"...and proud I will remain until I am nothing at all."

Ever since I've discovered David Syzmanski's games starting with the Moon Sliver, I got addicted. I'm not ashamed to declare that I'm addicted to beautiful, elegant and eerie atmospheres that he creates, veiling disturbing realities. A Wolf in Autumn is no exception.

The sun raising on a beautiful shore line, waves cradling the shore on endless motions, bathed within the rays of sun themselves... Is this the scent of sea? No. Lights do shimmer through an old wooden wall, crafted either lazily, or without much skill. We are able to see an autumn garden through the cracks between planks. We are in a shed. Who are we? As we get out of the shed, we encounter an odd mechanism. As we push the button on the strange machine, a woman's voice calls us to warn that there are wild animals around. "Go back to the shed, sweetie. There are wolves in the woods".

A Wolf in Autumn presents us a dreamlike experience, in which we take the part of Autumn, a 9 year old girl. She is in an autumn garden and wanders around, hearing her mother's voice through some strange machinations around. As we keep our progress, things do take a turn for a darker nature. Concepts such as pride, nature, innocence and responsibility are discussed, and we once again face that the reality itself is much cruder and darker than any monster under our beds could possibly be.

The narration and the voice acting of the mother come into a spectacular combination, and carry you though a genuine uneasiness. Graphics do hail from basic unity, but seeing the display of light, shadows and colors in this specific manner, you are reminded that this is a game by David Syzmanski. Added background noises; growls, swaying trees and mechanical sounds, this is a brilliant success on atmospheric horror yet again!

As for gameplay, it might be defined as a short atmospheric horror + walking simulation with puzzle elements. It is a bit hard to tag these games with a genre, but I can most certainly tell that they carry artistic and philosophical quality. The whole game wouldn't take more than an hour, and it is intended to be completed on one sitting, as David Syzmanski's most games. So, there is no save game feature. We move around with WASD and carry some items to complete some basic puzzles. We are not capable of carrying more than one item at any time, so if we'd need the same item again, we have to look around to find it. I know it sounds a bit annoying, but it is a choice for story purposes. When the reason behind is explained, you'll be shocked. I promise.

A Wolf in Autumn is a short, deep and dark experience rather than a game. I wouldn't recommend any game coming from David Syzmanski if you are looking for an adrenaline rush. If you'd like to indulge yourself with a shiver and some pondering afterwards, you are welcome.

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You're a girl, alone, in a locked shed: you easily escape from it only to find yourself in a fenced garden with weird machinery, threatening noises and an even worse voice addressing you.
A Wolf in Autumn is a short surreal horror game with a disturbing story and simple puzzles: if you've played other games by David Szymanski then you're familiar with the dreamlike, dark and weird atmospheres he's able to create (e.g. The Music Machine) and A Wolf in Autumn continues down the same road.

PROS:

-weird art style with oversaturated colours and contrasting lights truly gives a dream/ nightmare feel to the game

-good sound design, the ominous noises manage to be unsettling

-strong voice acting

-good writing, I really appreciated the style used for ingame text and how things slowly made sense as I was playing the game

-very disturbing and dark themes: the story behind the girl is unsettling and violent, the voice you hear can convey enough perceived violence and hate to become truly distressing

-straightforward puzzles reward exploration and logical thinking

NEUTRAL:

-the oversaturated graphics won't be everyone's cup of tea

-you can only carry/ use one item at a time, the reason for this is eventually explained though

CONS:

-you'll have to be careful where you drop an item when switching objects or risk having to hunt for it between the grass (thankfully, the most important items are given to you more than once)

-going back to the previous area saved my progress puzzle-wise but reset the position of every object, forcing me to get around to gather them and light candles again

-no subtitles

-it's quite simple, short as the Store page says (beaten in 45 minutes), basically no replay value


http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=542988982

Having played The Music Machine I was curious to see what the dev had managed to do this time and, despite the short length and simple gameplay, I must say A Wolf in Autumn left quite an impression on me. As said before Szymanski doesn't shy away from darker themes and he surely isn't afraid to hold back here: what the voice says to you, its extremely violent and hateful tone and the details of certain events are truly unpleasant.

I think it works so well cause, without spoiling anything, the story is about events that do happen in real life and I like to think that certain actual facts can be way scarier than an imaginary monster due to the fact they do really happen and'd affect us, people we know or be something we've seen in a newspaper.

