(Thanks, Akuma Kira!)

Back in 2016, I pledged a few bucks to Akuma Kira’s Kickstarter for a new game he was working on called Lost in Vivo all because of the free and superbly devious Spooky’s Jump Scare Mansion (Formerly Spooky’s House of Jump Scares), a game I recommend to anyone into horror because it will creep up on them in a surprising manner. In other words, don’t let the initially quite stupidly cute visuals and the rather simplistic but twisty corridors found in the first chunk of floors lull you into a false sense of security. Things get quite bizarre and eventually quite horrific as you descend into the darker, more hellish maps.

Anyway, fast forward to earlier Saturday morning when I got a download link to he completed build of Lost in Vivo from the developer via Game Jolt (an excellent indie site I VERY highly recommend along with itch.io  (the game can be found here) if you love to pore over dozens and dozens of great indies of all genres, many free or quite affordable). You’ll also see this one pop up on Steam soon (well, November 5th, thanks to Steam’s verification process taking longer), but if you need this faster, feel free to grab it from one of the other sites noted above for a measly ten bucks.

This screenshot kind of looks like a Monday morning, doesn’t it? It’s missing the ball and chain at each desk, but still…

As I was a bit busy with a few articles I needed to work on, I didn’t get to download and try the game out until late last night and, yep. it delivers the scary goods but good, and how. You play a person going though what seems to be some experimental therapy who, after losing his service dog down a storm drain during a heavy rainstorm, goes into the sewers to find it. If you’re afraid of the dark, turning that first corner in the sewer leads you straight into pitch darkness, but you do eventually find a light source and some… let’s just say… more pressing problems to deal with.

Yes, there are weapons and tools to use here, but don’t expect a by the numbers FPS at all. Oh, by the way… those three initials are probably the first letters of the expletives you’ll be yelling at your monitor every time there’s a fright.

Is it a bizarre dream while on the couch or some sort of substance-induced mind trip? Is there even a service dog or is it just a figment of a fragmented imagination? As I’m not too far in, I can’t say (nor would I if I knew), but I’m at a point where I simply had to cease playing because between THIS GAME IS TOO DAMN SCARY AT TIMES, Gyahhhh. Although presented from a first person viewpoint, there’s a near total Silent Hill vibe alert (the first game, not the films) happening here in a great way. That said, I’ll have to get back down into the crazy place with the somewhat often cramped quarters to see/play more and report back the esults. Er, provided I survive the experience (DON’T be still, my beating heart!).

As noted, back in a bit with an update. I really should play this during the daytime.

-GW