Where They Cremate The Roadkill

About

"Where They Cremate the Roadkill" is a surreal, immersive game with a cast of 700 unique characters and 700 hand-drawn landscapes. Players navigate through four distinct, visually striking chapters, each following an "incarnation of an outsider" confronting their own personal and existential struggles. The game features a rich musical score and a fully animated, interactive world where everything from vendors to worms can be targeted for battle.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

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

Where They Cremate The Roadkill screenshot

72%

Audience ScoreBased on 61 reviews

story5 positive mentions

stability5 negative mentions

The game features unique and surreal artwork, creating a visually captivating experience that stands out from typical RPGs.
The narrative, while abstract and confusing, offers deep philosophical themes that resonate with players who appreciate avant-garde storytelling.
Exploration is rewarded with numerous secrets and interesting NPC interactions, making the world feel rich and immersive.

The controls are convoluted and unintuitive, leading to a frustrating gameplay experience that detracts from the overall enjoyment.
The combat system is poorly designed, often resulting in button mashing without strategic depth, making encounters feel tedious.
Technical issues such as crashes, poor hit detection, and a lack of clear objectives can leave players feeling lost and disoriented.

story
44 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
11%
80%
9%
The story of the game is often described as confusing and incoherent, with many players struggling to follow the plot and character motivations. While the world-building and environmental storytelling are praised for their depth and artistic appeal, the narrative is criticized for being pretentious and lacking clarity, leaving players to rely on external resources to make sense of it. Despite these issues, some players find the themes of absurdism and existentialism intriguing, and the story resonates with them on a personal level, showcasing a unique blend of surrealism and RPG elements.
- “The world it takes place in is very interesting and was built up well with environmental storytelling.”
- “The story revolves around themes of absurdism, existentialism, and nihilism at times.”
- “A game that mixes great art, story, and music, but has mediocre gameplay that can be really confusing at first; despite that, this is easily one of my favorite games ever and the story has resonated with me in a way no other game story has ever done.”
- “The plot itself is hardly comprehensible and is never developed.”
- “The plot and world are grandiose-seeming, but hollow.”
- “The story is so hard to follow, I had to look up the wiki to make some sense of it; I get what he is trying to show, and in fact, the art style is very eye-appealing because each scene you go has different elements that just keep asking why.”
graphics
44 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
68%
7%
The graphics of the game are characterized by a unique and surreal art style that draws inspiration from various artistic movements, creating a visually striking and abstract experience. While the artwork is praised for its creativity and depth, some players note that the low native resolution and poor UI can detract from the overall experience. Despite these issues, the game's visuals are considered a significant highlight, contributing to its dream-like atmosphere and engaging storytelling.
- “The artwork, animation, music, and atmosphere are sublime, and the NPC character sprites are excellent.”
- “The overall graphic style and animation convey the dream-like state of mind the character is in, as he seems to travel through the spirit world.”
- “As the description states, each environment is hand-drawn with almost no reused assets, and the art styles range from a child's coloring book to bold collagist styles, populated by unique creatures all with some manner of interesting dialogue rooted in occult and philosophical themes.”
- “Best I can tell, the native resolution is about 800x600, and the game will automatically stretch to fit your screen, making for some poor graphic quality.”
- “Probably wtctr is too ambitious, pretentious, and deliberately crazy, alternative and experimental as many contemporary artworks; you know: all that glitters is not gold; probably content is not so deep as it would have you believe.”
- “It's art for art's sake, a sort of collage of pre-existing artworks, perhaps not so expressive or genuinely inspired, but there is undoubtedly a really hard, long, and original job behind all such drawings and illustrations.”
gameplay
40 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
15%
75%
10%
The gameplay of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players noting significant issues such as clunky mechanics, confusing controls, and underdeveloped systems that detract from the overall experience. While some appreciate the unique and abstract nature of the gameplay, which requires patience and exploration, others find it frustrating and poorly executed. Overall, the game is seen as an artistic endeavor that prioritizes narrative and visuals over traditional gameplay mechanics, making it a polarizing experience for players.
- “The style tends to overwhelm the game controls in places, but there is a depth to the gameplay to be had.”
