Existentia

In Brief

A post apocalyptic walking simulator that probably takes its inspiration (vaguely) from Metro 2033

You can see a mixed bag of Steam community reviews for Existentia HERE as well as a few game play videos HERE, HERE (full walk-through), HERE (full walk-through) and HERE . We get a free standing version courtesy of Existentia from Falcoware games.

Developer's Introduction:

Existentia - post-apocalyptic adventure puzzle game with a dark existential atmosphere. As one of the few survivors after the nuclear disaster, you will explore ruins of the post-Soviet republic. While gathering supplies during your sortie from the shelter you will find out a stories about the world which will never be the same. The lonely wanderer decides to go on his way after few months of a pause. He was hidden too long but now he is going home.

Reference accessed HERE on the 5th March 2020

The Game:

Positive Review:

Existentia is basically a "walking simulator", where you'll find several simple puzzles together with text reflections of the protagonist; they will allow you to leave having an idea of what has happened.

In the game it is clearly seen that it is short, but for the price it has not bad. The graphics are very successful and help immensely enough, although some scenarios have seemed somewhat empty. The game play is simple: move forward, take some objects (few) and, at certain times, use them. Little more.

"Existentia" is, in short, a modest but interesting game that tries to tell you a brief history without too much fanfare. Here there are no scares, shots or races; Only feelings and feelings compressed in just twenty minutes of game play. They have been enough for me.

Edited reference originally posted by GAT 6th May 2017 HERE Re-posted with some editing by Whiterabbit-uk on the 5th March 2020

Negative Review Review:

Pro's: -Decent Graphics + Enjoyable Soundtrack
-Fun Post-Apocalyptic Theme
-Slightly Unnerving, Nostalgic Story line
-A Couple Puzzles (I guess?)
-Laid-Back, Walking Simulator (Could be a Con?)

Con's: -Extremely Short, Beat in Under 1 Hour (Would have been even less, but the character walks slowly!)
-Invisible Walls for Barriers (Ruins the Immersion)
-Lots of Slow Walking, No Sprint Feature
-Movement Feels Sluggish
-No "Loading Screens," Just a Brief Frozen Moment
-Story Felt Unsatisfying (Is the whole point the character’s nostalgia?)

I really, really wanted to love Existentia. From the description and the screenshots, it looked like an interesting, post-apocalyptic journey, and with the “Puzzles” flag I expected more than a couple of really basic, super easy puzzles along the way. The graphics are decent – they certainly capture a lonely, isolated, somewhat unnerving sensation here in a rural countryside, and the relics of the bygone era reminded me of Fallout and similar titles.

Unfortunately, there’s just not enough content here at all; asking $4.99 for a game that you can easily defeat in under an hour blows my mind. If I had been able to move faster, sprinting around, I’d have beaten this in under 20mins. Honestly, it feels like a playable Demo for a game that’s still in Beta, and one that needs a lot more content and polish for me to give a Recommended flag, sadly.

Edited reference originally posted by LilMsScareAll on the 3rd Sept 2016 HERE. Re-posted with minor edit by Whiterabbit-uk on the 5th March 2020

Useful Information not related to today's game giveaway:

Today's game giveaway is on sale over on Steam for only £0.39/$0.49/€0.39 HERE until 13th March. Today is your last chance to get Inner Space free via epic Games. It's a game about exploration, about player-driven moments both small and grandiose. Take your time, soar through the skies and dive through the oceans, and the secrets of the Inverse will reveal themselves. Later this afternoon we will be getting Offworld Trading Company - Mars has been colonized, and Earth's corporate titans fight to dominate this new market. Competition is fierce in this fast-paced economic RTS and GoNNER - a tough as hell score-based procedurally-generated platformer with rogue-like elements. GoNNER is also a story about friendship between Ikk, Death, and a space whale named Sally.

Don't forget to check out the Game discussion threads over in the forums for details of other free games and offers HERE (I've recently updated the thread though 'some' of the links to older bundles are no longer active; however, most of the links still take you to the latest deals); especially Delenns thread, HERE.

Three more games have been added to the indie Gala freebie section. These are Shuyan Saga - a graphic novel series where action scenes come alive in 3D combat game play. Set in an ancient Chinese martial arts fantasy universe. To Ash an RPG maker game, Zomteria a first person zombie shooting game, Mechanic Escape - a platform game full of infernal chases. Waste Walkers Deliverance a top town post apocalyptic survival RPG and the sequel to Waste Walkers (also still available HERE)

Also, still available to play for free via Steam until Half-Life: Alyx is released on the 23rd March the entire single player Half-Life franchise, which you'll find HERE (sadly it doesn't include the excellent Half-Life 2: Deathmatch, which is one of my favorite shooter that I still play with a few friends).

This weekend (from later today) you can play Tom Clancy's Ranbow Six Siege for free until late Sunday Afternoon.HERE (It's also on Sale with 60% off though none of the £76 worth of DLC is on sale)

Another excellent Humble Choice has just been released for March HERE. There are 12 games available, of which you can choose 10. These include: My Friend Pedro, Planet Coaster + 1 DLC, F1 2019, Fell Seal: Arbiter's Mark, Battle Chasers: Nightwar, EXAPUNKS, Turok, Death's Gambit, 198X, Niffelheim, AI War 2, Etherborn.