Second Thoughts

About

"Second Thoughts" is a psychological experiment in the form of a game, where players must choose one of eight subjects to execute each day based on limited information. As greater details about each individual are revealed, players can decide to learn about the deceased or focus solely on the survivors. Ultimately, only one person will remain, and their full story will be unveiled. The game features eight diverse subjects with hidden stories and choices that impact the outcome.

Genres & Tags

Indie

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

72%

Audience ScoreBased on 71 reviews

emotional3 positive mentions

graphics3 negative mentions

The game presents a profound concept that challenges players to reflect on their moral decisions, making it a thought-provoking experience.
The writing and narrative are engaging, with well-developed character backstories that create emotional investment and tension.
It's an affordable game that offers a unique experience, making it worth trying for those interested in moral dilemmas and psychological themes.

The pacing is frustratingly slow, with lengthy text segments that cannot be sped up, leading to a tedious gameplay experience.
Many character twists are predictable, and the overall writing quality suffers from grammatical issues and lack of depth.
The game lacks meaningful consequences for decisions, making the choices feel arbitrary and diminishing the impact of the moral questions it raises.

story
13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
23%
54%
23%
The game's story is a mixed bag, praised for its engaging character backstories and moral dilemmas that provoke deep reflection on psychology and ethics. However, it suffers from grammatical issues and predictable plot twists, leading to a sense of disappointment in its writing quality. Overall, while it offers a unique narrative experience, the execution may leave some players wanting more depth and polish.
- “There isn't a dull moment in the story, and the backstories of all the characters feel well-written, real, and filled with unexpected surprises.”
- “More than a game or a story, this creation offers you a reflection on psychology, morality, and human nature.”
- “Play it if you enjoy a good story, refreshingly unique and fun premises, and like to think about very difficult ethical choices.”
- “Then there are the plot twists you can see coming a mile away.”
- “No real ending and no real plot to the game.”
- “The 'twist' in each character's story was almost always immediately predictable, but I feel that would have been acceptable if there weren't constant grammatical errors, very little punctuation, and just, generally bad writing that often either felt cheesy and childish or was so badly worded that you need to reread the sentence to decipher what exactly the game was trying to convey.”
graphics
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
17%
33%
50%
The graphics of the game are heavily text-based, relying on outdated retro text and ASCII art instead of modern visuals, which has drawn criticism for lacking customization options and resolution settings. While some players appreciate the aesthetic simplicity, the overall quality is considered low and unchangeable.
- “As simple as it is, I still appreciated a few things about it, mostly aesthetically.”
- “It's very text-heavy and doesn't feature much in the way of graphics.”
- “A choice was made to use obsolete, decades-old retro text/ASCII 'art' as a substitute for contemporary PC graphics, or any real graphics at all for that matter.”
- “There's no options to change the resolution for the game or customize the graphics settings.”
gameplay
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
60%
The gameplay is characterized by its simple yet engaging mechanics, offering a unique premise that captivates players. While the core mechanics lack replay value, the moral choices regarding life and death add depth to the experience, despite some players finding certain elements, like the observation mechanic, less intuitive. Overall, the game successfully combines straightforward gameplay with thought-provoking decisions.
- “I have a special fondness for games where the mechanics are utterly simple yet extremely absorbing.”
- “In terms of premise and mechanics, it feels refreshingly unique.”
- “I really like it; even though I didn't get the observation mechanic in the game, I really liked the idea of choosing who lives and who dies and using law as well as morals to dictate who lives.”
- “It's got literally zero replay value as a core mechanic.”
- “Not so much in terms of mechanics as I think their simplicity kind of makes the game what it is, but perhaps something like an audio file the last survivor sends to you when the game ends.”
- “I really like it, even though I didn't get the observation mechanic in the game, I really liked the idea of choosing who lives and who dies and using law as well as morals to dictate who lives.”
emotional
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Reviews indicate a mixed emotional impact, with some players experiencing a range of feelings while others found the game slow and overly reliant on guilt as its emotional core. Overall, it seems to evoke emotions but may not deliver a profound or engaging emotional experience for all players.
- “We both had an emotional roller coaster with it.”
replayability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
While the game offers a short experience with no inherent replay value, it can still be enjoyable when shared with friends and family, as different players may bring unique perspectives to the gameplay.
- “If you buy this game, do keep in mind that it is a short experience that has no replay value.”
- “It's got literally zero replay value as a core mechanic.”
- “Even if you might feel discouraged due to the lack of replay value, this can always be shared with friends and family (while respecting the age rating, of course), because every different person might have a different approach, and that's what makes this experience interesting.”
atmosphere
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The atmosphere of the game is described as a mixed experience; while some players feel that certain artistic choices do not enhance the atmosphere, others praise the effective use of audio elements, such as a background buzz and key tapping sounds, which contribute to a perfect and oppressive ambiance.
- “I love the audio; just a simple background buzz and some heavy key tapping sounds. It's very effective and oppressive, making the atmosphere feel perfect.”
- “I'm a fast reader; I dislike this sort of thing generally, but I'd be okay with it as an artistic decision if it actually added atmosphere. I don't think it did.”
grinding
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
Players find the grinding aspect tedious, particularly due to the one-second pause during screen transitions, which becomes cumbersome when managing multiple characters and cycling through previously read information.
- “During each screen change, there is a one-second pause as it shifts over. Doing this for eight characters, cycling past screens of information you've already read, made things feel a lot more tedious to me.”
- “The grinding in this game feels endless and repetitive, making it hard to stay engaged with the story.”
- “I found myself spending hours on tasks that felt like they had no real purpose, which made the gameplay feel like a chore.”