WORLD OF HORROR

[h1] A short observation, post-1.0 [/h1] This game is unfinished, and has had some development controversy in the lead up to its launch and apparent abandonment which are probably good enough reasons to pass on it at its current price. Nonetheless, I wanted to make a short observation about the game conceptually that makes it hard to recommend, disregarding its development history. World of Horror is, above all other descriptors, a deeply stylish experience. It's crunchy 2-bit graphics, indulgent j-horror pastiche, and an overload of audio-visual elements for a game that could've been text-based are central to its identity as a project. I think this contributed a lot to the game's momentum in early-access. It had an ethos of fan-service intersecting through the horror, anime, and adventure game (Mac compatibility and all) communities which gave this project's ultralight rogue-like foundations an outsized magnetism. World of Horror doesn't put style over substance, style [i] is [/i] the substance. That said the game's rogue-like loop isn't really compatible with creating an effective horror experience in its current state. There's a lot of repetition after the first few runs which left me mashing through repeated scenes, flicking through the grotesque images which made my skin crawl on first exposure. All of the threads you can follow are neatly listed for your perusal in the achievements screen. After the five hour mark it seems the cryptic details that feel the most genuinely thrilling do so because it's literally unfinished content. The game's diminishing shock value that endeared it to me in the first place, and the mounting familiarity conventional to rogue-like progression gave me this bizarre, oil-and-water vibe throughout my playthroughs. That isn't to say the project's creative interests are incompatible, but they are certainly dissonant. This dissonance could be mustered into a really imaginative, or at least quirky experience, but the game isn't really interested in building on that sort of tension. Retrospectively, it's strange to see the universal praise this game received only two years ago, in a couple of mainstream media outlets, even. Maybe when the game was a little cheaper, smaller, and getting a lot of press it was easy to forget that time kills tension, and a long-form "World of Horror-style" experience is actually a pretty daunting task that even a strong demo can't really capture for its audience. There's something here for others to mine at least, but its a shame development tapered out on the project.

You promised to update the game in March last year. You disappeared from the media space. Now you're posting news about the release of new merchandise. Your game is incomplete, please finish it!

Devs promising an update to the game before disappearing off the face of the earth, only to a year later post about overpriced merch instead of anything about the game should tell you enough about how unserious they are about the game. It's an atrociously ugly move to pull and deeply disrespectful to players. They've shown that they, at this point, clearly only care about getting some money from the IP. Unless they start showing up and caring for their playerbase, do not buy this game, do not support devs who do not care for their players.

I wish the dev would stop shilling merch and just update the game already as promised.

love this game. hate the dev who ran away with the money a year ago only to return to push overpriced merch because they're a greedy bastard who can't stop themselves. don't buy

Bro got no time to update for 2 yrs but got time to sell a $240 watch, $230 bag & $170 shirt

[h1]Do not buy or you will receive ads spam from devs[/h1] Devs are abusing steam game update announcement system to sell crap.

Game's early access period was plagued with long bouts of no updates and zero communication from the dev. 1.0 was in an unfinished state. Promises were made that some additional updates would happen. Those updates never came. Instead, we get announcements for more merch to buy after another period of silence. Do not buy this game. Do not support this developer. And, on the chance the publishers are at fault for the bad PR move of announcing merch for a dead game, don't support them either.

Unfinished game went into 1.0 in October 2023, promised updates and fixes, never delivered, zero communication from dev or publisher. Posts to shill merch though.

I cannot recommend buying this at this point in term. The developer released the game and then said that unfinished areas would be done in an update that should of come in March of 2024. The developer has since gone radio silent with any form of communication on Steam or anywhere else and has instead worked with the publisher to release two batches of merchandise for the game. Until this update is out and implemented as well as the content finished, I cannot recommend buying World of Horror, despite its appeal to me.

Don't buy this. Support games that are being worked on. This one is sadly, abandoned. I reached out to Panstasz, and to Ysbryd games themselves, nobody answered. There are no news and no communication at all about this game. Spend your money on completed games instead.

Game looked very promising. However the developer has proven time and time again that they're unserious and would rather push overpriced merch than even announced whether or not they're still alive.

Good game for what it was however has since been abandoned and left unfinished to this day with no updates from developer aside from the merchandise they want you to buy

It's a good game, but the fact is there are several unfinished features with a developer that is unreliable to his game. I understand especially as a sole developer life is gonna make it difficult to make consistent updates, but the fact is the game is out of EARLY ACCESS and still deals with bugs, unfinished gameplay features, and restricted modding. And on top of that, the modding support is awful and deals with its own set of bugs that haven't been addressed. I genuinely want to recommend this game because for all that it current is, it is a fun game. But you shouldn't lie to an audience who paid money for your game, drop off the face of the earth after promising an update within the next few months, and come back 2 years later with some price gouging merch that doesn't even have a physical concept.

I have enjoyed playing this game. I've done a ton of rounds, and enjoyed basically all of them. But the game has been released for basically two years without an update and with unfinished content. Now we're getting $300 merch.

unfortunately an abandoned game devs just use it to shill overpriced merch. dont buy.

