Port of Call

About

Port of Call is a single player action game. It was developed by Underdog Games and was released on August 28, 2015. It received positive reviews from players.

Imagine waking up on a small dock with no recollection of who you are or how you got there. The first person you find is a grumpy, old man who enlists you to work on his ferry boat which seems to have materialized behind you. But not all is as it seems on this strange ship, and the people you meet may know more about your past than they let on.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

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88%

Audience ScoreBased on 906 reviews

story247 positive mentions

stability15 negative mentions

Short and engaging narrative with a touching and thought-provoking story about life, death, and consequences.
Unique and fitting art style and atmospheric soundtrack that enhance the mood and immersion.
Free to play with easy achievements, offering a quick and meaningful experience that can be completed in under an hour.

Lack of save feature causes frustration due to frequent crashes and having to replay sections multiple times.
Very short gameplay with minimal player interaction and limited replay value aside from achievements.
Some performance issues and graphical glitches; story and dialogue can be predictable or overly explicit, reducing impact for some players.

story
567 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
44%
53%
3%
The story is a short, emotional, and thought-provoking narrative centered on themes of life, death, regret, and acceptance, unfolding mostly through dialogue and exploration on a mysterious ferry boat. While many find it touching and well-written with a haunting atmosphere, some criticize its brevity, predictable plot, and linearity, wishing for deeper development or more twists. Overall, it is praised for delivering a meaningful experience despite limited gameplay and technical simplicity, making it a worthwhile free indie tale.
- “This low-budget indie developed by Underdog Games is an immersive narrative exploration game featuring unique character art models, a well-written story, and a haunting atmosphere.”
- “The story is simple but well played out, with a short, nice story that really makes you think. Give this game a chance; if you dive in head-first, you'll see its story is food for thought.”
- “A very short and simple game with a great narrative dealing with death, choices, and consequences. Port of Call does suffer from low production values, but they don't detract much from its excellent story.”
- “The graphics aren't exactly stylized - rather they're just not good, your (very few) dialogue options lead to the same ending with each character, and the story is as cliché as you could possibly get (five minutes into playing, you could correctly predict the entire story with ease).”
- “The story doesn't make a whole lot of sense and any subtlety or mystery is bludgeoned out of the otherwise eerily atmospheric game by a needlessly blunt and exhaustive exposition at the end.”
- “Game crashes randomly in the middle of the story and there is no save option because the game is short. This happened to me twice and after that, I had to play it like I was making a speedrun so it wouldn't crash before I finished and this really takes you out of the experience and even weakens the story itself because you can't read it well enough.”
graphics
185 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
53%
9%
The game's graphics feature a simplistic, minimalist, and cell-shaded art style that many find charming and fitting for its eerie, mysterious atmosphere despite occasional roughness and technical issues. While some users criticize the visuals as outdated, unpolished, or distracting, most agree that the unique and stylized graphics effectively complement the game's dark, creepy vibe and narrative focus. Overall, the graphics may not be high-end but serve their purpose well, especially given the game's indie status and free price.
- “The graphics are perfect for the vibe that the devs went for, it makes you feel the atmosphere of confusion and mystery. A really good aspect that this game has is atmosphere.”
- “The art style also complements other atmospheric elements the game adds to summon a creepy, “ghost ship,” ambience such as multiple dark shadow silhouettes that vanish to the touch, or a constant overcast and rainy weather.”
- “I really enjoyed this game, it had a good story with good visuals.”
- “There was screen tearing the entire time, no graphics settings to be found.”
- “Graphics are ugly and there are some objects that pass through each other and because of this I couldn't read some of the details on the item (the book I took from the ferryman's closet fell inside the closet).”
- “Even at maximum settings the graphics are atrocious.”
atmosphere
76 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
62%
34%
4%
The game excels in creating a compelling, haunting, and immersive atmosphere characterized by mystery, melancholy, and a subtle creepiness rather than outright horror. Its minimalist graphics, sound design, and music effectively complement the moody, narrative-driven experience, though some find it short and occasionally underdeveloped. Overall, atmosphere is unanimously praised as the game’s strongest and most captivating aspect.
