Shutter

About

Shutter is a single player action adventure game. It was developed by ARTFX SCHOOLS and was released on April 28, 2023. It received positive reviews from players.

In Shutter you play as Keith, a new employee that has arrived at the mysterious research center L.I.E. (Learn, Investigate and Exploit). Explore and solve puzzles with a camera that modifies objects using perspective. All in a space-age inspired setting.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

85%

Audience ScoreBased on 59 reviews

gameplay6 positive mentions

optimization3 negative mentions

Beautiful graphics and art style with a retro-futuristic aesthetic provide a visually appealing experience.
Innovative and enjoyable puzzle mechanics centered around resizing objects with a special camera, reminiscent of games like Portal and Superliminal.
Well-made and polished for a student project, including good voice acting and atmosphere, offering a fun and engaging short puzzle adventure.

The game is quite short, lasting around 20 minutes to an hour, leaving some players wanting more content and a clearer story ending.
Technical issues such as occasional bugs, glitches, stuttering, lack of auto-save, and poor optimization affect the experience.
Some frustrating mechanics like inconsistent object resizing, clunky platforming sections, and missing or unclear puzzle triggers can hinder gameplay.

gameplay
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
43%
19%
The gameplay offers fun and appropriately challenging puzzle mechanics with a unique sci-fi twist, though some find it generic or clunky. While polished and enjoyable for a short playtime, the mechanics may lack depth for a full-length experience, with occasional bugs and control issues detracting from replay value. Overall, it provides a solid, if brief, gameplay experience typical of a well-executed student project.
- “The mechanics are fun and the puzzles are appropriately challenging.”
- “Shutter is a lovely puzzle game with really nice mechanics and around 1 hour of playtime if you explore every room and don't rush the puzzles too much.”
- “The design and gameplay are outstanding and the fact this is a student project is just crazy.”
- “There are some achievements I missed but the clunkiness of the mechanics meant I was not inclined to play it again to unlock them.”
- “Was expecting it to be better, but it's really buggy, no resolution change option, it's stuck in some low res, and the gameplay doesn't even work half the time.”
- “I'm not a fan of it in puzzle games but especially here with a very strange feeling 'climb' mechanic... no thanks.”
graphics
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
57%
22%
21%
The game features an appealing and distinctive retro-futuristic art style with generally good, commercial-quality graphics and animations. However, performance issues such as stuttering and frame rate drops, even on high-end hardware, detract from the visual experience. Despite these technical flaws, the visuals effectively complement the game's aesthetic and overall presentation.
- “The art style is really pretty to look at and the entire game was just a pleasant experience to get through.”
- “Excellent puzzle game with a great art style and beautiful graphics.”
- “The graphics in this game are really quite good, which at least makes the game look more appealing.”
- “Should have called this game 'stutter.' I was getting constant major frame rate drops when entering new areas in 4K resolution while using an RTX3080 and i9 processor, no matter what I lowered, the only graphic setting available.”
- “There is only one graphic setting where you can change it from low to ultra.”
- “- Commercial-level graphics, animations, and 3D models.”
story
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
44%
23%
33%
The story is a modest sci-fi narrative reminiscent of games like Portal, providing an engaging backdrop but lacking depth and a satisfying conclusion. While brief and somewhat incomplete, it complements the game's physics-based puzzles and adds to the overall enjoyable experience.
- “This game has an interesting sci-fi story, "generic" physics manipulation gameplay, and decent puzzles.”
- “Overall: a neat ~1 hour puzzle game, fun physics, story, and puzzles.”
- “The game is polished, has a story, a mechanic that works, dialogue lines.”
- “I wish it was a little longer and that the story had a better ending - it's mainly the lack of explanation at the end of the game that left me wanting more.”
- “While the game itself isn't super long nor particularly complete in its story, and there are some occasional bugs, it was fun to play with the concept for a bit and without getting tired of the mechanics overall.”
- “☐ no story”
optimization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game suffers from significant optimization issues, including poorly optimized menu screens and credits, which negatively impact performance. Given that the game is free, there is little expectation that these optimization problems will be addressed in the future.
- “But holy hell, how do you make a menu screen and credits so poorly optimized.”
- “Too bad the game is so poorly optimized.”
- “Because the game is free, I seriously doubt this game will ever be optimized properly.”
humor
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is light and enjoyable, featuring amusing elements like funny hats that add a playful touch without being challenging.
- “Rather humorous as well!”
- “Ain't hard at all, got some funny hats to find here and there.”
stability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game suffers from significant stability issues, including frequent stutters, glitches, and gameplay malfunctions. Additionally, the lack of resolution options and persistent low-resolution display further detract from a smooth experience.
- “The game looks good, but it struggles with stutters and glitches, likely due to the engine being used.”
- “I was expecting it to be better, but it's really buggy. There is no resolution change option, it's stuck in some low resolution, and the gameplay doesn't even work half the time.”
atmosphere
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The atmosphere effectively blends various artistic themes, creating a cohesive and immersive experience that resonates well with players.
- “Combines a lot of themes both art-wise and atmospherically that work really well together.”
music
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The music features basic sci-fi themes that complement the game's atmosphere well, enhanced by solid voice acting. Overall, the audio contributes positively to the immersive experience.
- “The audio consists of basic sci-fi music, but it fits the theme and sounds good, complemented by pretty good voice acting.”