As someone who came to love the game from finding out about it years ago, I have to say you should not buy this game for the sole fact that you should not reward the behavior of this Developer. This game is still not completed even after finally coming out of early access, where it's been in over years. Many features and quality of life features are still not in the game, the Dev has been radio silent since February of 2024 only now in June of 2025 to drop a tone deaf post shilling overpriced merch with no news on the future status of the game. This game could have been A classic if it's potential wasn't wasted over years of letting it die in A corner collecting dust.

Just check the update history and you'll see the game seems to literally exist solely to shill shoddy merch now for some bizarre reason. There's some debate whether or not the original creator is still involved at all, but regardless, I'd argue the game is only mostly finished as is. I cannot recommend World of Horror unless you badly want a slow drip feed of half-baked merch.

A truly phenomenal horror roguelike. Genuinely one of the best horror games I've ever played, and personally one of my favorite games of all time. If you look at this store page and think "Huh, this seems right up my alley", you absolutely will not regret checking this banger out.

World of horror is one of my favourite horror games, with how challenging it is and how all the visuals are done in MS Paint, but with the path this game is taking I'm not sure I can recommend it. The game has experienced a complete drought in terms of content, with the most recent update being a patch soon after the full release of the game. Instead of fluffing out the game as it is admittedly a very shallow game, there has been multiple merch drops, which leave a bad taste in your mouth (especially the vinyl and CD's for the soundtrack, both of which are missing several tracks). It's unclear whether this is a publisher thing or a genuine attempt at cashing out, however, until there's more evidence that this game will get more content I'm not sure it's worthwhile getting into unfortunately.

Yeah the dev is kinda flaky but he's been working on it pretty consistently since EA in 2019. It's not particularly hard, but the game is less about perfect run optimization like a lot of rouge-likes, and more just about experimenting with different things to try to get all the different endings of the investigations. The game is a bit "janky", but considering I've never really played another RPG or horror game with remotely similar gameplay- I feel like the "jank" is a bit hard to quantify. If you can't tell from my hours on record the game is easily worth $20, if you like the Junji Ito aesthetic, it's pretty much a must play.

I would reccomend the game at full price as it is now; theres so much unique art and incredible storytelling. Just be patient, it is being developed by one dentist

Merch before update is an unwise move. Leaving this negative until there's some movement. Love the game.

This is a great game to watch on YouTube, but a lousy game to play. I am a big Junji Ito fan, and visually, this is a great homage to the reknown author. But, its a crap game to play.

If you want a old school turn based RPG/Mystery game that takes place in a world plagued by uzumaki horros, lovecraft monsters, undead, otherworldly threats, and dogs, all found for some reason in or around a single town.... THIS is the go to game!

Game lacks in content. Last hope were lost after post with new merch instead of update post. Greedy guys

Lovecraftian, pixel-art, procedural JRPG turn-based horror game. If you thought you'd just feel scared or get an unsettling vibe, think again—World of Horror will truly terrify you, immersing you in Japanese folklore influenced by H.P. Lovecraft and heavily inspired by Junji Ito. This game is truly a gem that I believe everyone should experience. While I understand that the themes, horror elements, and gameplay may not appeal to everyone, those who enjoy these aspects will undoubtedly love this title.

All these people posting negative reviews when ONE GUY, is literally making this. Yea there is a quite highly priced merch drop yesterday but somehow all these people just seem to think that games get developed overnight for free, there's costs to make a game and time investment, the guy needs to live and yall are crying like he fucking owes you anything. the game is great as is and there will be more content updates in the future. Steam has rules when it comes to abandoned games and if it seriously was abandoned steam will step in i assure you. I honestly can't understand how some people think, guy needs money to develop a video game, understandable, lets all bitch and complain about it and make the situation even worse by recommending people to wait to buy it at a large discount, that will sure bring in the needed funds to develop a video game. Morons...

This game. Is good. Or rather it has a LOT of good. The main problem here is that a lot of the promises that panstasz made are never followed through, ALONG WITH THE GUY BEING RADIO SILENT AND NOT SAYING ANYTHING AT ALL. Stuff like the tapes, the telescope on the school, whole other areas not being finished. A PROMISED GAME MODE. And after so long from Feb 27th news, we get a merch drop that is overpriced to hell. And it's for a [i] preorder [/i]. A watch that is $239.99. A backpack for $229.99. And damn sweatshirt that's $169.99. And that's not [i] including [/i] the taxes. They don't look that [i] good [/i]. Anyway. Don't buy this game unless it's on sale for a large discount. Or just don't but it at all. That'd be the better choice.

Game was pretty neat. They announced a big update back in Feb. of 2024 and as of now nothing has come out. But hey, super expensive merch was just announced so that's cool. Good job devs.

a game with a lot of potential but abandoned

Its unfinished and there has been no updates since 2023.

Bro has half work done and is posting merch with a full smile

literally scam

unfinished

shout out vinny

excellent

woaw