- “The graphics are perfect for the vibe that the devs went for, making you feel the atmosphere of confusion and mystery. A really good aspect this game has is atmosphere.”
- “The atmosphere is truly the crux of Port of Call. As you follow the ship ferryman's commands, the story slowly unfolds the mystery, revealing who you are, why you are there, and the other people on the ship with you.”
- “Speaking of which, the atmosphere is where Port of Call really shines: the world the game creates is oddly immersive, beautiful, and haunting — especially impressive considering the low production values, near-lack of voice acting, and minimalistic sound design.”
- “However, the drab nature of the design builds the bleak atmosphere the game intended on having.”
- “The atmosphere of the game is alright, although while mysterious it is not creepy or scary in any way.”
- “The sad thing is that even though it's nice, well put together, it's extremely short and the same way, the story unfolds too fast for the player to get immersed well enough in the otherwise well-thought atmosphere.”
gameplay
66 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
18%
71%
11%
The gameplay is minimalistic, primarily involving simple mechanics like walking, interacting, and dialogue choices, with little challenge or variety. While generally short and straightforward, it effectively complements the narrative, making the experience engaging for players who prioritize story over traditional gameplay depth. However, some users found the gameplay uninspired or too simplistic, impacting overall immersion.
- “The gameplay, which is both easy and relaxing yet surprisingly engaging, blends perfectly with the narrative, unfolding through both text and clever mini-games.”
- “I felt this effect was very clever and is one of many small touches that add to a short yet memorable 30 minutes+ gameplay.”
- “The gameplay is in the same vein as Gone Home or Dear Esther, choosing to focus entirely on the narrative with minimal player interactions.”
- “The gameplay is nonexistent and suffers from a handful of mild technical and graphical issues, issues which wouldn't be so bad in other games but are made exponentially worse with how quickly they break immersion.”
- “So the gameplay is nigh nonexistent (yet I still encountered some bugs), and music and visuals are kind of minimalistic.”
- “In truth, what you get to play is pretty simplistic, with so-so dialogue and not much for gameplay outside of walking, picking up items, and a few dialogue trees.”
music
59 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
42%
53%
5%
The music in this game is widely praised for its atmospheric, haunting, and emotionally evocative qualities, often enhancing the melancholic and eerie tone of the experience. Players appreciate the minimalist and well-curated soundtrack, which complements the visuals and story, creating a memorable and immersive ambiance despite being sparse or short. Overall, the soundtrack is considered a standout element, sometimes described as surprisingly good for a free or short game.
- “Port of call employs minimalist pixel art and a haunting soundtrack by Chris Zabriskie, which, though simple, enhances the game's charm and emotional impact.”
- “The music, while sparse, adds to the emotional weight of the game.”
- “The musical scores, whilst all short in nature, produce a meticulous, mournful tone; similar to those ambience scores from the Stalker series.”
- “3.5 / 10 - it's free, and the soundtrack is alright at times, but that's just about all the positives.”
- “Sound is also barely there, there is some faint short track at one point, sound bytes on few dialogues, footsteps, and a distorted jazzy/ballroom song at the bar of first floor (really reminiscent of ballroom scene in The Shining).”
- “As the look and music are kinda bad and the gameplay is mediocre, it has nothing else to offer but its story.”
emotional
50 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
"Port of Call" is widely praised for its emotionally charged and touching narrative, delivering impactful themes like regret, loss, and redemption through minimalist storytelling and haunting music. Despite its short length and simple mechanics, many players felt genuinely moved, though some critics found the emotional depth limited by brief character development and a somewhat forced climax. Overall, it is regarded as a poignant indie experience that resonates emotionally, especially for those seeking a brief but heartfelt story.
- “Each character has a distinct personality and story, often touching on themes like regret, loss, and redemption.”
- “The game immerses players in the life of its protagonist, Alex, delivering emotionally charged moments and thought-provoking choices that shape the narrative.”
- “A heart-wrenchingly beautiful way to kill some spare time, "Port of Call" will take you on a journey of revelations and will leave you with a weighty choice.”
stability
17 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
12%
88%
