October 8th, 2012 | By Sam Adonis
Tagged in: Ice-Pick Lodge | IGM Limelight | Knock-Knock! | steam greenlight | survival horror
Hello readers and welcome to the first daily issue of IGM Limelight. Each day I go through Greenlight and find the submissions most deserving attention. Today i’m going to look at Ice-Pick Lodge’s upcoming game, Knock-Knock. No, I will not make a “Who’s there? joke.
Knock-Knock is about a haunted cabin in the middle of the woods. You play as the Caretaker, a particularly stressed looking protagonist. I don’t blame him though, as he is being haunted by mysterious monsters called Guests at night. Insomnia can get pretty exhausting. The mystery of the game lies in figuring out if the Guests are real, or a result of the Caretaker’s insomnia.
Ice-Pick Lodge says the gameplay of Knock-Knock is inspired by a child’s game of hide-and-seek. The player hides in one spot for long as possible without being found by Guests. Each night plays as a ten minute level, and will give the player different tools for fending off the Guests. The gameplay is inspired by the old game Lode Runner.
Light must be used and maintained to keep the Guests from getting inside the house, and getting to different rooms. The player is only able to go inside illuminated rooms, so he must manage light in different rooms all while avoiding monsters.
One thing I really find appealing about the game is the art style. The main character looks like something you would see in a child’s picture book or cartoon.
Ice-Pick Lodge definitely shows promise with Knock-Knock as a two-dimensional survival horror. They clearly have a good grasp of the survival horror genre, and I respect them enough to trust that they know what they’re doing. This isn’t Ice-Pick Lodge’s first time breaking boundaries, and I doubt it will be their last.
Before I go, I have to share their mildly silly Kickstarter video.
If you like, you can vote for Knock-Knock on its Greenlight page.
It is scheduled for a December release.
Sam Adonis (50 posts)
After writing a review for Spyro the Dragon when he was nine years old, Sam knew he was destined to be a games journalist. Sam considers himself a blood hound stuck on the scent for awesome indie games.