The Boogie Man

About

The Boogie Man is a single player casual role playing game with a horror theme. It was developed by Uri Games and was released on February 12, 2018. It received positive reviews from players.

"The Boogie Man" is a horror-adventure game where players must navigate a dark forest while avoiding the titular monster. Gameplay involves solving puzzles, finding hidden items, and managing resources like light and sound to evade the Boogie Man. The game features a unique art style and a haunting atmosphere, with a focus on stealth and survival.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

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81%

Audience ScoreBased on 149 reviews

story36 positive mentions

graphics3 negative mentions

The game features an engaging story with strong character development, particularly for the protagonist Keith and returning characters from previous entries.
The puzzles are challenging and require thoughtful exploration, adding depth to the gameplay experience.
The addition of voice acting enhances the emotional weight of key scenes, despite some variable quality in performances.

Navigation can be confusing, with unclear objectives that may leave players wandering for extended periods.
Some puzzle solutions require leaps in logic that can frustrate players, making it difficult to progress without a guide.
The voice acting quality varies significantly, with some performances detracting from the overall immersion of the game.

story
92 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
39%
58%
3%
The story of the game is generally well-received, featuring a compelling narrative centered around Keith, a detective grappling with personal trauma and the haunting presence of the boogie man, which symbolizes deeper emotional struggles. While some players appreciate the emotional depth and character development, others find the plot occasionally cheesy or convoluted, with mixed feelings about the execution and pacing. Overall, the game offers multiple endings and intertwines character arcs effectively, making it a notable entry in the series despite some criticisms regarding its clarity and puzzle design.
- “The story follows Keith Baring, a stoic detective who is emotionally distant and haunted by personal tragedy—the death of his son.”
- “Yet beneath its slasher veneer is a story about confronting personal demons, learning to forgive, and deciding whether to remain broken or fight to heal.”
- “The story is captivating once again and it really keeps you on your toes, making you feel uneasy throughout.”
- “Like everything connected back to David's story, while here Keith's story feels like a subplot to a main plot; a main plot that is incredibly cheesy and hard to take seriously, which I think rolls back into my issue with it when thinking about it in context with the sequels.”
- “However, the story unfolds ordinarily; the endings lack passion as a part of quickening your heartbeat or breaking your heart.”
- “Firstly, the story is so slow and doesn't make sense half the time.”
emotional
21 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
"The Boogie Man" is praised for its emotional depth, particularly through the character arc of Keith, a stoic detective grappling with personal tragedy. The game effectively combines psychological horror with a narrative that explores themes of emotional isolation and past failures, enhanced by voice acting that adds weight to key moments. While some players found Keith's emotional detachment challenging, the game's impactful storytelling and multiple endings—ranging from heartwarming to heartbreaking—resonate strongly, making it a compelling entry in the series for fans of emotionally-driven narratives.
- “What results is a tightly wound, character-focused game that, despite its visual simplicity, delivers a gripping experience full of tension, mystery, and emotional resonance.”
- “The game’s emotional impact is where it truly shines.”
- “Ultimately, The Boogie Man is a powerful entry in Uri’s ongoing exploration of flawed, emotionally burdened protagonists.”
gameplay
20 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
30%
55%
15%
The gameplay maintains a familiar structure of exploration, puzzles, and inventory management, which some players find engaging while others criticize it for being clunky and occasionally frustrating, particularly due to backtracking and confusing mechanics. While the game offers a larger world and a compelling story, the gameplay elements, including combat and puzzle design, are seen as the weakest aspects, leading to mixed feelings among players. Overall, the gameplay is described as adequate but can detract from the overall experience due to its inconsistencies and reliance on outdated mechanics.
- “The gameplay structure remains consistent with the series’ formula—exploration, environmental puzzles, inventory-based progression, and multiple endings based on choices.”
- “These sequences aren’t mechanically complex, but they inject adrenaline into an otherwise slow-burn experience.”
- “Other than that, the gameplay is good enough to carry us through the excellent story.”
- “The game is more expansive than its prior counterparts, the story and writing stand stronger than ever, especially with the mystery and connection to previous titles. However, the puzzles and gameplay elements must be the weakest of all the three games, even the area design took a hit as you mainly explore a dull gray castle as opposed to the many vibrant environments of Sandman.”
- “The biggest issue with gameplay would have to be the clunky yet necessary combat portions, which has been true since the very first game.”
- “The gameplay is incredibly infuriating because if you miss one tiny thing, you end up having to backtrack to the other side of the map to find it, and you cannot progress unless you find it. Even using walkthrough guides, it can be frustrating trying to progress because it's so easy to miss items and clues you need to advance.”
graphics
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
50%
30%
The graphics of the game are praised for their charming pixel art aesthetic, effectively creating a moody and oppressive atmosphere that enhances the narrative. While the combination of pixel and non-pixel art can be jarring at times, the overall visual presentation, including detailed environments and well-executed cutscenes, contributes to an engaging experience. Despite some minor criticisms, the visuals are considered a significant improvement over previous titles in the series.
- “The pixel graphics, like the two previous games, are very good; it has good detail with a lot to see, and the cutscene art continues to be very good.”
- “I've always been a fan of the art style of these games, though the combination of pixel and non-pixel 2D art in the series can be a bit jarring, and the skip option that is always present during every cutscene made my screenshots much uglier.”
- “While not technically advanced, the visuals serve the narrative well, using lighting, color, and sparse environmental detail to establish a moody, oppressive atmosphere.”