The game experiences occasional glitches and bugs, including crashes and clipping issues, though most are minor and don't significantly disrupt gameplay or the story. Stability is somewhat inconsistent, with some players reporting smooth runs and others encountering freezes or crashes. Overall, while buggy, the game remains playable and enjoyable.
- “A bit weird but runs great on Deck.”
- “Game is not buggy and story is OK.”
- “Another reason to have a save game feature is to avoid glitches and crashes.”
- “Game crashed on me twice and is a little buggy but overall glad I played it, has a very touching story.”
- “Very good game, but freezes up at the end.”
optimization
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
8%
67%
Optimization for the game is generally poor, with frequent frame rate drops, crashes, and performance issues reported, especially on certain hardware. However, since the gameplay is dialogue-driven rather than action-intensive, these problems do not critically impair the overall experience for many players. Nonetheless, the subpar optimization may frustrate some and detracts from its potential impact.
- “Performance: near perfect on a low end gaming laptop.”
- “Not to mention it runs smoothly and has an intriguing story line.”
- “The only critique I have for this game is the optimization; your frame rate will tank as soon as you get on the ship, but since the game isn't a tactical shooter but a dialogue-driven story, it won't ruin your experience at all, I promise.”
- “The only critique I have for this game is the optimization; your frame rate will tank as soon as you get on the ship. However, since the game is a dialogue-driven story rather than a tactical shooter, it won't ruin your experience.”
- “Poorly optimized performance and suffers from frame rate drops.”
- “Cons: terrible performance, and I think there's a soft FPS cap of 60.”
replayability
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
50%
25%
The game offers a short, linear narrative with limited replayability, primarily due to its single-sitting length and straightforward story. While some mention alternate endings, achievements, or minor choices that provide slight variation, overall replay value is minimal. However, its brief but engaging experience makes it worth playing once.
- “Story is quite nice, setting is brilliant, you have choices, achievements, different endings, interesting characters and replayability.”
- “A definite must for the 15 min or so it takes to beat, plus it has replay value with an alternate ending!”
- “And has a bit of replay value (especially if you can't find those crayons).”
- “It’s a single experience meant to be played in one sitting, and there’s not much replay value since the narrative is linear.”
- “It won't take you long to play through and doesn't really have any replay value but it is free and could be worth checking out if you like this sort of thing.”
- “It lasts about half an hour (which isn't to say that short games can't be good because they certainly can be) it's just that it has zero replay value.”
grinding
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
17%
83%
Grinding in the game is generally seen as tedious and boring, especially during second playthroughs required for achievements. Limited movement options and a small play area contribute to a repetitive experience that may diminish player interest over time.
- “Boring and tedious.”
- “The game is very short and tedious.”
- “You can't run, and navigating the very small playing area is tedious after even a few minutes.”
humor
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's humor is warmly received, combining funny graphics and amusing elements like quirky masks to create a lighthearted, feel-good experience. Players find it charming and enjoyable, making it a pleasant choice for casual, entertaining play.
- “This is a short story-telling game with funny graphics and interesting music, which you can play on a rainy day to kill some time.”
- “It's a good indie game. I found it quite touching but also the masks funny :D”
- “At this point I was convinced this game was going to be a funny, goofy, feel-good game.”
character development
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
33%
The character development is praised for its unique and artistic design, reminiscent of Neil Gaiman's Mirrormask, with figures that have distinct histories and meaningful ties to the game world. However, technical issues and lack of polish hinder the overall experience, preventing the narrative and character interactions from reaching their full potential.
- “For some reason the character design reminds me of Neil Gaiman's Mirrormask, which is a good thing.”
- “I like the art style, as well as the choice of paintings and character designs.”
- “All figures have a history, including the hero, and we need to talk with others to discover more, making the character development interesting.”
- “Game was superb during the first 20 minutes. The character designs and masks seem justified and linked with the world, adding a bit of humor. Each character has a history, including the hero, and dialogue with others is needed to discover more. However, the game crashes frequently, forcing restarts. Dialogue, optimization, and overall polish are lacking, with no necessary maintenance for an adventure game. This game had the potential to be a masterpiece like Majora's Mask but falls short.”