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Neverending Nightmares review: Bump in the night
(PC/Mac/Linux/Ouya) Neverending Nightmares isn't very good at scaring you – not in a way that would make you jump or kick your legs in fright, anyway. Nothing about its minimalist visuals suggest that you'll need to shut your eyes in disgust. The broken chords of the game's background music are somber and more befitting a funeral than an adrenaline-spiked terror-sprint. The slow, deliberate pace of protagonist Thomas makes each step feel like a cautious press forward, like creeping through a house while trying not to let the floorboards creek underfoot. Neverending Nightmares is, in a word, unassuming. And that is precisely why its moments of horror work so well.
Neverending Nightmares is horrific, repulsive and true
Caution: Some of the following content contains graphic descriptions of violent thoughts that Gilgenbach has experienced in real life. Those sensitive to such information should read with caution, and contact their nearest mental health care facilities if needed. In the US, the national suicide prevention hotline is 1-800-273-8255. Neverending Nightmares is a "Trojan horse of sorts," independent developer Matt Gilgenbach told Joystiq at PAX Prime. At first glance, the game appears to be a stylized horror game full of genre tropes: creepy little girls, old dolls with dead eyes, haunting visions of gore and violence. However, the truth is that Neverending Nightmares is actually an intensely personal exploration of Gilgenbach's own thoughts, intended to communicate the awful feelings someone with depression might experience. It has the potential to be a tool for empathy as much as it might elicit late-night scares.
'Neverending Nightmares' and the dream of Ouya's Free the Games Fund
When Matt Gilgenbach took to Kickstarter to fund his horror adventure game, Neverending Nightmares, he also opted in to Ouya's Free the Games Fund. The program, designed to offer additional funding to crowdfunders that raise at least $50,000, has drawn questions surrounding projects like Gridiron Thunder. "It would kill me if due to other projects abusing the Free the Games Fund, people lost confidence in our project and what we are trying to do," Gilgenbach told Joystiq via email. He pointed to Neverending Nightmares' relatively low average pledge amount of $24.68 as evidence for its legitimacy, which is in stark contrast to the $934.48 average by Gridiron Thunder, the game that raised $171,009 from just 183 backers. "We participated in the Free the Games Fund because we felt that the money we needed to make a really terrifying and emotionally powerful game was greater than what we could raise alone on Kickstarter," Gilgenbach continued. "The Free the Games Fund offers a significant contribution to the development budget with very developer friendly terms, so it seemed like a dream come true. I never expected any of this controversy."
