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Uncanny Valley

Uncanny Valley doesn't always get it right, but still manages to be an effective horror adventure well-worth your time.
Uncanny Valley Game Cover
58%Game Brain Score
story, atmosphere
gameplay, stability
51% User Score Based on 714 reviews
Critic Score 68%Based on 12 reviews

Platforms

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Uncanny Valley Game Cover

About

Uncanny Valley is a single player survival action adventure game with a horror theme. It was developed by Tiny Mold and was released on July 28, 2018. It received mostly positive reviews from critics and neutral reviews from players.

Uncanny Valley is a true survival horror indie game, available on Steam, that differentiates itself from action-oriented titles. Players control a security guard in a remote facility, where they must balance exploration, evasion, and engagement with various threats while uncovering a chilling mystery. The game is known for its unsettling atmosphere, multiple endings, and tough choices that impact the story.

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Uncanny Valley screenshot
Uncanny Valley screenshot
Uncanny Valley screenshot
Uncanny Valley screenshot
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51%
Audience ScoreBased on 714 reviews
story130 positive mentions
gameplay35 negative mentions
  • Uncanny Valley features a captivating atmosphere and engaging pixel art that effectively creates a sense of dread and unease.
  • The game offers multiple endings and a branching story, encouraging replayability and exploration of different choices.
  • The sound design and music contribute significantly to the overall horror experience, enhancing the tension throughout the game.
  • The game suffers from numerous bugs and glitches, including issues with dialogue boxes, inventory management, and unexpected crashes.
  • The controls are clunky and unintuitive, making gameplay frustrating, especially with the need to manage time limits and character stamina.
  • The pacing is uneven, with a slow start that can feel tedious, and the lack of a save system forces players to replay large sections of the game after each ending.
  • story
    514 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The story of "Uncanny Valley" is a complex, branching narrative that offers multiple endings, encouraging replayability; however, many players find it confusing and poorly paced, often feeling lost due to its sporadic structure and reliance on multiple playthroughs to fully grasp the plot. While some appreciate the eerie atmosphere and intriguing backstory, technical issues and a lack of clarity in storytelling detract from the overall experience, leaving many feeling that the narrative potential is not fully realized. Overall, the game presents an interesting premise but suffers from execution flaws that hinder player engagement with the story.

    • “Uncanny Valley is story-driven in the best way possible.”
    • “The story itself is interesting, and I really like how pieces of the backstory are littered around haphazardly, so that you have to put some work into figuring out the chronological order of events that happened before you arrived.”
    • “The creepy story and multiple endings made me feel immersed in a way that my actions mattered.”
    • “The overall flow of the game and story was disconnected, confusing, and outright buggy in some cases.”
    • “A little bit more polish and bug fixing would have gone a long way; however, the story is still pretty mundane and wasn't worth the effort or time to discover.”
    • “The story is so jumpy and fast-paced that I feel I can never finish the current plot point or information dump before it throws me out of the scene and forces me to leave behind everything I only just started doing.”
  • gameplay
    211 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay of "Uncanny Valley" has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it tedious, buggy, and poorly designed, which detracts from the overall experience. While the game features an intriguing atmosphere, art style, and story, the mechanics often feel clunky and unrefined, leading to frustration during exploration and puzzle-solving. Despite some interesting concepts, such as a time mechanic and multiple endings, the execution leaves much to be desired, making it hard for players to fully engage with the game.

    • “Gameplay primarily consists of collecting items to solve puzzles, and later incorporates some stealth and action elements.”
    • “But when the game isn't making you walk forever, it can actually have some really charming and fun mechanics + narrative.”
    • “The gameplay is interactive and fun, although it took me a minute to figure out the controls.”
    • “However, the gameplay leaves a lot to be desired.”
    • “Nice atmosphere, music, art, and story, but the gameplay is tedious and often cryptic.”
    • “The mechanics make the entirety of it a clusterf*ck that is hard to enjoy despite the amount of interest I had in the basis and plot of the game.”
  • atmosphere
    182 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its eerie and immersive qualities, enhanced by strong sound design and a captivating art style reminiscent of classic horror titles like Silent Hill. However, many players note that technical issues, such as bugs and inconsistent controls, detract from the overall experience, making it feel tedious at times. Despite these drawbacks, the game successfully creates a sense of dread and intrigue, leaving players wanting to explore its dark narrative further.

