Stay Out of The House PS5 Review 8.5/10 “The home of sleaze, gore, madmen, slashers, and maniacs” 🔪🩸 @PuppetCombo #IndieGames #GameDev

Stay Out of the House is the new game from developer Puppet Combo, now I must admit that I’m not familiar with any of their work, although when I went on to their website it pretty much told me all I need to know, this is a quote from the website –

“PUPPET COMBO is the home of sleaze, gore, madmen, slashers, and maniacs.”

Stay Out of the House is split into four sections; the first act is named Night Shift, whereby you go to your character’s night shift at a gas station. Things start out pretty normally, you clean up, deal with customers etc. the store also has an arcade cabinet in the corner which you can play when the store is quiet - oddly enough the arcade game is about a killer chasing you, and you must collect things in order to escape. I really liked this introduction it was a nice build-up of suspense, and even though you can see what’s coming, it still made me jump.

The rest of the chapters concern the titular house - which your character fails to stay out of - and instead ends up trapped inside, along with a madman who has a sack over his head and is joined by his wheelchair-bound mother, who screams at you on sight.

These people are - unsurprisingly - not very hospitable, though to be fair to them you did wander into their home uninvited, and they do give you a place to sleep at least, yes, it’s a small cage in a dingy room, but would still probably cost a hundred quid a night on Airbnb. 

After making your escape, you’re free to wander the house, and this is where the real terror begins. Now starts the cat-and-mouse portion of the game, I have played a lot of horror titles recently wherein you are tasked with running and hiding from a pursuer and I think this has been my favourite.

Slinking from room to room early on with just a lighter really made me feel vulnerable, the butcher feels like a character that isn’t just going through the motions, he has so many tricks around the house and - when pushed - comes up with very inventive ways to get you, I was really impressed with the number of things that he could do.

I also loved that, after being spotted and caught, you don’t die - you get taken back to your cell up to three times, and each time security increases. More traps are placed - especially in areas where you were caught, it’s a nice touch. 

Throughout your time creeping around the house you will pick up items to help you on your way, such as a gun - which is always handy - and a device that senses nearby presences, so you do as time goes on feel like you can deal with the horrific situation that you are in. Progression through the house is nice and straightforward, very little time felt wasted having to go back and forth, it always felt like I was making progress.

The look is done in a PS1 / early PS2 style, with a VHS overlay. this gives Stay Out of the House a really grimy look that is super effective. Now, it’s not an uncommon style, horror games do like to hark back to the past, but even though I think this is done a little too frequently, it really works for this title and does create a look that unsettles you.

My one slight knock on the game is that it does feel familiar in that it incorporates elements from major slasher films such the plot and setting being very ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’, and the fact that a lot of this type of horror game is being made. I do think that the design is so well-crafted and engaging that it does overcome this problem, but it was the one niggle I felt while playing.

SUMMARY

From a new developer that I’m definitely keeping my peepers on, I really enjoyed Stay Out of the House, I’ve played a number of horror titles recently and this has been the best of the bunch.