Wooden House

About

Wooden House is a single player action adventure game with a horror theme. It was developed by GDNomaD and was released on September 5, 2016. It received negative reviews from players.

"Wooden House" is a narrative-driven game set in a peaceful village house, where a calm day turns into a nightmare as strange voices emerge from beneath. Players must uncover the source of the voices and deal with an ancient evil, with only their wits and the game's ambient sounds and detailed graphics to guide them. Features include hounding enemies and no in-game tips, encouraging exploration and independent thinking.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

30%

Audience ScoreBased on 100 reviews

humor4 positive mentions

story7 negative mentions

The game has decent graphics and a visually appealing design.
Some players found moments of genuine horror and atmosphere, particularly in the chase sequences.
The game runs smoothly for some users, and it offers a brief escape from reality.

The game is plagued by frequent crashes and bugs, making it frustrating to play.
The story is poorly executed with broken English, making it hard to follow and understand.
Gameplay is very short, lacking depth and meaningful interactions, often feeling like a rushed asset flip.

story
41 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
7%
76%
17%
The game's story is criticized for being vague, poorly written, and difficult to follow due to broken English and bad translations. While it presents a potentially interesting premise involving supernatural elements in an old house, the execution is lacking, resulting in a confusing narrative that fails to engage players. Overall, the story feels underdeveloped and is often overshadowed by gameplay issues and technical flaws.
- “Moral of the story: you never know what life has in store for you, and if I had given up when all odds were against me, I wouldn't be where I am today.”
- “You play as a man who wants to get away from everyday life and decides to take a retreat to his new home, but after a night there, you notice there's some spooky things going on and that's where the story kicks off.”
- “The story is that you have rented an old house for a while, away from all the noise and stress of the city; however, one night, the main character starts hearing voices coming from beneath the house and additionally finds an old book that, once opened, releases all evil that is contained within it.”
- “The story is atrocious and is insanely hard to follow, and you barely know what's going on because of the most notorious staple of GDNomads games: the broken English.”
- “The incoherent story is told through broken English.”
- “This is because, in the game, the story is so poorly explained and poorly paced that it just seems like it's jumping from one thing to another.”
graphics
19 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
16%
68%
16%
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some players finding them acceptable or nice, particularly appreciating the design elements, while others criticize them as cheap, ugly, or downgraded compared to previous titles. Many users noted a lack of customization options and technical issues, such as crashes and poor texture quality in certain areas. Overall, while there are moments of visual appeal, the graphics do not meet the expectations set by the game's marketing or previous entries in the series.
- “What's significant about this convergence of audio, graphics, and gameplay is that you are completely immersed in gdnomad's world.”
- “The one thing that I loved were the graphics; if you look beyond the poor English and jump scares, there really is a very pretty game under it all.”
- “The visuals are great, and I like the design of the house, as well as the interesting look of the doors in the basement... very nice.”
- “There's no option to change the resolution and no useful graphics tweaks.”
- “Graphics and sound have been severely downgraded from nomad's previous titles, as these were really the only two things I praised in his previous entries, so it's disappointing to not get something too appealing to look at or to listen to.”
- “Much of the store page is also fabricated: 'lustrous graphics, allowing you to see in bloody detail.' Sure, they're okay, but they're not AAA quality.”
gameplay
13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
23%
46%
31%
The gameplay has been criticized for its poor mechanics, lack of engaging content, and frustrating puzzles, with many players noting that it feels slow and uneventful. While there are moments that hint at potential, the overall experience is marred by technical issues, bland environments, and a lack of coherent storytelling. Many reviewers found the gameplay to be disappointing, with some even labeling it as "horrible" and unpolished.
- “What's significant about this convergence of audio, graphics, and gameplay is that you are completely immersed in gdnomad's world.”
- “In short, the gameplay has glimpses and short spells of something that could be in a good horror game, and the game shows some real potential at times but is let down with the rest of the game being slow, uneventful, and not scary.”
- “Not the worst indie horror I have played, but overall, even at the low price, at most you get an hour of gameplay.”
- “Well, it isn't worse than Autumn Dream as most mechanics don't work properly, but the wooden house is so bland in every way it provides to the player.”
- “In short, the gameplay has glimpses and short spells of something that could be in a good horror game, but is let down with the rest of the game being slow, uneventful, and not scary.”
- “Puzzles were poor and the game mechanics added to the frustration.”