    • “I think they do a terrific job of setting up an unnerving atmosphere, with both the visual style and with the sound design.”
    • “The game makes you feel uneasy due to the fantastic atmosphere, sound effects, and music, and you feel like danger lurks around every corner.”
    • “The atmosphere is fantastic, similar to the one in the first Silent Hill games, and exploring the silent corridors listening only to your footsteps is really creepy.”
    • “Kinda broken, which controls interact with what is inconsistent, and although the atmosphere is generally fine it just gets really tedious really quickly.”
    • “If all the bugs were patched I would recommend trying it, but currently they are too much of an atmosphere/story killer.”
    • “Touching on the bad bits, the game does have its share of bugs; I got stuck on a computer screen for a full night once, and here and there I had minor graphical hiccups with dialogue boxes getting caught off-screen, overlapping each other, etc. A particular gameplay section kept flickering a split second of the area fully lit with the wrong player character before loading properly, which distracted from the spooky atmosphere that was supposed to be building.”
  • graphics
    154 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The graphics of the game are generally praised for their charming pixel art style and atmospheric design, contributing to a creepy and immersive experience. However, many users report significant graphical glitches and bugs that detract from the overall enjoyment, suggesting that while the visuals have potential, they are often undermined by technical issues. Overall, the aesthetic is appreciated, but the game's performance issues hinder its graphical appeal.

    • “The graphics and creepy sound are well-done.”
    • “Stunning pixelated visuals, organic touch and a general feeling of uncertainty around the area and your choices.”
    • “The pixel graphics are done very well and were used to create a haunting and dark place to explore.”
    • “Pixel graphics feel recycled and samey very quickly.”
    • “Uncanny Valley has half decent pixel graphics, but since you are trapped within a location with a day1, day2 sort of segmentation of the progression, you do not get to see much of anything new after your first half hour of gameplay.”
    • “Touching on the bad bits, the game does have its share of bugs. I got stuck on a computer screen for a full night once, and here and there I had minor graphical hiccups with dialogue boxes getting caught off-screen, overlapping each other, etc. A particular gameplay section kept flickering a split second of the area fully lit with the wrong player character before loading properly, which distracted from the spooky atmosphere that was supposed to be building.”
  • stability
    116 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's stability is heavily criticized, with numerous players reporting a plethora of bugs, glitches, and crashes that significantly hinder gameplay. Many reviewers describe it as a "buggy mess" or "borderline unplayable," citing issues such as game-breaking glitches, poor controls, and a lack of polish that detracts from the overall experience. While some appreciate the game's concept and atmosphere, the overwhelming instability leads to a general consensus that it is not worth recommending in its current state.

    • “The art style is great and the mechanics are interesting, but the game is just way too buggy and broken to give it a good review.”
    • “This game is a horrible buggy mess.”
    • “The game is absurdly buggy and unstable.”
  • music
    108 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music in the game has received widespread praise for its ability to create a haunting and immersive atmosphere, enhancing the overall horror experience. Many reviewers highlighted the soundtrack as a standout feature, describing it as eerie and well-composed, although some noted a lack of variety in the tracks. Overall, the sound design, including both music and sound effects, effectively contributes to the game's unsettling tone and engaging ambiance.

    • “The soundtrack really makes the game excellent; it really enhances the atmosphere that the game creates, even though there are few tracks that last over two minutes.”
    • “The music is well done and successfully establishes a very unsettling atmospheric experience.”
    • “If you love survival horror, great atmosphere with lots of unsettling scenes and incredible music, then Uncanny Valley is a game you will want to buy and play for a long, long time.”
    • “The music score is just the most repetitive, uncreative garbage I've ever heard, and I play For Honor, which isn't to say For Honor music is uncreative or bad, but it is so repetitive it's painful.”
    • “The art, music, plot, setting, and concept are phenomenal, and I never would have believed that I wouldn't love this game, but it's just so broken that I can't legitimize spending money on it yet.”
    • “The use of sound is minimal, which makes for a bigger impression when you do hear a sudden strange voice or a sharp shift in music tone.”
  • replayability
    48 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game offers significant replayability due to its branching storylines and multiple endings, encouraging players to explore different choices and consequences. However, some players express frustration with the lack of save options and the need to restart the game entirely after each playthrough, which can detract from the overall experience. Despite these issues, many reviewers still find the replay value compelling, particularly for fans of horror and choice-driven narratives.

