The Flayed Man review

Imagine waking up in an otherworldly place with no memories. Scary, right? Now imagine waking up in an otherworldly place with no memories - or skin! This is the nightmare you find yourself in at the start of The Flayed Man. As you might expect, a skinless journey is doomed to be a short one - but it's filled with puzzles that will see you regaining your ability to think and speak, all while deciding the fates of three total strangers.

Horror fans are sure to appreciate the game's truly graphic graphics, while the gameplay feels like a classic point'n'click adventure - for better or worse. There's no tutorial to speak of, nor any quality-of-life features like double-click exit or hotspot indicators. Horror aside, it's always a little disappointing when these QoL features are missing, but the game is short enough to shrug off any annoyance.

The story is short but solid, and there are a couple of moments where your decisions affect the ending of the game. I encountered two endings, but hope there's another that can actually explain who the main character actually is - or was - before the "skincident."

The dialogue doesn't make it very clear what you're supposed to do next in the story, but in fairness, there are only four rooms and a handful of items to contend with - trying everything on everything else is a viable strategy, even if it can feel like admitting defeat. With that said, the story is much easier to grasp (and by extension, the puzzles are easier to approach) when activating the optional hint system.

The game has a unique approach to hinting; you're told which puzzle to solve next, and left to figure it out for yourself without any outright help. Getting un-stuck is as simple as pressing "H" (or visiting my low-spoiler hints, of course!)

The Flayed Man comes to us from the UK-based indie developer Snoring Dog Games, and is their first public title. You can play it for free on Steam or itch.io, or consider the $4.99 "supporter pack" to get a digital artbook and soundtrack while supporting the developers' next endeavour, all for the price of a pint. It's quite interesting to see developers take this route - and certainly a lot less risky for supporters than Kickstarter can be - making Snoring Dog Games one to keep an eye on, for horror fans or otherwise.

Let's just hope their next protagonist can keep their skin in the game!

Puzzle Difficulty

Not too easy

Puzzle Satisfaction

No moon logic, only sun...

Story

Short and solid

Overall

Recommended

A preview copy of the game was provided by the developer

About the author

Buy me a coffee

Juho Rutila

I believe adventure games should be more accessible for all gamers. That's why I wrote these hints.

The article was edited by Kieron West

The supporter pack is your way of sending thumbs up to this aspiring new development studio. If you wonder what they will be building next, this is what I got from them:

Our next game depends on the funds we're able to raise through the sale of the Supporter Pack, although even our high budget concept would cost much less than the average Kickstarter raises. If we only raise enough for our lower budget, then we'd concentrate on a game with a few characters called The Hunger Pit. This would be another point and click horror, where you play as an ex-priest who is one of three survivors in an abandoned leper colony. They're not alone, a ravenous monster stalks the colony for flesh, and it'd be up to the player to try and survive. For our high budget game, this is a game called It Waits In The Abyss. It is a sci-horror game set on a submarine with a larger cast of characters and draws on my own experiences as a former submariner. The context of the game is it takes place on an Earth which has been ruined by war. A mysterious signal from the depths of the ocean prompts the remaining nations to send a submarine to investigate. Things go wrong from there. This game would feature a complex system in which choices are offered and made depending on the players approach, rather than simply being choose A, B, or C. This would lead to one of 12 endings but the level of interactivity does mean increased costs to pay our artists to account for the wider scope.

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