I really wasn't expecting to enjoy The Cabin Factory as much as I have. While I aim to come back and gain 100% completion soon enough, the experience left me impressed enough that upon getting to credits I was obliged to write a review.

TL;DR: The Cabin Factory is well worth its $3 asking price. If you're in the mood for a good fright, and can handle feeling a bit lost, this game will spook the logs out of your fireplace. Just remember to turn down the Video Settings as soon as you start!


Allow me to preface that I am no horror game junior, having become well acquainted at this point with this wide and wonderful genre. Though I tend to prefer indies ( Darkwood , PLEONEXIA , I Remember This Dream , The Complex: Expedition , Amnesia: The Bunker ) to their larger, more well-known brethren ( Alien: Isolation , Silent Hill 2 , Outlast 1 ), in truth I am always on the hunt for new spooks and scares.

The Cabin Factory is one of those rare horror games that I finish and become quite excited about everything that the game does well.

The setup is quite simple, and can be easily discerned from the trailer and store description. You play as an employee whose job it is to inspect log cabin "sets" meant for horror media. Those cabins which have worse things lurking within than intended? Race to the exit and mark it as 'Haunted', if you can.

What the store page doesn't make entirely clear is that the same base cabin layout and props are used for every inspection. While this would appear to be a drawback, it really isn't.

Ever played P.T.?

P.T. (Playable Teaser) is an exceptional, cult-classic, lost media sort of game that would be hard to do justice as an offhand comparison. Look it up, watch a playthrough or find a recreation if you haven't already. Point is, something P.T. does extremely well is putting the player through the same L-shaped hallway over and over again.

The same dark, isolating hallway, where you're never sure what's beyond the corner. Something could change, any horrible monstrosity could appear there in the time since you've looped around last. The mind is forced to run far, far away to terrible possibilities... as breath whispers over your shoulder. A door opening up, then slamming shut. The goosebumps along your neck, as something smiles at you from the dark.

Is there something there?

This same, nerve-wracking anxiety is exactly what The Cabin Factory does so well.

It wasn't so scary, the first time I waltzed around the cabin. The usual creepily placed portrait and shadowed interior which would fit quite well into any other horror game. Beyond a bit of futzing around, there wasn't much to be that scared of before I marked it as 'Safe'.

Then came the second cabin, and before long, the third. By this point, my brain had familiarized itself with the layout. Where the portrait was, and my imagination of the face within jumping out of the frame. The man sitting at the edge of the table, and the growing anticipation that he would do *something*. Start chasing the player, or appear behind them when they turn around. I was so sure of it, and that's precisely the state of mind where this game shines most.

Because then, then ... something else happens. Something that you weren't expecting - a face where you least imagined it would be, eyes glinting in the light. On the fifth repetition, perhaps.

While I wish that I could bring up specific examples - I will not, for fear of potentially spoiling any particular reader. Suffice it to say, The Cabin Factory is NOT comfortable with the laziest of efforts. Even where a scare might be simple, its effectiveness as part of the whole is incredible.

The design of the cabin serves this goal very effectively, too. It includes more than one twist around a corner, blocking what's ahead from the player's view. These small bursts of tension, that keep you guessing, are what caused me to gradually dread returning to the cabin. Where there was once just a window, was now something positively nightmarish.

I'll quickly touch on the performance: simply put, I imagine that most people will have to turn the settings down as soon as they boot up the game. Even for my (current) monster of a build, running this game at max settings was not comfortable. Its a shame, but its not like Medium sends the visuals back to the PS2 era, either. Lumen is the heaviest hitter, anyway.

Lastly, it is pretty apparent that this game was made on a budget. That's not a bad thing, certainly, and this mainly comes down to the animation and presentation of the human characters. They're... well, a bit jank (respectfully). As much as I wish I could connect to the protagonist('s memories), they end up feeling more representative than real. None of this impacts the horror, though.

In conclusion, this game feels very genuine in its presentation and design. It isn't afraid to have some fun at its own expense (and for the player's enjoyment!) where appropriate, and commits entirely to the experience. I'm extremely happy to have played it, and hope that this studio will continue to develop their approach to the genre. International Cat Studios cooked up something grand, here.

Solid fun and a very creative game, DLC would be a great idea for this

Absolute masterpiece
Wish there was more or was longer
One of the best horror games ever made which brought swear words to my mouth on jumpscares never heard before