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The Land of Pain

The Land of Pain Game Cover
72%Game Brain Score
story, atmosphere
grinding, stability
72% User Score Based on 385 reviews
Critic Score 69%Based on 2 reviews

Platforms

PCWindows
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The Land of Pain Game Cover

About

The Land of Pain is a single player action game with a horror theme. It was developed by Alessandro Guzzo and was released on September 13, 2017. It received mostly positive reviews from both critics and players.

Something disturbing appears in the woods. What can it be? You find yourself in a creepy and unknown place where something terrible happened. Dead bodies, blood, and people who died horribly. Who or what could have done all that? You will have to learn to survive as you face mysterious and disturbing events in a Lovecraftian atmosphere.

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The Land of Pain screenshot
The Land of Pain screenshot
The Land of Pain screenshot
The Land of Pain screenshot
The Land of Pain screenshot
The Land of Pain screenshot
The Land of Pain screenshot
The Land of Pain screenshot
The Land of Pain screenshot
The Land of Pain screenshot
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72%
Audience ScoreBased on 385 reviews
story79 positive mentions
grinding21 negative mentions
  • Impressive atmosphere and Lovecraftian horror vibes with well-crafted sound design and visuals, especially the outdoor environments.
  • Interesting and engaging story told through notes and environmental storytelling with compelling mystery elements.
  • Smooth gameplay with intuitive mechanics, frequent autosaves and varied locations, making for a decent length and immersive adventure experience.
  • Excessive backtracking and tedious fetch quests detract from pacing and can become frustrating.
  • The monster encounters are few but can feel annoying and poorly implemented, reducing suspense and immersion.
  • Lack of voice acting, limited puzzles and somewhat confusing or abrupt story endings leave some players unsatisfied.
  • story
    228 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The story is generally regarded as interesting, engaging, and atmospherically rich with strong Lovecraftian influences, but it is often criticized for being delivered mainly through scattered notes, resulting in limited direct storytelling and occasional plot inconsistencies. While many appreciate the eerie setting and compelling mystery, the narrative is considered short, somewhat predictable, and lacking a satisfying conclusion, with gameplay repetitive and fetch quest-heavy, which diminishes overall immersion. Nonetheless, the story serves as a solid foundation that draws players in despite its simplicity and pacing issues.

    • “The land of pain does an amazing job at building tension through sound, the story is intriguing, graphics are beautiful and notes are well written and interesting.”
    • “Beautiful graphics, gripping and very enjoyable story make this a high recommend for anyone who likes these types of games.”
    • “The latest addition to haunt and trouble our minds is Alessandro Guzzo's debut first person survival horror adventure The Land of Pain, a game drenched in lovecraftian lore that makes excellent work of its inspiration to create a gloriously obscure gothic themed open-world setting and a story steeped in the mythos of Cthulu.”
    • “Unfortunately, the story is mediocre; there are too few things to learn and explore and the walking back and forth, collecting item A to open door A, then collecting item B to open door B, etc., gets tedious.”
    • “(At least you can run.) The game itself isn't all that scary, (only has one goofy looking monster, tentacle granny) and the ambiance is probably the most effective part of the whole package because it does manage to make the surroundings feel void of light and life, but it just isn't enough to carry the unintuitive item collecting paired with constant backtracking and a story that starts out promising, but ultimately feels cheap to tack Lovecraft's name on it.”
    • “A neat story of being sent to a world distant but familiar is eventually reduced to a foolish story where the character demands to go to bed immediately in the middle of a chase just so someone can stab you in your sleep and progresses to the sort of 'it was all just a dream' type ending where nothing is resolved and it just stumbles into an ending where you earn the reward of not ever having to look at it again.”
  • atmosphere
    138 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game is widely praised for its strong, immersive atmosphere characterized by eerie, tense, and Lovecraftian horror elements, supported by excellent sound design and visuals. While the atmosphere effectively creates suspense and a creepy mood without relying heavily on jump scares, some players find it occasionally undermined by tedious gameplay, repetitive exploration, or inconsistent pacing. Overall, the atmosphere is considered the standout aspect, elevating the experience despite other shortcomings.