    • “The game's interesting consequence system adds great replayability.”
    • “Especially with the sheer amount of replayability present; a single playthrough will merely scratch the surface of a much deeper and more terrifying story.”
    • “In terms of replayability, this game offers a lot and I'd recommend playing multiple playthroughs to get the most out of this game.”
    • “It's an interesting game, but I have a heavy problem with the replayability. The save file is deleted when you finish, and you have to start everything again with no way to skip the parts you've probably played five times in a row.”
    • “It purports to feature replayability, multiple endings, and player influence, but accommodates none of those in its design.”
    • “Which is tied to the advertised replay value that I could not find to the extent a game that tends to make the player start over again at some point needs.”
  • grinding
    36 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and frustrating, particularly during the early stages and when replaying for different endings. The slow pacing, unskippable dialogue, and inconsistent controls detract from the overall experience, making it feel like a chore to progress. While the story and atmosphere are praised, many reviewers express a desire for more streamlined gameplay mechanics to alleviate the repetitive nature of the grinding.

    • “While the game is hardly 'long', the first half is very slow and tedious, especially if you're just trying to get back to the second half for a different ending.”
    • “Replaying the game is discouraged by extremely tedious first days full of long, unskippable dialogue.”
    • “In a general sense, the beginning of the game is quite tedious, and going back to see everything does lead to a lot of boring wind-up. It's easy to screw up some endings, and reloading a save isn't always consistent, so a walkthrough might come in handy to get yourself through the late game without triggering a negative story event.”
  • humor
    10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The humor in the game is described as a mix of unintentional hilarity due to bugs and glitches, alongside moments of dark comedy that contrast with its creepy atmosphere. Players find the absurdity of certain mechanics, like inventory management during credits, amusing, while also appreciating the occasional lightheartedness amidst gruesome scenes. Overall, the humor adds a unique layer to the gameplay experience, making it both entertaining and memorable.

    • “Way too complicated for the simple mechanics of the game and buggy to the point of being hilarious (opening inventory during credits, turning flashlight on and off while you're unconscious on the floor, etc.).”
    • “I've just completed the one possible scenario, and I can clearly say that it is awesome, sometimes creepy, sometimes really funny. Happy to have this game; I guess I am going to spend many more hours to find out other scenarios.”
    • “There is a bit of humor I enjoyed, as well as some really gruesome scenes that were difficult to watch, even in pixel graphic style.”
  • emotional
    8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game effectively immerses players in a creepy narrative that emphasizes emotional stakes through its multiple endings, making players feel that their choices have significant consequences. However, technical issues, such as bugs and graphical glitches, can detract from the overall emotional experience, occasionally breaking the intended atmosphere and leaving players frustrated. The character of Eve, who seeks emotional connection amidst her isolation, adds depth to the game's emotional landscape.

    • “The creepy story and multiple endings made me feel immersed in a way that my actions mattered.”
    • “Eve, a lovely young woman who has become socially repressed from living in such an isolated town and only seeks emotional attachment.”
  • character development
    4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The reviews highlight that while the retro pixel art style is well-executed with impressive animations and character designs, there is no specific mention of character development in terms of narrative or growth. Overall, the focus seems to be more on the visual presentation rather than the depth of character progression.

  • monetization
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The monetization strategy of the game is positively noted, as it avoids the pitfalls of being an "early access" cash grab, suggesting a more thoughtful and fair approach to player investment.

    • “Not some stupid 'early access' cash grab”
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68%Critics’ scoreBased on 12 critic reviews
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8h Median play time
6h Average play time
2-10h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 4 analyzed playthroughs
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Frequently Asked Questions

Uncanny Valley is a survival action adventure game with horror theme.

Uncanny Valley is available on Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X|S, PC, PlayStation 5 and others.

On average players spend around 6 hours playing Uncanny Valley.

Uncanny Valley was released on July 28, 2018.

Uncanny Valley was developed by Tiny Mold.

Uncanny Valley has received mostly positive reviews from players and mostly positive reviews from critics. Most players liked this game for its story but disliked it for its gameplay.

Uncanny Valley is a single player game.

Similar games include The Beast Inside, Silence of the Sleep, The Shore, Dream, Bendy and the Ink Machine and others.