- “Visually, the game continues with the series' signature pixel art aesthetic.”
atmosphere
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
30%
40%
30%
The game's atmosphere is characterized by a moody and oppressive environment, enhanced by effective use of lighting, color, and sparse details, which contribute to a tense and unnerving experience. While the visuals and audio quality vary, the voice acting adds depth to the atmosphere, although some players feel it detracts from the intended ambiance. Overall, the combination of gory visuals, claustrophobic settings, and engaging narrative elements, such as notes and multiple endings, creates a compelling atmosphere that keeps players immersed.
- “Its gory visuals and claustrophobic setting create a tense atmosphere that will keep you on edge throughout, and its focus on challenging (but not impossible to solve) puzzles means that you'll be spending a lot of time in that atmosphere.”
- “It had perfect atmosphere with the higher quality music, the cinematic art was beautiful and truly captured the appropriate emotions and the voice actor you did boogie man...let me just say that he deserves an award for best voice actor ever.”
- “While not technically advanced, the visuals serve the narrative well, using lighting, color, and sparse environmental detail to establish a moody, oppressive atmosphere.”
- “The choice to add voices was a mistake in my opinion; part of the atmosphere was the ambience and quiet, and it makes it even worse since the voice acting is atrocious.”
- “Aside from the variable audio quality and occasional odd diction, the voice actors give it their all and add to the unnerving atmosphere.”
humor
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is characterized by a blend of macabre and sadistic elements, providing a stark contrast to the serious tone of the main character. While the voice acting is notably inconsistent, with some characters delivering strong performances, the overall comedic moments—especially during boss fights and character interactions—are well-received and contribute to an enjoyable experience. Players appreciate the balance of horror and humor, finding themselves laughing at various points throughout the game.
- “Drama through the roof, macabre, sadistic humor--loved him, and his whole bit was a great contrast to Keith's dire seriousness.”
- “There's horror and stuff, but there are also funny moments that give you laughs.”
- “The funny thing is, many of the supporting characters have good voice acting, like Richard and the Boogie Man himself.”
music
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The music in the game is generally well-received, featuring enjoyable tracks that enhance the atmosphere, though some users feel certain pieces are mismatched with the game's darker themes. Notably, the removal of key soundtracks, particularly during pivotal moments, has disappointed players, who believe it detracts from the overall experience. Additionally, the voice acting, especially for the character of the boogie man, has been praised as exceptional.
- “The music in the game is pretty good with some nice tracks to listen to.”
- “It had perfect atmosphere with the higher quality music, the cinematic art was beautiful and truly captured the appropriate emotions.”
- “Please bring back those soundtracks; they really enhance the overall experience.”
- “The music is really unfitting for the grueling and horror-filled scenes.”
- “I think the reason was (and this is really stupid to have done) they removed the soundtrack 'The Dungeon of Chase', which is the final battle theme, and another soundtrack that plays after TBM has been beaten. Again, really not necessary, but for some reason in this version they removed it, and now it affected me.”
- “Also, as you probably know, this game has hardcore puzzles, you have to fight TBM, it has voice acting, etc. To the developer(s): please bring back those soundtracks, and fix the text and voice acting, please!”
optimization
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
60%
The optimization of voice acting in key scenes enhances immersion and emotional depth, though the quality of performances varies significantly among actors. While some, like Richard Grundler and the Boogie Man, deliver consistent and compelling portrayals, others can feel awkward or stilted, with noticeable differences in microphone quality affecting the overall experience.
- “The addition of voice acting in key scenes adds another layer of immersion, giving the characters more presence and emotional weight—though the quality of the performances can vary, the effort is commendable and elevates key dramatic moments.”
- “Probably the best, most consistent performances came from Richard Grundler and the Boogie Man himself, though the actor for Keith wasn’t far behind them.”
- “On a nuts and bolts level, just as some actors gave better performances than others, some mics did better than others.”
- “Other performances came off a bit awkward and stilted, though I will say that the voice actress portraying Helena dramatically improved by the end.”
- “That being said, some vocal performances were definitely better than others.”
character development
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Reviewers appreciate the character development in the game, highlighting its engaging twists and turns that enhance the overall narrative experience.
- “I enjoy the twists and turns in this game, especially the character development.”
- “The character development is incredibly rich, making each character feel unique and relatable.”
- “I love how the characters evolve throughout the story, with their backstories and motivations deeply explored.”
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players generally find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and frustrating, often requiring excessive time and effort to progress. Some even suggest that it feels like a chore, detracting from the overall enjoyment of the game.
- “A tedious mess.”
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
stability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players have reported stability issues, with bugs preventing access to bonus content, leading to frustration and the need to submit issues to the developers for resolution.
- “It was a new feature to the series, and I wish I had gotten to explore the bonus content at the end with their comments, but my game was buggy and wouldn't let me (I submitted this issue to the devs).”
replayability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players generally find the game's replayability to be high, thanks to its diverse character options, multiple endings, and varying difficulty levels that encourage multiple playthroughs. Many reviewers appreciate the dynamic gameplay elements that change with each session, keeping the experience fresh and engaging. However, some note that certain linear storylines may limit replay value for those seeking a more open-ended experience.