The gameplay itself is decent, you'll have to explore around to find tools and then use the right one on the right object: sometimes the solution might be less straightforward than it first seems and a couple objects/ levers might require you to think a bit. There's not much of a challenge though, the game is more interested in telling you a story rather than challenging your brain.

A Wolf in Autumn felt like a distilled form of what the dev is known for as a short and extremely unsettling journey that, when played in the dark and with headphones on as recommended, game me a few goosebumps due to how immersed I was in a truly unpleasant and quite real scenario. It's a game I recommend as an example of psychological horror done right.

A Wolf in Autumn is a short puzzle adventure game that was released in October 2015, being developed by David Szymanski. As you get told when launching the game, it is intended that you finish it in one sitting, which takes about an hour.

You play the game as a young girl, and you find yourself in a forest at the start of the game, locked in a shed by your mother. To begin with your mother and surroundings seem very peaceful, but this soon takes a dark turn. Gameplay is from a first person perspective, and the main tasks involve solving puzzles that use real world logic. The puzzles do require some thought though; you shouldn’t be put off by the starting area as that is the one I found the most difficult. I’m not ashamed to say I spent at least ten minutes trying to get out of the shed only for the answer to be extremely obvious. You are able to pick up objects, but sadly you can only have on item in your possession at a time, meaning a lot of running back and forth to get items is required.

The game is run using the Unity 5 engine, and whilst the graphics aren’t the best, they do portray the darkness and surreal atmosphere very well. The game does have some nice lighting effects as well. It can be run on pretty much any resolution up to and including 4k. The voice acting of your mother is very well done too; I genuinely got scared towards the end of the game just from the sound of her voice.

Whilst there isn’t a very deep plot to this game, there are still some underlying potentially disturbing themes on show, and is not something which people who are easily upset by such things as child abuse should take lightly. Maybe the developer is trying to show us something through the story, I don’t know, but I found it very interesting to see how the plot unfolded.

As you can see from the amount of time to play the game, I didn’t find it all that difficult. If you apply logic to the puzzles, you can easily work them out, and often just pausing for a moment and thinking how you would get out of this situation yourself is usually the write answer. I completed the game in about half an hour. Some might think that is short for any game, and I can see why, but I was enthralled with the game from the get-go so I am not going to complain too much about the shortness. I have seen that you can complete puzzles in more than one way as well; this may add a little replicability but I am more than happy with just the one play through to satisfy my experience with this title.

I didn’t have any technical problems whilst playing; it is running on a very well matured engine so it should be expected.

I enjoyed my time playing A Wolf in Autumn, not all horror experiences have to include an abundance of jump scares to be classed as scary; the atmosphere and undertones of this game are scary enough for me. The price of £1, 59 is fair, regardless of the length of the game. The developer has put plenty of hours into making a really good game, and that is definitely worth the £1, 59 in my eyes.

Tom's Score Card
1) Stay away
2) Not Recommended
3) Only recommended when on sale
4) Recommended
5) Highly recommended
6) This is a must play

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http://store.steampowered.com/app/395270

Well, this was another stellar game by one of my favorite developers, David Syzmanski. As with his previous works, he takes a psychological horror concept and really drives it home using minimalistic and yet lush and evocative scenery with a short tale attached. To tell you any more than what is in the store page would be a disservice to a person wishing to play this, so I wont go into my personal thoughts on the story, but I will say that it is quite compelling.

This time around, the Unity 5 engine, but without using stock assets. This marks an evolution in Mr Syzmanski's development ideas and skills. Actually, if you were to play each of his games in order of release, you would easily be able to track a clear progression is ability and skill, with this game as the current culmination of his previous efforts.

As with previous games, this game makes heavy use of the interplay between light, darkness, and shadow to emphasize the desired atmosphere. Additionally, the original soundtrack and sounds further enhance the experience. All was done in outstanding fashion.

Another appealing aspect of this game was the 45 minute to 1 hour length. In my opinion, it was the perfect length to accomplish the goals it sets out to accomplish.

The controls are simple WASD with R/L mouse to pick up, use, and drop items, and shift to run, since walking around exploration games slowly is always something of a chore (in my opinion. I appreciate it when devs include running despite it not being strictly necessary).

