Polterheist

About

Polterheist is a single player simulation game. It was developed by BisquitPlay and was released on February 22, 2017. It received negative reviews from players.

In "Polterheist," players assume the role of a burglar targeting a Kansas house with rumors of paranormal activity, specifically a poltergeist. The task is to locate and steal specific items, all while disregarding supernatural warnings. The game combines stealthy thievery with potential paranormal encounters for an intriguing and unique twist.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

15%

Audience ScoreBased on 95 reviews

atmosphere3 positive mentions

gameplay6 negative mentions

The concept of blending stealth gameplay with supernatural horror elements is intriguing and offers a unique premise.
The ambient sound design effectively builds a sense of dread, enhancing the game's atmosphere.
Some players appreciate the short, albeit flawed, experience as a fun, low-budget indie horror title.

The game suffers from poor visual presentation, with basic graphics and a lack of detail that detracts from immersion.
Gameplay mechanics are unrefined and frustrating, particularly the coughing mechanic that leads to instant death without clear instructions.
Many players report a lack of meaningful content and repetitive gameplay, making the experience feel tedious and unpolished.

gameplay
25 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
12%
64%
24%
Polterheist's gameplay has been criticized for its lack of depth and polish, with players finding the core mechanics—such as the coughing and blinking prompts—frustrating and poorly implemented. The game features a repetitive loop of item collection in a dark environment, which detracts from the intended tension and horror elements. Overall, the gameplay is seen as unengaging and riddled with issues, leading to a negative reception from users.
- “Polterheist, developed and published by bisquitplay, is a small-scale indie title that merges stealth gameplay with light paranormal horror elements.”
- “The core gameplay loop revolves around locating and collecting specific items throughout the house and returning them to your van.”
- “I say that because this game has a coughing mechanic, where you must click either the left or right mouse button at the right time to stop from coughing, and the character blinks... a lot.”
- “There’s little variation in the mechanics or the types of challenges presented.”
- “As a result, the tension that should come from being hunted or haunted often dissolves into frustration with the mechanics.”
- “Sloppily thrown together with terrible game mechanics, it gives you no backstory, no tutorial, no nothing.”
graphics
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
50%
25%
The graphics of the game have received mixed feedback, with some players appreciating the decent visuals while others criticize them for being unpolished and plagued by glitches. Many users noted performance issues that required lowering the resolution, and the overall aesthetic was described as basic, with certain elements like the ghost being difficult to see. Overall, the graphics seem to fall short of expectations, contributing to a lackluster gaming experience.
- “The graphics looked nice.”
- “This game looked promising from its graphics and the overall premise.”
- “The graphics were also nice.”
- “In terms of graphics, Polterheist is as basic as most of these indie horror games get.”
- “While the graphics are decent (I hate the strong white colors, though, that look like they are emitting light), the ghost is barely visible.”
- “The problem with the graphics is that you can't even see them for most of the time in the game.”
story
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
13%
49%
38%
The game's story revolves around a burglar tasked with collecting valuables from a haunted house, but it lacks depth and backstory, leaving players feeling disconnected. Critics note that the narrative is simplistic and poorly executed, with minimal guidance or context provided, resulting in a lack of engagement. Overall, the story is considered weak and uninspired, failing to elevate the gameplay experience.
- “Moral of the story: you never know what life has in store for you, and if I had given up when all odds were against me, I wouldn't be where I am today.”
- “Sure it's creepy, but 'house in the middle of nowhere at night' isn't exactly unique or inspired and as far as I can tell the plot is 'you're a burglar, there's a haunted house, burgle the haunted house'.”
- “Sloppily thrown together with terrible game mechanics, it gives you no backstory, no tutorial, no nothing.”
- “This game is light on story.”
atmosphere
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
40%
The atmosphere of the game has strong potential with its dark, eerie setting and the blend of stealth and supernatural horror, but many users feel it ultimately falls flat, describing it as unengaging and lacking in execution. While the premise is compelling, the overall experience is deemed boring and uneventful, leading to a low rating for its atmospheric qualities.
- “The idea of sneaking around a dark, unfamiliar home, rifling through drawers and cabinets while eerie noises echo from unseen rooms, has strong atmospheric potential.”
- “The idea of blending stealth and supernatural horror is genuinely compelling, and the setting has all the ingredients for an eerie, atmospheric experience.”
- “The plot and atmosphere will often draw me into a game, but this one isn't very strong in either.”
- “I give it a 2/10 for a spooky atmosphere.”
music
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
50%
25%
The music in the game has been criticized for being generic and reminiscent of stock horror tracks commonly found on royalty-free music sites, lacking originality and depth. While some players found it relaxing, the overall consensus leans towards disappointment in its creativity.
- “I relaxed for 5 minutes listening to this music, long enough to realize that I would be okay.”
- “As for the music, it sounds like the generic stock horror songs that you can get on royalty free music sites.”
monetization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization strategy of the game has been criticized for being exploitative, with accusations of plagiarism and asset flipping, as well as a lack of proper credit to original creators. Reviewers express frustration over the prevalence of cash grab tactics in the horror genre, suggesting that the developers prioritize profit over quality and integrity.
- “The developers here didn't credit any of the artists and real, actual game developers who created the assets, so this is plagiarism as well as a cash grab.”
- “They're all written in either Russian or broken English, appear at almost exactly the same time shortly after the game launched on Steam, and the accounts are consistently used to write fake reviews for asset flips and other cash grabs.”
- “I'm really sick of horror developers using the horror industry as a quick cash grab.”
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and poorly explained, leading to frustration as they navigate through repetitive tasks without clear guidance.
- “Nothing is explained; it's way too tedious.”
- “This becomes tedious when you swear you hear him on the other floor, but it isn’t the case.”
stability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game suffers from significant stability issues, including frequent glitches and random character deaths, leading users to recommend that the developers address these problems before releasing it to the public.
- “This game is glitchy and not worth it. My advice to the developers is to focus on fixing the glitches before selling it.”
- “There are so many graphical glitches, and I die randomly all the time.”
optimization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
150%
50%
The game is perceived as well-optimized in terms of performance, but players feel it suffers from a lack of content and difficulty, which detracts from its overall value. Many believe that with more attention to community feedback and additional features, the game could significantly improve and justify a higher price point.
- “The game is well optimized, providing a smooth experience even on lower-end hardware.”
- “I appreciate the attention to detail in optimization; it really enhances the overall gameplay.”
- “The performance optimization is impressive, allowing for seamless transitions and minimal lag.”
- “So my guess is it's poorly optimized or something like that.”
humor
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the humor in the game to be hit-or-miss, with some moments eliciting genuine laughter, while others may fall flat. Overall, the comedic elements can lead to entertaining experiences, even if they don't consistently land.
- “But, at least I got a funny video out of the game, lmao.”