Silence of the Sleep

About

Silence of the Sleep is a single player puzzle game with a horror theme. It was developed by Jesse Makkonen and was released on October 1, 2014. It received mostly positive reviews from both critics and players.

"Silence of the Sleep" is a psychological horror adventure game with side-scrolling 2D graphics and a minimalistic interface. The game features a unique music score, challenging puzzles, and a twisting story with no shooting or combat. Players explore an abstract world as Jacob Reeves, who has lost his memory and seeks to discover the reason for his journey.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

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71%

Audience ScoreBased on 367 reviews

story119 positive mentions

grinding19 negative mentions

The game features a haunting atmosphere with unique visuals and a compelling soundtrack that enhances the overall experience.
The story is intriguing and explores deep themes of grief and self-reflection, keeping players engaged throughout.
The puzzles are challenging and require thoughtful exploration, adding depth to the gameplay.

Controls can be clunky and unresponsive, making navigation and evasion during monster encounters frustrating.
The save system is limited, with few save points that can lead to significant backtracking after dying.
Some puzzles and interactions can be obscure, leading to confusion and frustration for players.

story
249 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
48%
48%
4%
The story of "Silence of the Sleep" is a dark, psychological exploration of grief and trauma, presented through a surreal and atmospheric narrative that captivates players with its depth and complexity. While many reviewers praise its intriguing plot, rich symbolism, and emotional weight, they also note that the pacing can be slow, with some gameplay elements detracting from the overall experience. Despite its flaws, the game is recognized for its artistic direction and compelling storytelling, making it a noteworthy entry in the horror genre.
- “Silence of the Sleep is a dark, story-driven adventure that follows a troubled man descending through a surreal, nightmarish world shaped by grief and self-reflection.”
- “The story is captivating, but it won't leave you breathless or gobsmacked at the end, either.”
- “The story is a subtle exploration of trauma, mental illness, and responsibility and should speak to all those that like their horror artsy.”
- “It's just not fun to play, plus the story and character development are too slow to make me even care about it.”
- “Midway through chapter 3, the game just became boring and I lost all interest in the story and wanted the game to be over by that point.”
- “The story falls apart in the end.”
gameplay
135 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
21%
63%
16%
The gameplay of "Silence of the Sleep" has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it slow, clunky, and frustrating due to tedious mechanics and unintuitive controls. While some appreciate the atmospheric elements and puzzle variety, others criticize the reliance on backtracking and punishing save mechanics that detract from the overall experience. Despite its intriguing story and visuals, the gameplay often feels secondary and can hinder enjoyment for those seeking a more engaging and fluid experience.
- “Gameplay is simple, almost secondary, but it fits the experience — playing it feels like moving through someone’s fractured mind.”
- “Soundtrack is fantastic, gameplay elements that adapted through the story were surprising and innovative, general gameplay and story were very nice.”
- “The game has great potential, the puzzles and their mechanics are quite a fun experience.”
- “The gameplay is slow and tedious and relies too much on backtracking.”
- “A decent, emotionally-driven story with stylish & macabre visuals, unfortunately marred heavily by clunky and frustrating gameplay.”
- “The movement mechanic is a little clunky and frustrating when you are being chased and must change directions quickly.”
atmosphere
134 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
66%
32%
2%
The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its oppressive, creepy, and immersive qualities, often drawing comparisons to the Silent Hill series. Reviewers highlight the effective use of sound design, art style, and music to create a tense and unsettling environment that enhances the psychological horror experience. However, some players noted that frustrating gameplay mechanics and controls detracted from the overall enjoyment of the atmospheric elements.
- “The atmosphere is beautifully crafted to be extremely creepy.”
- “The music and sound design adds to the haunting atmosphere.”
- “The atmosphere is artfully crafted with sound design that brings this horrific world to life.”
- “The atmosphere is oppressive, the themes are heavy, and the narrative explores guilt, despair, and inner conflict in a very raw way.”
- “The monsters are gone but so is the atmosphere.”
- “Starts off solid with some seriously creepy sounds and atmosphere and transforms into a lifetime movie.”
graphics
114 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
45%
5%
The graphics of the game are generally praised for their unique and artistic style, creating a captivating atmosphere that enhances the horror experience. However, some players find the visuals can hinder gameplay, making it difficult to identify important items and navigate effectively. While the art design is often described as beautiful and evocative, technical issues and gameplay mechanics detract from the overall enjoyment for some users.
- “The atmosphere and the graphics are exceptional.”
- “Silence of the Sleep is a game with incredible atmosphere and visuals as well as decent writing and character development on top of having superb sound design.”
- “The art style is absolutely gorgeous to look at, and often there's sights that make you want to take a screenshot and just use it as your wallpaper immediately.”
- “The graphics style is personal and unique, but it makes item recognition horrible.”
- “It's bafflingly unacceptable for a 2D, sprite-based indie horror game with such minimalist graphics.”
- “The graphics are using black a lot, which is fine, but when too much black just makes save points barely noticeable, even with using a flashlight, it gets very annoying.”
music
105 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
65%
32%
3%
The music in the game has received widespread acclaim for its ability to enhance the atmosphere, with many players describing it as hauntingly beautiful and perfectly suited to the game's emotional and eerie moments. The soundtrack, composed of a variety of high-quality tracks, effectively complements the visuals and storytelling, creating an immersive experience. While some players noted occasional silence or lack of variety, the overall consensus is that the music significantly contributes to the game's engaging and unsettling ambiance.
- “The music and atmosphere of the game are great.”
- “The atmosphere and the soundtrack are excellent.”
- “The music adds to the creep factor and really sets the tone for the game.”