- “Bottom line - the gameplay and how it progresses is fairly unique and takes some getting used to (it is imperative that you are always thinking outside the box and scanning the screen), but once you get the feel of things you'll be progressing through the game like a breeze - don't let the review intimidate you, this is an exploration game with a driving narrative, beautiful art, and enjoyable gameplay.”
- “Overall, despite being pretty confusing at times, I'd still recommend this game; however, I would probably specifically recommend this to people who aren't afraid to try something new and different and can appreciate the different aspects of games aside from gameplay.”
- “Unfortunately, this game is held back by one of its biggest components: the gameplay.”
- “If you don't give up after suffering some of the worst gaming mechanics I've witnessed.”
- “I can handle some strange visuals, but it is the mechanics of the game that made me extremely confused.”
music
31 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
32%
58%
10%
The music in the game is often described as atmospheric and immersive, complementing its unique art style and surreal themes. While some players appreciate the haunting and strange qualities of the soundtrack, others criticize it for being forgettable or lacking memorable characteristics. Overall, the music effectively sets the tone for the game, enhancing the eerie and surreal experience, despite some concerns about the use of unoriginal sound elements.
- “I adore the mind-shattering dialogue, the distinct visual styles of each area, and the enchanting atmosphere the soundtrack creates.”
- “To accent this, the soundtrack is downright perfect for it - every room is harmonized in its beautiful weirdness, the sound design so well executed to a point of immersion that still haunts me as I write this review.”
- “The surreal graphics/art along with the soundtrack makes it feel like a game from a different plane of existence.”
- “The main reason for the negative review is because this game contains stolen music and sound effects, one of the most noticeable being a jingle from Capcom's 'Okami.'”
- “The music in the game is there to set the tone and nothing more.”
- “It has a unique art and play style, with unobtrusive but somewhat forgettable ambient music.”
atmosphere
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
38%
25%
The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its immersive quality, enhanced by sublime artwork, distinct visual styles, and a fitting soundtrack that complements the surreal environments. Reviewers highlight the enchanting ambiance and mind-bending dialogue, although some note that the game's coherence may diminish as it diverges from its origins. Overall, the combination of visuals and sound creates a captivating and unique experience.
- “The artwork, animation, music, and atmosphere are sublime, and the NPC character sprites are excellent.”
- “I adore the mind-shattering dialogue, the distinct visual styles of each area, and the enchanting atmosphere the soundtrack creates.”
- “The soundtrack definitely fits and supports the atmosphere of the surreal worlds.”
- “It seems the further Clowder games stray from the origin of Middens, the more nonsensical and less functional his games become in terms of gameplay, writing, and atmosphere.”
- “The visuals of the game aid the game's bizarre feel and contribute to the atmosphere.”
stability
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The stability of the game is criticized for a range of glitches and errors, including issues with background clipping and enemy interactions during dialogue. While some players report minor glitches, others describe the game as an unfinished and buggy experience, suggesting it may not be worth purchasing.
- “I encounter some glitches or errors where the background clips behind the scenes, making it feel like you are floating, and enemies attack you while dialogue is showing.”
- “Aside from that, the next biggest fundamental flaw is the prevalence of minor glitches.”
- “An unplayable, unfinished, buggy mess that you should not waste a cent on.”
humor
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's humor is characterized by a dark yet engaging tone, featuring vivid scenes and witty writing that includes unexpected moments, such as meeting a deity shortly after a character's suicide. However, technical issues detract from the experience, overshadowing the rich visual content and comedic elements.
- “Humorous and engaging with vivid scenes and a great abstract narrative.”
- “The tone of the game is dark and yet funny too.”
- “There are tons of gorgeous visual content and lots of funny lines in the writing.”
optimization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's optimization has been criticized for causing significant performance issues, leading to slow input responses that negatively impact gameplay and contribute to player deaths. Additionally, the overall design is described as aimless, with dead ends further exacerbating the poor optimization experience.
- “Because of the performance issues, inputs felt slow to respond and caused many deaths.”
- “It is an aimless RPG with dead ends and poor optimization.”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of the game has been described as unsettling and uncomfortable, leading some players to feel disconcerted and unable to fully engage with it.