atmosphere
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The game's atmosphere is described as unique and visually appealing, with a greyish tone that enhances its overall aesthetic. While it attempts to create a horror ambiance through sound and environment, it only succeeds in delivering a few impactful moments, leaving the overall experience feeling inconsistent and underwhelming. Despite these shortcomings, some players appreciate the atmospheric elements as a highlight of the game.
- “The horror in this game doesn't rely as much on cheap jumpscares but instead focuses on creating a horror ambiance with its sound, environment, and atmosphere, which actually works in some parts of the game when it comes to its level design.”
- “I do enjoy the atmosphere that this game creates, but that's about the only good thing that I can say about it.”
- “It was atmospheric and would have been a great addition if the rest of the experience had been up to par.”
- “It has a different atmosphere; I don't quite understand it.”
- “Other than that, I think this is one of the better looking nomad games because of the greyish tone, which I think creates a slightly better atmosphere, but not by much.”
- “However, these small glimpses into what a horror game should be consistently filled with are literally all you get. These two moments are pretty well done, but then are surrounded by an atmosphere that, like these two moments, only has slight glimpses and moments of something that could be good but doesn't live up to the rest of the game.”
music
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
60%
The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with some players appreciating the chase scene tracks while criticizing the overall ambient music for being repetitive and poorly fitting the environment. Additionally, the music tied to jump scares was deemed redundant and disappointing, detracting from the overall experience. Overall, while there are moments of quality, the soundtrack lacks originality and cohesion.
- “I relaxed for 5 minutes listening to this music, long enough to realize that I would be okay.”
- “The music for the chase scenes at the end of the game in the last 2 acts is pretty good.”
- “The ambience promised in the description is just the same old music that Nomad has reused from his other titles.”
- “The music for the chase scenes at the end of the game in the last 2 acts is pretty good, but nothing else really stood out to me. The ambience promised in the description is just the same old music that Nomad has reused from his other titles, and here it doesn't fit the environment well.”
- “The music associated with the jump scares was redundant and disappointing.”
- “Very well made small indie horror game by a non-native developer that put in a lot of work for the environment, music, sound effects, and terrible English.”
humor
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is characterized by its unintentional comedic elements, with players finding amusement in the reused audio and overall poor execution, leading to a "hilariously bad" experience. Many users report laughing throughout their playthrough, suggesting that the game's flaws contribute to its comedic charm rather than detract from it.
- “Is it wrong that I was laughing the whole time?”
- “This game is hilariously bad.”
- “Bad in a hilarious way.”
replayability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
75%
The game is criticized for its lack of replayability, with users noting that it can be completed in under half an hour and offers no incentives to play again. Overall, players feel there are no compelling factors to encourage a second playthrough.
- “The game offers no replayability and no factors to make you want to play it again, so it's short and gives no reason for you to play it a second time through.”
- “This game is easily beatable in less than half an hour, and there's no replayability whatsoever.”
- “- no replayability”
monetization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization strategy has been criticized for being exploitative, with accusations of plagiarism due to the lack of credit given to original artists and developers, leading to perceptions of the game as a cash grab.
- “It's important to note that the developers didn't credit any of the artists or actual game developers who created the assets, which feels like plagiarism and a cash grab.”
- “The monetization strategy feels exploitative, prioritizing profit over player experience.”
- “I was disappointed to see that the game relies heavily on microtransactions, making it difficult to enjoy without spending extra money.”
stability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability has been heavily criticized, with users reporting numerous bugs and glitches that significantly detract from the overall experience, leading to disappointment given its price.
- “I can't believe this game is sold for actual money considering it's a buggy mess and the game is terrible all around.”
- “Too many glitches.”
optimization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
50%
The game generally runs smoothly with decent graphics, but players feel it could benefit from further optimization for improved stability and overall polish.
- “The game runs smoothly and the graphics look nice, not great, but nice.”
- “There's quite a bit of real potential as a short experience for this title; it just needs a little love in the copy editing department and maybe some more optimization for better stability.”
- “There's quite a bit of real potential as a short experience for this title; it just needs a little love in the copy editing department and maybe some more optimization so that the game is a bit more stable.”