The Swine

About

"The Swine" is a horror experience set in a rural homestead in America, where you'll explore isolation, witchcraft, and unforeseen consequences. Explore your property, find corrupted Tarot cards, and encounter the occult group "The Swine" as you uncover clues and experience a new breed of esoteric magic. Stay alert for suspicious activity and fear the unknown as you discover the twisted beliefs of those who have invaded your life.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

83%

Audience ScoreBased on 181 reviews

story30 positive mentions

optimization3 negative mentions

The game features a creepy atmosphere and unsettling visuals, effectively building tension throughout the experience.
It's a short but engaging horror game that offers a unique story involving a home invasion by a cult of pig-masked individuals.
For its low price, the game provides decent graphics and sound design, making it a worthwhile experience for horror enthusiasts.

The game is very short, typically lasting around 30-45 minutes, which may leave players wanting more content.
There are issues with optimization, leading to frame rate drops and performance problems on some systems.
The story can feel rushed and lacks depth, with some players finding the gameplay too linear and lacking interactivity.

story
78 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
53%
9%
The game's story is a mixed bag, with many players appreciating its eerie atmosphere and intriguing elements, while others find it confusing, rushed, or lacking depth due to its short length. Some reviews highlight the engaging voice acting and gothic themes, but note that the narrative often feels incomplete or predictable. Overall, it offers a compelling, albeit brief, horror experience that may appeal to fans of interactive storytelling, despite its shortcomings in plot development.
- “Great atmosphere, great story.”
- “The layers of the art & sound design truly captivated me, the compelling storytelling & voice acting truly succeeded at making me feel like I was in a secluded old farmstead.”
- “A genuinely unsettling cult home invasion horror game largely focused on story.”
- “I couldn't tell if the story was rushed or being overbearingly pretentious with its metaphors, but even after a second playthrough, and understanding what the cards meant, I was still left unsatisfied.”
- “The story is okay, but it doesn't really get fleshed out much (as the game is only less than an hour long, it's not easy to have an in-depth story anyway).”
- “The games story progresses over the course of a few days and it becomes difficult to keep track of what goes on, since it jumps around day from day without any sort of explanation of what happens.”
graphics
42 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
57%
36%
7%
The graphics of the game have received generally positive feedback, with many reviewers praising the attention to detail and overall visual quality, especially considering it was developed by a single creator. While some noted issues with lighting and performance, the artwork and stylization were highlighted as standout features that enhance the game's atmosphere. Overall, the visuals contribute significantly to the game's immersive experience, despite some mixed opinions on their execution.
- “Graphics, story, characters, audio were all extremely well done.”
- “The graphics are also surprisingly good.”
- “The story is good, the graphics, sound and atmosphere are fantastic.”
- “The graphics overall are not good either because of how extremely faded and washed out they are.”
- “If you lower the graphic settings down, the frame rate improves slightly but then the paintings and book images are blurred and pixelated.”
- “The visuals are a mix of quality textures and the worst lighting I've seen in a while.”
atmosphere
31 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
71%
19%
10%
The atmosphere in the game is consistently praised for its eerie and immersive qualities, effectively building tension without relying on cheap jump scares. Reviewers highlight the unsettling environments, strong audio design, and a southern gothic aesthetic that enhances the overall experience. Despite its short duration, the game delivers a memorable and creepy atmosphere that resonates well with fans of atmospheric horror.
- “The atmosphere was spot on.”
- “Much like the works of Aster, Eggers et al; the game is very much a slow burn which draws much of its frightening power from being able to build a foreboding atmosphere.”
- “The audio design is pretty great and definitely helps build an unsettling atmosphere.”
- “There is no real threat against the player; it's effectively an on-rails visual novel with a spooky atmosphere.”
- “Much like the works of Aster, Eggers, et al.; the game is very much a slow burn which draws much of its frightening power from being able to build a foreboding atmosphere.”
- “As for the game, the entire building has this creepy atmosphere that made me think there could be something trying to scare me around every single corner, which is something I prefer over jumpscares in horror games.”
gameplay
18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
17%
67%
17%
The gameplay is primarily a walking simulator focused on exploring a house, with many users noting its linearity and lack of depth. While some appreciate the light interactivity and item collection, overall feedback suggests that the experience can be boring and not particularly engaging, often described as a waste of time. The game typically takes around 30-40 minutes to complete, leaving players wanting more in terms of gameplay variety.
- “The gameplay is all about exploring different areas of a house.”
- “The gameplay leads you around a fairly linear path, which takes 30-40 minutes to complete.”
- “Some cool interactivity and light item/note collection ups the fun factor, as I find a lot of short horror games go extremely sparse on the gameplay elements.”
- “It's a walking sim, or a bad movie, no real gameplay... waste of time.”
- “The gameplay is also boring and not scary with very little interactivity.”
- “Gameplay is a confined walking sim and not a lot of depth.”
optimization
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
29%
29%
43%
The game's optimization has been widely criticized, with users noting that it is poorly executed and that the Unity engine appears to be stretched beyond its limits. Many players are calling for optimization fixes to enhance performance, as they believe the overall experience could be significantly improved with better optimization.
- “It would be nice, however, if an optimization fix was pushed through, as everything else is near perfection.”
- “Might need some optimization.”
- “It seems like the Unity engine was pushed a little too far and is poorly optimized.”
- “The game is really poorly optimized.”
- “For one, the optimization is abysmal.”
humor
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is described as both bizarre and entertaining, with players finding amusement in absurd scenarios, such as a girlfriend who remains in the bathroom during critical moments and over-the-top cult elements. While the story may be vague, the comedic moments, including exaggerated character poses and ridiculous situations, contribute to a lighthearted experience, though some players note that the abundance of humorous quirks can feel overwhelming.
- “The story is vague, but whatever story bit you see tends to be hilarious.”
- “Whether it's some hilarious wanna-be cult stuff or the fact that your girlfriend's in the bathroom for days straight.”
- “I don't normally mind when games are linear, but I guess I assumed this wasn't a walking sim horror game (so that was 100% my fault), so having the girlfriend always in the bathroom when things go down was a bit weird (funny but weird).”
music
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
17%
17%
The music in the game has received positive feedback for its ability to enhance the atmosphere, with a mix of creepy droning sounds that complement the visuals effectively. Some tracks reference classic horror themes, while others evoke a sense of nostalgia, though not all references are clear. Overall, players appreciate the soundtrack's contribution to the game's immersive experience.
- “Loved the music; maybe they could release the score as DLC.”
- “A lot of the music features quite creepy droning noises, which, combined with the eerie visuals, definitely adds to the unsettling atmosphere.”
- “Great atmosphere, story, and music.”
- “A lot of the music is quite creepy droning noises, so mixed with the creepy visuals, it definitely creeps out the player.”
replayability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game has been criticized for its lack of replayability, with users noting that it is very short and offers little to no incentive to play again. Many recommend purchasing it only on sale due to this limitation.
- “I would definitely get the game on sale as it's very short with no replay value.”
- “There is no replayability with this game, unfortunately.”
- “Little to no replayability.”
stability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
Users have reported issues with stability, particularly noting frequent screen glitches occurring during scenes with pigs, which detracted from the overall experience.
- “There are too many scenes where the screen glitches out when the pigs show up, which I didn't care for.”
- “The game crashes frequently, making it frustrating to progress.”
- “I experienced constant lag and stuttering, which ruined the overall experience.”