-death and increasing difficulty. With unique AI behaviors, logical puzzles, and customizable equipment, each attempt brings new challenges and opportunities to shape your playstyle.
Nintendo Switch
PC
Playstation 4
Playstation 5
Windows
Xbox One
Xbox Series X|S
PlayStation
Xbox
Reviews
- The game features a charming and unique art style that captivates players.
- Gameplay mechanics, including the card system and dimension swapping, provide a fun and engaging experience.
- The soundtrack and sound design enhance the overall atmosphere, making it a delightful experience.
- Controls are often sluggish and frustrating, making gameplay feel clunky.
- The game can become repetitive quickly, with missions and tasks lacking variety.
- Many players feel the story is underdeveloped and fails to engage, leading to a sense of confusion.
- graphics38 mentions
- 53 % positive mentions
- 39 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are widely praised for their unique and charming art style, featuring beautiful paper-cutting artwork and meticulous attention to detail. Many reviewers highlight the visuals as a standout aspect, contributing to a spooky atmosphere and enhancing the overall experience, despite some concerns about gameplay mechanics. Overall, the aesthetic is described as original and engaging, making the game visually appealing and memorable.
“Gorgeous art style with lots of attention to details (even the UI is made out of paper!).”
“The game's graphics are very well done, the detail with the cardboard cutouts is well executed.”
“The graphics are truly original, managing to make you laugh in the most desperate moments, excellent work.”
“The games graphics are very well done, the detail with the cardboard cutouts is well executed.”
“Artstyle is nuts.”
- gameplay28 mentions
- 54 % positive mentions
- 36 % neutral mentions
- 11 % negative mentions
The gameplay has received mixed reviews, with some players finding it repetitive and tiresome, while others appreciate its roguelite mechanics and rewarding challenges. Many noted that once players grasp the movement and mechanics, the experience becomes fluid and engaging, despite some calls for polish and clarity in design. Overall, the game offers a blend of fun and addictive elements, but its execution can feel shallow at times.
“It is not straightforward to learn how to move within the spaces, but once you understand how to do it, the gameplay becomes fluid and gives you great emotion, satisfaction, and adrenaline.”
“It's challenging but rewarding; it makes you want to go back time and time again, trying new sets of equipment to best fit your gameplay style.”
“Gameplay is fun, addictive, and unforgiving.”
“Lovely game, but I agree that the game could still use some polish on the actual gameplay front.”
“As it is, the interesting concept and excellent art direction can’t make up for shallow gameplay and clunky mechanics.”
“The adventure game mechanics, mostly linked to the neocortex, are also well-implemented, although a little more clarity in room layout would have helped.”
- music19 mentions
- 68 % positive mentions
- 16 % neutral mentions
- 16 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received high praise for its ability to enhance the overall atmosphere, with a well-crafted soundtrack and sound design that immerses players in the experience. Reviewers noted the appealing music score, fun musical interludes between levels, and how the music contributes to the game's mysterious narrative. Overall, the combination of beautiful artwork and engaging music makes for a captivating and memorable gameplay experience.
“Great effort also in the music and sound effects; they manage to immerse you in the action.”
“Love the music score as it adds to the mystery of what happened to you as you play.”
“This game is a masterpiece: the artwork, the music, the funny interactions with NPCs, the way each run feels like a completely different experience from your previous one.”
“Seriously, there are little musical numbers between the stages.”
“Seriously, there are little musical numbers between the stages.”
“The soundtrack and sound design are really well done as well.”
- story18 mentions
- 56 % positive mentions
- 28 % neutral mentions
- 17 % negative mentions
The game's story is initially intriguing and unique, but many players feel it ultimately lacks depth and becomes repetitive. While the aesthetic and craftsmanship are praised, the narrative is often described as bare bones, with some players finding it engaging enough to maintain interest. Overall, the story serves as a backdrop to the gameplay rather than a central focus, leading to mixed feelings about its effectiveness.
“The craftsmanship behind this game is absolutely admirable and I cannot wait to unwrap the whole story.”
“The art style and story are pretty unique.”
“There's fun music between levels, and an overarching storyline that you're supposed to piece together.”
“There's fun music between levels, and an overarching story line that you're supposed to piece together.”
“[– no engaging story or game lore, – combat is simplistic, – all puzzles and levels become quickly repetitive]”
“[exploration can be disorienting, combat is 'meh', story is easy to ignore]”
- atmosphere4 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 25 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is highly praised for its beautiful paper-cutting artwork and haunting music, creating a charming yet genuinely creepy experience reminiscent of "The Nightmare Before Christmas." Reviewers find it captivating and immersive, enhancing the overall gameplay experience.
“I'm so impressed by the beautiful paper-cutting artwork, music, and spooky atmosphere!”
“Very charming with a genuinely creepy atmosphere straight out of a Nightmare Before Christmas!”
“Very charming and has a genuinely creepy atmosphere straight out of a nightmare before Christmas!”
- humor2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players praise the game's humor, highlighting the amusing interactions with NPCs as a standout feature that enhances the overall experience. The humor contributes to the game's replayability, making each run feel unique and entertaining.
“This game is a masterpiece: the artwork, the music, the funny interactions with NPCs, and the way each run feels like a completely different experience from your previous one.”
- stability2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game suffers from stability issues, with users reporting frequent bugs, freezes, and slowdowns that can disrupt gameplay and negatively impact the overall experience.
“There are still a number of bugs, including some freezes or slowdowns that will kill a run.”
- grinding2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game enjoyable, as it combines engaging puzzle-solving and fetch quests that feel refreshing rather than tedious, alongside combat that provides a balanced challenge. Overall, the grinding experience is seen as fun and rewarding.
“Very fun rogue game; it's a mix of puzzle solving, fetch quests that are not tedious, and combat that's not too difficult but gives you a run now and then.”
Critic Reviews
Paper Cut Mansion Review (PC)
Paper Cut Mansion makes a great first impression, with its original environments and characters. The adventure game mechanics, mostly linked to the NeoCortex, are also well-implemented, although a little more clarity in room layout would have helped. The ideas for the other two dimensions are less interesting but add important variety. The entire experience starts off a little slow but there’s plenty of intrigue to keep players engaged after a few hours. The game’s momentum is limited by its rogue elements. It needs to open up more options faster to keep players interested or to simply make it easier to progress without dying. Paper Cut Mansion has a good mix of ideas with some issues around implementation, delivering a good experience for adventure game fans who want a few twists on the familiar concepts of the genre. A product code was provided by the publisher.
80%Paper Cut Mansion (Nintendo Switch)
Paper Cut Mansion is a cute and spooky roguelite with a brilliant sense of design and a tantalizing mystery at its core.
70%Paper Cut Mansion Review
Paper Cut Mansion is a strange, sometimes spooky but mostly unique take on the tried-and-true adventure roguelike genre.
80%