The puzzles in this game were not too difficult to solve, but were clever, making good use of the items available in the game without getting in the way of the experience.

Anyway, I can go on and on about this game, but I will simply close out here by stating that this was a special experience and I was glad for the opportunity to play this game.

9 out of 10.

A weird game but interesting i have to say.

*This game has alot of colours that are very bright, so if you suffer from anything like photophobia or anything similar please be aware.
It can also be hard to see parts of the outdoor scenery/objects sometimes because of this, so also bare that in mind.

Il start off with the graphics, whilst being a very bright game (part of it) the graphics are nothing amazing but good enough to play and enjoy, low budget you might say.

The story itself is a little freaky and makes you wonder at times WTF is going on, but if you read and follow it as you go you will eventually understand, it doesnt take long really (about 1hr or less) and isnt a bad short story overall, and although its a type of horror its not very scary at all.

The gameplay, movement, controls etc there pretty normal, theres no menu as such you just start off with a list and explanation of controls and enter the game or exit.
The basic idea of the game is to explore and find objects that will help you progress further in the game/story, kinda like puzzle solving but not really hard at all, and the area your in is pretty small so its not like your looking for a needle in a haystack, straightforward and simple to get used to tho and enough to keep you on track with the story.

Bad points? There isnt any exactly, IMO there could have been more in depth puzzles, bigger areas and more content to explore but for the price you pay i cant complain, and im sure theres people out there who dont enjoy puzzles being too in depth or tedious anyway.

Overall a great little game (and little it is) one your only gonna play through once, easy to understand, easy to play, with a freaky storyline that keeps you on your toes until the end and a few not so cryptik puzzles along the way, just wear sunglasses is all i can say :D


For those interested heres a full playthrough:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2V9_nXmOhI

Short, indie, earnest, mysterious: in some ways I wish “A Wolf in Autumn” were a little more open and a little less coy, but what we’re given is enough, and it’s the nature of some beasts to shy from light. This Unity 5 game by David Szymanski is about freedom, family, and damage. It’s a short story, in essence, with a game built up around it.

We start locked in a disorienting shed, in turn fenced in a forest. There are a couple of ways to get out of the shed – leave it to me to find a complicated one right away – and once we’re out there’s a buzzing blinking machine waiting to give us a message from Mom. Mom’s not happy that we’re out, and wants us back in the shed. This is a theme. Mom is kind of one-note on this subject.

Eventually we’ll walk down some dark corridors and end up in dark places, literally and figuratively. What you’ll make of what you discover along the way is your own. But there’s stuff amiss. Our body isn’t quite right, and there are wolves about. Or are there?

A swift player will make it to the end of this story the first time in 30 or 40 minutes. Some will return for a second visit, to fill out a few details. I’d recommend that. This is a game that will not appeal to everyone – what does? – but if you saw the store description and made it down to the reviews, it may be your kind of thing.

This is the first Szymanski game that I didn't enjoy. The music and sound design is as fantastic as always, and I appreciate that some (maybe all) of the puzzles have more than one solution, but I found the whole process of searching and interacting with the world to be frustrating and boring. However, I definitely recommend all his other games; Fingerbones, The Moon Sliver, and The Music Machine.

This short game starts and ends with lines after lines of purple prose -- paragraph-long sentences without a single punctuation mark. Between them lies what can be best described as purple prose in form of game mechanic. It tries to make a point, to tell a story of a troubled girl, her inner struggles and relationship with her mother. The game's creator knows his environmental storytelling tools well (probably too well) and applies them as much as possible, trying to create a story through objects and rooms, rather than text. Then, probably realizing it doen't work, he goes back to telling the story through monologues. Either way, both the story and its characters are vague and pointless, ultimately going nowhere.
As a diploma project in a game design school thit would probably earn the author an A. As an actual game to buy with your money and put an hour into playing, it doesn't deserve any attention.

Short adventure well done. The graphics aren't excellent but the story certainly obscures this flaw. I advise against buying it at full price as there are 2 areas to explore. vote 6/10

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An extremely short (45 min) story with no save feature.

The story is simple and not terribly interesting. The interesting part is how it's told (very abstractly), but it feels like the story and game really needed to be fleshed out more to be worth the time.

It's not terrible, but not good enough to recommend. I'd recommend buying The Music Machine (by the same developer) instead.