World of Horror Critic Reviews

In short, fans of atmospheric horror owe it to themselves to pick this up. This is absolutely one of the best horror games I’ve played, and while there are a few little issues here and there, this isn’t even the end of development. There’s a more tailored scenario gameplay mode already on the horizon for a later update, and I expect things will only go up from there.

World of Horror is an intense and existential horror experience that perfectly captures the work that inspired it.

World of Horror is simply awesome. The wait for its full release may have been lengthy, but I think the final product was well worth it. There aren’t really that many games that nail the feeling that World of Horror provides. It delicately balances a lot of systems to provide a challenging, yet fair roguelite RPG experience. I highly recommend World of Horror for anyone who wants an enjoyable, unique RPG that is okay with pacing it out through multiple bite-sized playthroughs.

As a fan of Junji Ito and the Arkham Horror franchise, World of Horror instantly drew me in, delivering terrifying encounters and paying homage to various horror-related works. If you’re not a fan of the game’s visuals, you can adjust them at the start of every playthrough, from black and white to green or beige. These options allow you to settle into your preferred visual style before diving headfirst into the unsettling world of horror, best enjoyed in a dark room in the dead of night for the ultimate spine-tingling experience.

Throughly unsettling in all the right ways, World of Horror is a callback to 80s adventures of old, with heavy doses of Junji Ito and Lovecraft. With grotesque art, excellent music and many mysteries and encounters to explore, it's sure to enthrall you.

While the horror in World of Horror wasn’t frightening to me, I really loved the vibes of this game. Everything from the visuals to the story to the music all come together to create this wonderfully crafted tale that intrigues you and makes you want to keep learning more about this doomed seaside town and the bizarre people who live in it. It is astounding that Panstasz hand drew the art of this game in MS Paint and made this game all on his own because it accomplishes so much through its simplistic design and presentation. World of Horror is absolutely an instant cult classic, making it perfect for people who love adventure games or have an appreciation for grotesque, Eldritch horrors.

World of Horror from developer panstasz is a wonderful 80s-inspired horror adventure game that brings a roguelite backbone, a turn-based component with a sprinkle of RPG, and plenty of horror that might make you wonder what the heck inspired the devs to create such unsettling tales. The only place the game falls short is in its overwhelming menu system, which is far simpler than it looks once you go through the tutorial.

World of Horror is a must play for fans of the sickly and macabre. It’s a confronting title on several fronts, from its haunting one-bit tales to its, at times, overwhelming role-playing systems. Once you get your head around it though, it’s an endlessly replayable source of supernatural horror that more than honours the works of H.P Lovecraft and Junji Ito.

Atmospheric, imaginative, and enjoyably unpredictable—this is one of the year's best horror games.

While I was expecting to turn tail and run during my experience with World of Horror, I am happy to report that I couldn’t put the game down. I adore the dark elements in the game’s presentation and storytelling, but the experience forced me to confront some of my personal thresholds, reminding me that pushing boundaries is what I signed up for. Although I wasn’t incredibly keen on the game’s combat and UI, I cannot deny how often I kept crawling back to my computer to play just one more round. World of Horror is a compelling game that begs the player’s attention, providing an addictive experience that one cannot easily run away from.

World of Horror seems to hit all its goals. While its approach to horror is rather derivative of Junji Ito, it’s applied in a creative way and with a vision of its own. I can’t say I was blown away because it really is exactly the game that it claims to be. However, I was immensely satisfied. It’s a wonderfully modular experience, but if you’re deathly afraid of numbers, then that’s where you’ll find the real horror.

Like stumbling upon a haunted floppy disk next to the old Mac computer gathering dust in your parent’s attic, World of Horror is constantly surprising, genuinely unsettling, and truly unlike anything you’ve played.

World of Horror gets its art direction and gameplay mechanics right. But it comes with a learning curve, and can eventually feel stale after doing the same mysteries multiple times.

World of Horror remains dependent on its writing, visuals, and quantity of randomized events. Once the well runs dry on new encounters, World of Horror loses its luster. Clicking quickly through repeat events reminds oneself that this is a game and not a cursed town in 1980s Japan. That said, completionists and horror enthusiasts will find much replay value as several missions create an air of variability, each with two, three—sometimes four—unique endings. This is a competently made game with much to appreciate, though repeat material and a bogged-down user interface stymie the otherwise delicious mood.

World of Horror is a title that stands out for its retro style and extensive content that will delight those players looking for something in the vein of Junji Ito's works

World of Horror is a game of contradictions that result not always solvable: on the one hand, we have a plot based on the presence in the world of unspeakable horrors; on the other, you pass the game to manage objects and statistics, trying to take control over what should be, by definition, uncontrollable. World of Horror travels between opposites and finds no balance, but it remains an interesting work for those who want to experience a horror adventure strongly anchored to tabletop role-playing games and have a passion for the exquisite horrors coming our way from Japan.

If its unpredictability is a double-edged sword, though, we can imagine ourselves returning to this as we would a beloved horror novel or film, albeit one whose macabre myths are capable of wrongfooting us even on the umpteenth revisit.

Despite the cumbersome interface and some weariness that creeps in later on, World of Horror is worth checking out thanks to its art style and well-written, weird, spine-chilling stories. Even though I know how the game ends, for some masochistic reason I want to relive this nightmare over and over again.

Reviewing a game from a solo developer, especially one with so much obvious love and care poured into it can be difficult. As a calling card for Koźmiński, World of Horror is astonishing – a stunning achievement, an incredible piece of work. As a game? It’s not bad. World of Horror will impress you more than it scares you, but it really is very impressive, at least. For all its faults, fans of Junji Ito would be hard pressed to find a more loving homage.

Structural complexity and a magpie's eye for pilfering makes for a strange, fragmentary journey into nightmare.