Its mid-October, I got married, still studying for my teachers test that is this Saturday and I played games for a brief moment. I am continuing the trend of spooky games from Puppet Combo. I am fascinated with this group of people because their games have been the only games, in recent time, to honestly scare me. I have played three of their games so far and two of them generally made me want to play the god damned game in the light. This week I tone it down a little, spend money on a Patreon, make some mistakes and am left with a crude talk about Nightwatch.

Nightwatch is a horror game developed and published (again) by Puppet Combo in 2019. They moved away from releasing games on Itch and are releasing games on their Patreon.

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You are fucking PARK RANGER JIM, it is dark and you are on duty to report any fires in the area. He can check on the fires wiht his binoculars, check the weather on his trusty 80s computer, and use the flashlight to light the way. The spookiness commences when someone calls over the radio and all Jim hears is really gross sounding breathing. He assumes that pranks are being played and downplays the call. Eventually the generator goes out and Jim has to awkwardly (from a camera aspect) walk down to refuel it. amongst the fuel is a computer game. Jim takes the game back up and plays the game while it is quiet out. Suddenly a knock at the door! And no-one is there. The computer is now corrupted and someone breaks the fucking window with a rock. Eventually, Jim gets a call that some campers are feeling “as though someone is watching them,” so Jim goes out and investigates. There’s blood and the campers are long gone.

I won’t spoil the end but it does have a nice surprise.

It still is a really nice change of pace that I enjoy thoroughly. Jim is just an innocent ranger that is placed in a shitty position and has to make the best of it. The looming threat of ABSOLUTELY NOTHING is still super spooky.

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Nightwatch is like all the other games that I have played from Puppet Combo; 80s slasher/ horror game. It wasn’t nearly as scary as the previous games but there was a lingering spookiness like something was going to happen but never did. It is this anxiety that something may or may not happen that is the best part about the games that Puppet Combo makes.

The music adds a lot to the atmosphere, as always. Its haunting and the little quips that are played when something spooky happens only adds to my anxiety.

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the camera is still booty and the movement is terrible. I guess it is okay because it is always a constant in the games. The atmosphere is still very good and the end really makes it worth the money I paid for it. There are apparently a couple of different outcomes to certain scenarios that result in either Jim’s tower burning down or him dying.

Hopefully I can get a last game from Puppet Combo in before the end of the month. I actively enjoy playing their games because they are so unique. They might be complete shit from a mechanical standpoint but they are scary and they are fun.

They know the games they want to make and they are relatively decent, even if I complain a lot about the camera and movement.

Maybe I grow a set and try and play Nun Massacre next.