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Uncanny Valley

Technical hiccups and unclear directives keep Uncanny Valley from being excellent, but this 2D pixel survival horror title has enough eerie vibes and disturbing concepts to keep the player engaged.
Uncanny Valley Game Cover
57%Game Brain Score
Most mentioned positive aspects:story, atmosphere
Most mentioned negative aspects:gameplay, stability
51% User Score Based on 362 reviews
Critic Score 66%Based on 7 reviews

Platforms

Nintendo SwitchXbox Series X|SPCPlaystation 5Playstation 4Xbox OneXboxWindowsPlayStationPlaystation Vita
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Uncanny Valley Game Cover

About Uncanny Valley

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.

THE FULL GAME IS NOW AVAILABLE ON STEAM! http://store.steampowered.com/app/359580 Uncanny Valley is a survival horror indie game. We are tired of seeing action games marketed as survival horror,...

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Reviews

51%Audience ScoreBased on 362 reviews
story67 positive mentions
stability58 negative mentions
  • Excellent pixel art and atmospheric sound design greatly enhance the immersion and horror mood.
  • Multiple endings and branching storylines provide significant replay value and encourage exploration.
  • Creatively explores psychological and sci-fi horror themes with unsettling tension rather than cheap jump scares.
  • Gameplay is often tedious with slow movement, confusing objectives, and overly harsh time limits forcing repeated restarts.
  • The game suffers from numerous bugs, glitches, crashes, and inconsistent controls that break immersion and frustrate players.
  • Lack of proper save system, unintuitive UI, and unclear interaction cues make playing cumbersome and repetitive, especially when replaying.

  • story

    264 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    25% positive mentions, 69% neutral mentions, 6% negative mentions

    The story of Uncanny Valley is a dark, atmospheric, and branching horror narrative centered on a night guard uncovering mysteries in a secluded facility. While praised for its eerie mood, multiple endings, and intriguing elements like androids and mind experiments, many players find the plot confusing, poorly paced, and difficult to fully grasp without multiple playthroughs. Technical issues and repetitive gameplay often detract from the storytelling, leaving the narrative feeling fragmented and sometimes overshadowed by bugs and unclear progression.

    • “The story, graphics, constant feeling of fear, mystery, and being stalked make this game unique.”
    • “Uncanny Valley is a dark, story-focused horror game where you play a night guard working in a strange, isolated facility that clearly isn’t as abandoned as it first seems.”
    • “The story revolves entirely around you and your choices that you deem the 'best'.”
    • “The overall flow of the game and story was disconnected, confusing, and outright buggy in some cases.”
    • “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.”
    • “First and foremost statement to make is, the progression of this game's story is so sporadic and illogical that it is genuinely uncertain as to whether it was intentional or glitches were breaking sequence and advancing the game to stages it should not have been at.”

  • gameplay

    106 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    17% positive mentions, 66% neutral mentions, 17% negative mentions

    The gameplay of Uncanny Valley is largely criticized for being repetitive, clunky, and buggy, with poorly balanced mechanics and frustrating controls that detract from the overall experience. While the game features some interesting ideas like time-based shifts, stealth elements, and consequence-driven outcomes, these are often marred by cryptic design and pacing issues, making it tedious rather than engaging. Despite a strong atmosphere and story premise, the gameplay struggles to hold players’ interest due to its limited variety and technical flaws.

    • “Gameplay primarily consists of collecting items to solve puzzles, and later incorporates some stealth and action elements.”
    • “I enjoyed games like Lone Survivor and The Long Reach more but this was head and shoulders above Claire I felt; not just the presentation but the exploration and gameplay as well.”
    • “It's classic survival horror down to a T, and Uncanny Valley nails the mechanics and atmosphere admirably.”
    • “Nice atmosphere, music, art, and story but the gameplay is tedious and often cryptic.”
    • “The controls are working against you like mad, even breaking doors and finding your way awkward when the gameplay is in gentle dove mode but when stood toe-to-toe with uncanny's creepy androids (very cool enemies, by the way), things just fall apart.”
    • “There's no creepy atmosphere suitable for a horror game; no good story to keep you drawn towards it, not to mention most of it is hidden under layers and layers of playthroughs that will repeat themselves; no interesting characters and there's only three with the main protagonist included; infuriating type of text to read which will make you think you're having a seizure; a running mechanic which will let you run only for a little while until your character starts gasping for breath; the flashlight which works when you walk and don't run, meaning you will have to run in complete darkness; and lastly a gameplay which makes the game hard to understand and a chore to play.”

  • atmosphere

    96 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    66% positive mentions, 31% neutral mentions, 3% negative mentions

    The game excels in creating a tense, eerie atmosphere through its sound design, pixel art, and unsettling mood, often compared to classic survival horror like Silent Hill. However, this strong atmosphere is frequently undermined by technical issues, slow pacing, and gameplay mechanics that disrupt immersion. Despite some flaws, the overall atmosphere is praised for building suspense and mystery, making it a highlight for fans of atmospheric horror.

    • “The atmosphere is super tense — quiet hallways, strange sounds, and that constant feeling like something’s watching you.”
    • “I think they do a terrific job of setting up an unnerving atmosphere, with both the visual style and with the sound design.”
    • “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.”
    • “The atmosphere dissipates, and you find yourself just running as much as possible to trigger something happening without much thought to immersing yourself in the story.”
    • “It's too bad, because when the atmosphere and story hit, it's great and effective - but it fades so fast when you're just slowly checking empty floors and rooms because you didn't know where something is happening.”
    • “If all the bugs were patched, I would recommend trying it, but currently they are too much of an atmosphere/story killer.”