    • “Just finished "Land of Pain" and wow… this game nails atmosphere-driven horror.”
    • “The land of pain is creative, atmospheric, beautiful, tense and ultimately one of the best Lovecraftian indie games I've ever played.”
    • “Opting to forgo the frequent execution of unnecessary jumpscares to achieve terrifying end results, "Land of Pain" delivers a rich and compelling narrative with a palpable atmosphere that elicits nerve-shredding fear with little to no effort at all.”
    • “Unfortunately, this atmosphere cannot be maintained throughout the entire game.”
    • “The atmosphere of horror quickly dissolves into boredom.”
    • “The atmosphere is kind of creepy at first, but the beauty is quickly drowned out by frustrating lack of design.”
  • graphics
    132 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's graphics are widely praised for their beauty, detailed environments, and strong use of the CryEngine to create a rich, immersive, and atmospheric Lovecraftian horror experience. While some areas, especially indoors or certain set-pieces, show inconsistency or lower-quality textures, the overall visual presentation is considered a standout aspect that greatly enhances the mood and storytelling. Minor graphical glitches and a few less impressive segments do not significantly detract from what many describe as stunning and well-crafted visuals.

    • “The graphics are outstanding, the environment is stunning and absolutely gorgeous despite the underwhelming gameplay.”
    • “The land of pain features beautiful graphics on the cryengine and gorgeous detail.”
    • “The graphics were fantastic with a good attention to detail to build terrifying environments.”
    • “The graphics in some areas are really bad too, it gave me Skyrim 2012 vibes in the mines and forest.”
    • “The usual puzzles, 2002 style visuals, a lot of to-ing and fro-ing, and a comically rendered bad guy.”
    • “Including a lot of graphic glitches.”
  • gameplay
    94 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay is largely described as basic and minimal, mostly involving exploration, simple puzzle-solving, and fetch quests, which some find repetitive and tedious. While the atmosphere and visuals receive praise, the gameplay can feel like a walking simulator with occasional frustrating mechanics and limited challenge, making it less engaging for those seeking deeper or more varied gameplay. Overall, it appeals primarily to players who prioritize mood and story over complex or dynamic gameplay.

    • “Lovely visuals, seamless traversal, and smooth gameplay characterize this title.”
    • “The gameplay feels good, really good.”
    • “Gameplay is familiar to other horror games, with that being you explore and solve basic puzzles to progress, all the while conscious that you are defenseless and that something is watching you and may wish you harm.”
    • “Dont read further to avoid spoilers: the main gameplay was rather weak, it had no interesting or challenging puzzles to play with.”
    • “Running endlessly from monsters you can't otherwise avoid is not fun gameplay.”
    • “However, halfway through the game, a section takes place in a swamp and features incredibly frustrating trial and error gameplay that felt unfair to get through; I had to consult a game guide just to see what I was doing, this kind of broke the immersion I was invested in the game.”
  • music
    29 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music and sound design effectively create a tense, creepy atmosphere that enhances the game's horror experience without relying heavily on jump scares. While some find the soundtrack and audio cues perfectly timed and immersive, others feel the music can become repetitive or overpowering, occasionally leading to frustration. Overall, the soundtrack and ambient sounds are praised for boosting immersion and maintaining a spooky mood throughout the game.

    • “The music and sounds are used perfectly to force the player to be on edge before anything scary even happens.”
    • “The game has scary atmosphere without jump scares and with a good soundtrack in the background that helps the atmosphere.”
    • “The game nails the execution, with its creepy atmosphere and scary music, even if the gameplay and setting can be similar to other horror games and aren't as well executed and polished.”
    • “There really isn't any notable audio; the only one is the relaxing song in the intro, but other than that there are some generic sounds and screams.”
    • “No audio options - the music sounds muffled.”
    • “Abusing the high-pitch build-up music and the slow-motion movement right before entering a scary door is absolutely disgusting.”
  • grinding
    21 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Grinding in the game is frequently described as tedious and repetitive, with excessive backtracking, monotonous item collection, and uninspired puzzles contributing to a sense of boredom. While the atmosphere and horror elements receive praise, many players find the gameplay loop and monster chases feel more like a chore than engaging entertainment. However, a few reviews note the game's length and challenge strike a reasonable balance, preventing the experience from becoming overwhelmingly frustrating.

