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The Oily Depths

The Oily Depths Game Cover
87%Game Brain Score
Most mentioned positive aspects:gameplay, atmosphere
Most mentioned negative aspects:story, replayability
87% User Score Based on 54 reviews

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PCWindows
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The Oily Depths Game Cover

About The Oily Depths

The Oily Depths is a single player survival management game with horror and mystery themes. It was developed by Ryan R Burns and was released on February 9, 2026. It received positive reviews from players.

The Oily Depths is a short horror game set in a submarine deep beneath the sea. You must locate and drill for oil or your overlords will stop your supply of oxygen. PILOT YOUR SUB Utilize all your gauges, meters, and monitors as your visibility is limited within the sub. Carefully navigate the sea floor to locate the oil extraction targets. OPERATE DANGEROUS DRILLING MACHINERY Flip levers,…

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The Oily Depths screenshot
The Oily Depths screenshot
The Oily Depths screenshot
The Oily Depths screenshot
The Oily Depths screenshot
The Oily Depths screenshot
The Oily Depths screenshot
The Oily Depths screenshot
The Oily Depths screenshot
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Reviews

87%Audience ScoreBased on 54 reviews
gameplay8 positive mentions
  • The game has a tense, immersive atmosphere with excellent art style and sound design that creates a grimy, unsettling underwater setting.
  • Simple and intuitive gameplay mechanics involving submarine control and oil drilling are satisfying and engaging, especially within a short playtime.
  • Despite its short length, the game offers intriguing worldbuilding with mysterious lore and an unexpected, memorable ending that encourages replaying.
  • The game is very short, with most players completing it within 30-45 minutes, leaving the experience feeling incomplete or more like a prototype/demo.
  • The story and lore are vague and underdeveloped, lacking clear explanations or payoff, which may frustrate players seeking deeper narrative engagement.
  • The horror and tension elements fall flat for some, as the game lacks scare moments or evolving gameplay events, making it less memorable as a horror title.

  • gameplay

    22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    36% positive mentions, 50% neutral mentions, 14% negative mentions

    The gameplay is praised for its simple, intuitive mechanics and engaging ship management, creating a fun and immersive experience. However, the short duration and limited system expansion leave many wanting more depth, progression, and variety. Overall, it's an enjoyable but brief gameplay loop with strong potential for further development.

    • “Super fun and intuitive mechanics that could seriously be expanded on for a bigger game.”
    • “I liked the game mechanics of manually driving the submarine like in Iron Lung and the added part of manually adjusting pressure and switching between drilling and the oil pump makes it feel like you are running on scrap metal and dreams.”
    • “[Gameplay] With very simple, intuitive mechanics, the gameplay loop is easy to pick up without the need for any complex tutorials; managing the ship's pressure, alongside the steering mechanics, became really fun.”
    • “If you played the Nextfest demo a while back, you've already seen all it has to offer in terms of game mechanics; all that's left is the conclusion of the story... and there isn't much of one.”
    • “I wish the developer would take this and expand on it, expand on the drilling mechanics, add progression.”
    • “However, almost £7 for 30 minutes of gameplay is a bit difficult for me to wrap my head around.”

  • story

    11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    27% positive mentions, 46% neutral mentions, 27% negative mentions

    Reviews criticize the story for being minimal and repetitive, with little progression or depth, making the gameplay feel barren. Some suggest the game would work better as a simulator rather than a short narrative experience. However, a few note that when present, the story can be immersive and darkly humorous, though it lacks the richness seen in comparable games.

    • “A short, immersive (pun intended) story!”
    • “Immersive story and gameplay, plus a good dash of dark humor!”
    • “Iron Lung at least gave you a terminal where you can research and learn more about the story while still leaving a lot up to interpretation, which is why that game is great.”
    • “You do the same chores for 30 minutes and the story never goes anywhere.”
    • “If you played the Nextfest demo a while back, you've already seen all it has to offer in terms of game mechanics; all that's left is the conclusion of the story... and there isn't much of one.”
    • “It's just completely barren in gameplay and story.”

  • atmosphere

    9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    56% positive mentions, 11% neutral mentions, 33% negative mentions

    The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for being immersive, tense, and effectively oppressive, creating a compelling horror experience despite its short length. Its grimy, industrial visual style enhances the unsettling mood, though some players wish the atmospheric elements were further developed. Overall, it delivers a memorable and intriguing bite-sized horror experience.

    • “The oily depths is a charming, but unfortunately very short horror game that relies on oppressive atmosphere rather than monsters to create tension.”
    • “A great bite-sized experience with an immersive and intriguing atmosphere, overall an awesome debut game!”
    • “[b]visual style[/b] - this game looks beautiful, with an art style reminiscent of Iron Lung (this seems to be one of the main inspirations behind the game) - everything looks grimy and industrial, creating an unsettling atmosphere and adding to the tension.”
    • “The atmosphere is absolutely there but that's about it.”
    • “The Oily Depths is a charming, but unfortunately very short horror game that relies on oppressive atmosphere rather than monsters to create tension.”
    • “I was overall impressed by the atmosphere of the game, and kinda disappointed when it ended as it seemed very sudden.”

  • graphics

    5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    80% positive mentions, 20% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    The game features a beautiful, grimy, and industrial art style that creates a mysterious and unsettling atmosphere. The visuals effectively enhance tension, especially during critical moments like leaks or fires, drawing inspiration from the style of Iron Lung.

    • “The visual style is beautiful, with an art style reminiscent of Iron Lung. Everything looks grimy and industrial, creating an unsettling atmosphere and adding to the tension.”
    • “The world is mysterious and interesting, and the visuals are really good too.”
    • “The art style and design are great.”

  • replayability

    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    50% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 50% negative mentions

    Users have mixed opinions on replayability; some find the game enjoyable and replayable, while others feel it lacks replay value.

    • “I really liked it. It's a very enjoyable, quick game that is also highly replayable.”
    • “There's no replay value either.”

  • humor

    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    The humor is well-received, blending a funny and interesting concept with immersive storytelling and gameplay, enhanced by a good dose of dark humor.

    • “Funny and interesting concept.”
    • “Immersive story and gameplay, plus a good dash of dark humor!”

  • grinding

    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    0% positive mentions, 100% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    Grinding in the game is notably demanding, often requiring multiple attempts or "lives" to progress effectively.

  • music

    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    The music in the game is notably minimal, creating an eerie atmosphere that enhances immersion alongside excellent industrial sound effects and environmental audio like creaking hulls and distant creatures. Overall, the audio design is highly praised for its effectiveness in building tension.

    • “The eerie lack of music, paired with the brilliant industrial sound effects, really helped build the immersion. Great audio design, especially with the creaking hull and distant creature sounds.”
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Play Times

1h Median play time
1h Average play time
1-1h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 1 analyzed playthroughs
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Frequently Asked Questions

The Oily Depths is a survival management game with horror and mystery themes. Common tags for The Oily Depths include first-person, indie, surreal, psychological, exploration and others.

The Oily Depths is available on PC and Windows.

On average players spend around 1 hours playing The Oily Depths.

The Oily Depths was released on February 9, 2026.

The Oily Depths was developed by Ryan R Burns.

The Oily Depths has received positive reviews from players. Most players liked The Oily Depths for its gameplay but disliked it for its story.

The Oily Depths is a single player game.

Similar games include Iron Lung, Unsorted Horror, [Nightmare Files] Clap Clap, Idols of Ash, Last Report and others.