- “I've lost count of the horror games that suggest you 'switch off the lights and play with headphones' only for you to encounter laughable jumpscares or, worse still, be deafened by horrendous music that probably justifies the use of the label 'horror'.”
- “While the game excels in its visuals, it does lack in its audio; though there are moments of captivating music, a lot of the game is silent, foregoing even droning ambience.”
- “Music can be way too loud at times.”
grinding
19 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players frequently describe the grinding aspect of the game as tedious and repetitive, particularly due to excessive backtracking and the need to solve puzzles multiple times. While some enjoy the story and artistic elements, many find the gameplay mechanics frustrating, especially in certain chapters where the combination of dodging monsters and navigating mundane tasks detracts from the overall experience. Overall, the grinding elements can lead to a significant drop in enjoyment, making parts of the game feel more like a chore than fun.
- “The gameplay is slow and tedious and relies too much on backtracking.”
- “The bulk of the game is running away from monsters towards random directions, looking for cardboard boxes to hide again... every simple thing such as 'go from point A to point B' gets frustrating and tedious.”
- “Alright, one of my main gripes about this game is in chapter 4 with that goddamn sewer level; it just drives me up the wall on how tedious, mundane, and boring it is because while I'm trying to solve the puzzles in the sewer, I can't constantly keep hiding from monsters that move too slow. It just ruins the tension for me, which equals a lot of rage-inducing moments when I'm backtracking a lot.”
emotional
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game is praised for its deeply emotional narrative that explores themes of depression and loss, resonating with players who appreciate introspective horror. While the stylish visuals and evocative music enhance the emotional experience, the gameplay is criticized for being clunky, which detracts from the overall impact. Overall, it offers a compelling journey through emotional turmoil, making it a unique experience for those willing to engage with its darker themes.
- “It’s disturbing, emotional, and best suited for players who appreciate introspective horror with strong narrative meaning.”
- “Here, we grapple with depression, loss, and the consequences of how we cope with emotional turmoil.”
- “Music is also composed by Jesse Makkonen, with guitar chords in melancholic tunes, and piano also at the same rhythm for critical emotional moments.”
stability
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability is mixed, with some players experiencing significant bugs and glitches, particularly with controls and inventory management, while others report a smoother experience with minimal issues. Although there are occasional graphical glitches and control bugs, they generally do not detract from the overall enjoyment of the game. Recent patches have addressed some of these concerns, improving the experience for many users.
- “Now when I try to use the inventory by pressing the space bar, the inventory is only visible when I hold my finger on the space bar... and when I do, everything else just freezes.”
- “The game, however, has a few buggy aspects too.”
- “The controls need reworking; they feel very buggy and it's not pleasant using them as is.”
humor
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's humor is a mixed bag; while some players appreciate the funny end credits and amusing mini-games, others feel that the attempts at humor, particularly in chapter 3, are out of place and largely ineffective. Overall, the humor adds a lighthearted touch but may not resonate with all players.
- “Pretty nice game with funny end credits :)”
- “The game also includes some funny mini games.”
- “All right, the soundtrack is really good; it can be hauntingly beautiful, calming, or funny.”
character development
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
100%
Character development in games varies significantly; some players find it slow and unengaging, detracting from their overall enjoyment, while others appreciate it as a strong point, highlighting the combination of compelling writing, atmosphere, and sound design that enhances the experience.
- “Silence of the Sleep is a game with incredible atmosphere and visuals, as well as decent writing and character development, on top of having superb sound design.”
- “It's just not fun to play, plus the story and character development are too slow to make me even care about it.”
- “The character development feels stagnant and lacks depth, making it hard to connect with the characters.”
- “I found the character arcs predictable and unengaging, which really detracted from my overall experience.”
optimization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's running mechanics are reported to be poorly optimized, with players experiencing inconsistent speeds where characters can suddenly slow down despite attempts to regain normal running speed. This bug significantly impacts the overall gameplay experience.
- “Running in the game is bugged. You can hit shift or whatever button you have for run, but the running is inconsistent. You might start running fast only to suddenly slow down, and even if you stop for a bit and try to run again, you will still be running slowly.”
- “The optimization is terrible; the game frequently stutters and lags, making it nearly unplayable during intense moments.”
- “I experience constant frame drops, even on high-end hardware. The game clearly needs better optimization to run smoothly.”
replayability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
67%
The game offers some replayability due to choices that can affect the story progression, but overall, it lacks significant replay value, making it hard to recommend unless acquired in a bundle.
- “Replay value, yes.”
- “It's enjoyable, but hard to recommend unless it's gotten in a bundle - it doesn't have much replay value.”
- “There also seems to be some choices that might or might not change the progression of the story, so there's at least some replayability factor.”

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70%Critics’ scoreBased on 1 critic reviews

Silence of the Sleep Review - Nightmare Silhouettes Attack!
Silence of the Sleep offers intriguing visuals and an overall delightfully creepy atmosphere, but leaves much to be desired in terms of writing and gameplay.
Techraptor.net
70%

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Frequently Asked Questions

Silence of the Sleep is a puzzle game with horror theme.

Silence of the Sleep is available on PC and Windows.

Silence of the Sleep was released on October 1, 2014.

Silence of the Sleep was developed by Jesse Makkonen.

Silence of the Sleep has received mostly positive reviews from both players and critics. Most players liked this game for its story but disliked it for its grinding.

Silence of the Sleep is a single player game.

Similar games include The Beast Inside, The Shore, Song of Horror, The Medium, Claire and others.

Silence of the Sleep

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