    • “Which, considering you're searching for items that have only one specific use and are gone as soon as you've unlocked the next section, it gets boring and grindy.”
    • “There is a lot of backtracking that makes the game tedious.”
    • “The hours of gameplay are from card farming, 1/10.”
  • stability
    10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game suffers from various stability issues, including unpatched glitches, graphic and lighting bugs, and occasional crashes, which detract from the experience. While some players encounter buggy chase sequences and glitchy menus, others report a mostly stable playthrough without game-breaking problems. Overall, the stability is inconsistent and reflects sloppy development.

    • “Next, the game has some weird unpatched glitches—not too many, but the glitches coupled with the unbalanced gameplay with the aforementioned monster are illustrative of sloppy development.”
    • “It's a walking simulator with an enraging monster that kills you randomly; it has unpatched glitches three years after release.”
    • “Many graphic and lighting glitches that bring down the atmosphere a bit.”
  • optimization
    9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game generally runs smoothly, maintaining solid performance with 60+ FPS on max settings and good optimization on devices like the Steam Deck. However, there are some inconsistencies and optimization issues, such as occasional invisible geometry, overheating concerns, and render limit problems. Overall, while performance is strong, some technical glitches and inefficiencies remain.

    • “Runs smoothly on Steam Deck.”
    • “But overall the graphics, simple control scheme, and overall performance look awesome.”
    • “I played the game on maxed settings at 1080p (Full HD) and was mostly playing at over 60fps, which contributes to solid performance.”
    • “Numerous optimization errors, including invisible geometry and render limit panes easily found where they should be.”
    • “Poorly optimized game, it overheats my CPU and GPU while I have water cooling and AC on.”
    • “Unoptimized.”
  • humor
    5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The humor in the game is largely unintentional, with moments that come across as silly or laughable rather than scary, especially due to the poorly executed monster design and out-of-place Cthulhu imagery. This unintentionally comedic aspect diminishes tension and adds an amusing, if unintended, charm.

    • “I found myself even laughing at some points; they were so silly.”
    • “The one thing that happened that was supposed to frighten me just made me laugh because it was done so poorly.”
    • “The monster is also hilariously amateur in appearance.”
  • replayability
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game offers solid replay value, though some users feel it could be enhanced with the addition of achievements. Overall, replayability is present but could be improved.

    • “Only thing I disliked was the lack of achievements for replay value.”
  • emotional
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Users felt a sense of meaningful progress and exploration, which contributed to an emotional experience that made the game feel less like a traditional horror title.

    • “Really made me feel like I was making progress and getting somewhere, exploring new areas.”
  • monetization
    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's monetization is praised for its fair pricing, especially given it is developed by a single developer. Users appreciate the support for independent creators and favor its avoidance of common microtransaction practices.

    • “The price is right, and considering it’s made by a single developer, I highly recommend it. We should support such independent developers in the age of microtransactions, paid mods, and 'horse armour' DLCs.”
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69%Critics’ scoreBased on 2 critic reviews
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5h Median play time
5h Average play time
4-6h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 6 analyzed playthroughs
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Skip FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

The Land of Pain is a action game with horror theme.

The Land of Pain is available on PC and Windows.

On average players spend around 5 hours playing The Land of Pain.

The Land of Pain was released on September 13, 2017.

The Land of Pain was developed by Alessandro Guzzo.

The Land of Pain has received mostly positive reviews from both players and critics. Most players liked this game for its story but disliked it for its grinding.

The Land of Pain is a single player game.

Similar games include The Alien Cube, The Shore, Moons of Madness, The Beast Inside, Left Alone and others.