I can’t help myself. Ever since I decided to dive back into casual games and relive my Kongregate and Pogo days (not necessarily on either one of those portals anymore though), I’ve been getting periodically hooked on a couple of browser games here and there.
A craving for simple action
When you’ve got a lot going on in the real world, and everything seems like it’s been blown way out of proportion (life gets complicated sometimes, eh?), it’s the simple things that start to grow on you. Recently, I got that feeling with Agar.io.
It was a thrill I appreciated because of how simple the gameplay is. I didn’t think I was going to find that feeling again so soon after. Okay, it’s not like I’m actively searching for games that fit my criteria, but if you drop something into my lap, I’ll take a look, and if it doesn’t bore me 2 minutes in, I’ll keep at it.
A familiar feeling: Amnesia vs. Keep Out!
When I got introduced to the Keep Out! game on Poki, my initial reaction was that it sounded too fast paced for my liking. That, coupled with zombies, made me a bit hesitant as I tend to get anxious enough from the frustration that speedy games brings. If you’re going to throw zombies into the mix and try to freak me out too… yeah, yeah - call me a scaredy cat!
But then I hit play, and oh God, why did I hit play?!
The next feeling I got was: “Alright, this is highly reminiscent of Amnesia: The Dark Descent,” which was highly successful at scaring the living hell out of me, lights out and all. If you guys haven’t checked Amnesia out, do it!
Now, Keep Out! is a much simpler version of Amnesia, as you’d expect a casual browser game to be. It’s also less scary by a mile, or a hundred. In fact, you’ll be totally fine playing this game. If you’re the anxious type, immersive games tend to amplify how you feel during gameplay. But this game is far too simple for that, the ephemeral zombies that come at you are comical too.
I mean look at how adorable these guys are!
The game also didn’t end up being that fast paced at all either, which was good news for me. I enjoyed playing at a comfortable pace, but then was expecting a story line to keep me a bit company too. That’s not the case in this game though, unfortunately.
You will level up rather comfortably as well in this game. Losing to a level won’t frustrate you too much, but there’s still just the perfect amount to make you want to retry a tough level. That’s always a good sign! No matter how simple, maze-like games can make you a bit paranoid, which is part of the fun of course:
The trick here is that you’re also navigating a maze and in search of an exit that will take you on to the next level, so if you do end up losing to a funny looking critter zombie, you’ll be asking yourself if there was a more advantageous route you missed out on. That’s where the map comes in handy:
According to the devs, all levels are procedurally generated. That means that each game and level is unique. You won’t come across the same map twice. That’s also why you won’t be able to keep out of Keep Out!
If you fail, you’re going to want to try again, just because you probably didn’t get to cover every turn, corridor, and weapon. Again, each turn is unique! If it wasn’t the navigation that psyched you out the first time, then maybe it was your choice of weapon. The more gold you loot, and potions to keep you alive, the more points you’ll accumulate to purchase new weapons:
However, I did notice that when I purchased my first weapon -a standard sword- following the instructions to ‘press space’ to use it failed. I had to mouse click my way through to use a weapon. It’s not a real biggy at the end of the day, but that’s ultimately how I faced my first demise.
Apart from that, the game mechanics are pretty smooth.
Keep Out!’s gameplay justifies a return, and consequently, ‘keeping out’ is not going to be easy at all because you’re going to want to come back for more. By the end of it, the zombies are the ones who are going to want out!