  • graphics

    80 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    35% positive mentions, 61% neutral mentions, 4% negative mentions

    The game’s retro pixel art graphics are widely praised for effectively enhancing its eerie, unsettling atmosphere and complementing the horror themes through artistic design and sound. While many find the visuals charming, haunting, and fitting for the story, several users note recurring graphical glitches and bugs that sometimes detract from the experience. Overall, the pixel art style successfully creates a creepy, old-school horror vibe, though technical issues occasionally disrupt immersion.

    • “The game constantly makes you feel uneasy, and the retro visuals and sound design add to that tension without relying on cheap jump scares.”
    • “And the old-school pixel graphics just make it feel even more disturbing, because your mind fills in the blanks.”
    • “This game looks deceptively retro, but is artistically designed in a way that makes it scarier because of the retro graphics.”
    • “Pixel graphics feel recycled and samey very quickly.”
    • “There are some graphical glitches where the main sprite disappears for a second, maybe it's a missing frame of animation?”
    • “Trouble is they tried too hard with the overall grey graphics tones.”

  • stability

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

    The game suffers from pervasive bugs, glitches, crashes, and poor controls that significantly impair stability and overall playability. Many players find it frustrating and almost unplayable due to game-breaking issues like save failures, event bugs, and freezes, overshadowing its artistic aspects. Though developers appear to work on fixes, the current state feels unfinished and unstable, detracting from the experience.

    • “Unfortunately, I can't really give this a proper recommendation or thumbs up because of the various little bugs and glitches that drag it down, even before considering the game's content.”
    • “My first experience with it back in 2016 led to numerous crashes, glitches, slow-downs, and the constant need for Tylenol Extra Strength. A friend and I gave up after a tentative and distressing 20 minutes.”
    • “Every time I get to the facility elevator to go to Tom's new room, the game glitches, shuts down, and I have to restart from the beginning because nothing has saved.”

  • music

    54 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    63% positive mentions, 31% neutral mentions, 6% negative mentions

    The music is widely praised for its atmospheric, creepy, and immersive qualities, often compared favorably to iconic horror soundtracks and enhancing the game's unsettling tone. While some note limited variety or repetitiveness, the soundtrack is generally regarded as a standout element that significantly contributes to the overall eerie experience.

    • “The sound design - not just the musical soundtrack, but pretty much everything else - is well-calculated to creep you out, no doubt about it.”
    • “The game has a very enchanting artstyle and atmospheric soundtrack, which gives a very interesting old style horror feel to it.”
    • “The soundtrack is worth getting too, with some really awesomely eerie themes that reminded me of Silent Hill.”
    • “The music score is just the most repetitive, uncreative garbage I've ever heard. It's so repetitive it's painful.”
    • “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.”
    • “Music is in low variety, which limits the overall experience.”

  • replayability

    25 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    20% positive mentions, 68% neutral mentions, 12% negative mentions

    The game is praised for its strong replayability driven by multiple endings and meaningful player choices that significantly impact each playthrough, encouraging repeated sessions to uncover the full story. However, some users note flaws such as forced restarts without save retention, occasional bugs, and design elements that can frustrate replay attempts. Overall, replay value is a key highlight, especially for fans of suspense and branching narratives.

    • “Every decision has a consequence; there is no possibility to save yourself, which creates a new feel and the game has a high replay value.”
    • “Especially with the sheer amount of replayability present; a single playthrough will merely scratch the surface of a much deeper and more terrifying story.”
    • “There are a lot of potential endings and ways to take the story which allow for decent replayability.”
    • “It purports to feature replayability, multiple endings, and player influence, but accommodates none of those in its design.”
    • “I have a heavy problem with the replayability, as in the save file is deleted when you finish and you have to start everything again with no way to skip the thing you probably have played 5 times in a row.”
    • “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

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

    Grinding in this game is widely seen as slow, tedious, and repetitive, especially during the early sections and multiple replays needed for different endings. The gameplay's obscurity and cumbersome mechanics amplify frustration, making progression feel tedious despite a compelling story and atmosphere. Many players wish for quality-of-life features like chapter select or flowcharts to reduce repetitive backtracking and ease replayability.

    • “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.”
    • “Because dying and repeating the same section over and over is tedious and leads to frustration.”

  • humor

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

    The humor in the game is a mix of unintended, buggy antics that players find amusing and deliberately funny moments that provide a lighthearted contrast to its creepy and gruesome themes. Players appreciate the occasional comedic relief amidst the tension and complexity.

    • “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 gonna 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.”
    • “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.)”

  • emotional

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

    The game delivers a compelling and immersive emotional experience through its creepy story and meaningful multiple endings, making players feel their actions matter. However, technical issues and distracting graphical glitches occasionally disrupt the intended spooky atmosphere and emotional engagement.

    • “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

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

    The character development is supported by well-crafted retro pixel art, featuring good animations and character designs, though the descriptions offer limited insight into the depth of the characters themselves. Overall, the visual presentation of characters is praised.

  • monetization

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

    Users appreciate that the game’s monetization is fair and not exploitative, avoiding typical "early access" cash grab tactics.

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Critic Reviews

66%Critics’ scoreBased on 7 critic reviews
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Play Times

8h Median play time
6h Average play time
2-10h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 2 analyzed playthroughs
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Frequently Asked Questions

Uncanny Valley is a survival action adventure game with horror theme. Common tags for Uncanny Valley include indie and trading.

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 Uncanny Valley for its story but disliked it for its gameplay.

Uncanny Valley is a single player game.

Similar games include Silence of the Sleep, The Beast Inside, Home, The Bunker, Neverending Nightmares and others.