There is a thrill and terror in being places that you shouldn’t long after they’re closed to the public and everyone else has gone home: from a closing shift, to a graveyard shift, or just sticking around to help clean up after an event at school or another public space, seeing the halls once full of hustle and bustle turned completely silent and empty fills you with unease, especially when the lights start flickering or turning off.
Similar feelings can be evoked by looking into abandoned spaces, from apartment buildings to canceled projects by massive corporations. The overlap can be tense, and what better way to ratchet up the fear than by taking it to the extreme and adding in additional flavor with both old and new nightmares?
Remember reading about “Mowgli’s Jungle Palace” from the “Abandoned by Disney” horror stories?
Perhaps you’ve worked a night shift or two at a Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria location?
Now imagine walking alone in an abandoned amusement park eroded by time, massive debris and dust blocking your way while ancient and broken speakers struggle to play the melodies you know and love, and all the while you’re never quite certain if you’re alone.
Sound like fun?
Enter Indigo Park, a new rising-star in the indie horror space created by YouTuber and Streamer Mason Myers, also known as UniqueGeese. Indigo Park’s first chapter, titled “Birds of a Feather,” released for free on Steam on May 18th of this year. This marks the first official game released from its creator, a first-time Indie Dev who began creating horror games on a whim after a game in the horror space became infamous for its “low effort,” prompting him to try recreating it from scratch despite his lack of experience in only a week. With a little help from friends to finalize some details and polish up the project, Mason released his fan-remake Reincarnated on March 28th, 2023, to an extremely positive reception. Encouraged by this and wanting to take his burgeoning Game Dev skills into his own unique direction instead of retreading the ground of other creators, he shortly after began working on his own pet project, which would evolve into the announcement and release of Indigo Park.
Built decades ago by the creative visionary Isaac Indigo, the Player now enters the titular park long after its mysterious closure and abandonment. Playing as an armchair-researcher and internet investigator delving into the mysteries surrounding the shutdown of the park and its entire company after a lifetime of enjoying its products and characters, you now enter the park despite its disrepair and quickly discover that the place isn’t quite as abandoned as it seems. However, standing out from the crowd of similar mascot-based horror games, this game’s leading star, Rambley the Raccoon, isn’t just a figurehead or a monster but instead a sentient A.I. desperate to lead you through the park and onto a wild adventure of entertainment and fun just like old times. Having been stuck at the gates of the park for so long, it’s clear that Rambley has no idea the state the place has fallen into, a fact he has to reckon with while he struggles to keep the magic alive for you, the first guest in years. You quickly become attached to Rambley, and its not hard to see why: with his humorous mannerisms, occasional glitching, and cheery positive attitude, he makes for the perfect guide to the park despite its condition.
Indigo Park is a first-person experience with some platforming elements, but so far has no real gimmicks or specific gameplay twists built into its formula. However, it would be dismissive to say that this lack of direction is a bad thing for the first foray into its world: by keeping the player’s options open and even providing the occasional variation in gameplay such as a 2D arcade machine minigame halfway through the chapter, it creates a solid foundation to be built and iterated upon over the coming chapters. Instead, Indigo Park pours absolutely all of its effort into its creative vision, emphasizing the design of the park, the narrative unfolding in its twisted world, and the characterization of every member of the cast, no matter how minor. The world of Indigo Park is at once both intensely nostalgic and dreadful, making you feel as though you’ve visited the park before and contrasting these memories of the brighter times with the darker atmosphere and lurking horror that now surrounds you. Nothing could show off the game’s vision fully realized better than taking a ride on Rambley’s Railroad, a train attraction built to showcase the varied cast of characters and scenery present throughout the park. The presentation is played entirely straight, with the ride desperately keeping up the appearance of just another day in paradise despite the age and disrepair. Rambley seemingly loves to play his part in the show, calling out to his pre-recorded companions and remarking about his friends’ activities with glee. But look closer and you’ll realize you’re not the only one enjoying the ride. It seems Rambley forgot to mention his friends are still around the park: not machines or mascot suits, but something else entirely, something now turned bloodthirsty. In fact, this isn’t even the moment you first began being watched, but I’ll leave that a secret for you to keep your eyes peeled for.
Holding a majority of the experience on his back is Rambley the Raccoon, the mascot of Indigo Park and quite the light in the darkness of the world around him. Voiced by the talented Vito Z Holmes, who is also a YouTuber named Otterboy VA, he cheerfully guides you around from location to location and interacts with you at information kiosks in the games’ current central mechanic: any collectible items found in the world can be shown to Rambley at these stations and he’ll react to them, providing a bit more information about the park, the company, or even just himself. Show him a collectible “Raction Figure” of himself and he’ll excitedly recite its TV Advertisement; bring him a plush you don’t quite recognize and he’ll comment negatively on people bringing merchandise that isn’t on-brand; bring him something related to his rival character, Lloydford L Lion (AKA: Lloyd), and he’ll show off his jealous and vindictive side, implying a hatred built over the many years of disrepair… or perhaps one that was always there all along. Rounding out the cast of characters are additional vocal talents and YouTubers, including Tom Hart (AKA RecD), Lauryn Alexandria, Zach Pokeres (AKA ZaccActs), Synn (AKA SoftSynthetic), and even an uncredited appearance from the game’s creator himself. Each voice actor dedicates themselves fully to their role, no matter how minor, and this passion culminates in the impressive original music piece that plays over the credits.
Of course, this is still a Horror game, and despite how character-driven and silly the game can get on occasion, it is still very, very effective at intimidating and filling its players’ with terror. From the moment you start to notice that you’re in danger, the world constantly reminds you of that fact and draws your attention to how you may not have even noticed when you first wound up on the chopping block. In between the moments of mirth with Rambley and puzzle solving with gears, there is a dreadful silence, an emptiness that feels incredibly tense. You know something is out there, that its after you, but you can’t see it. Is it gone, or is it too late? The game constantly teeters between moments of tension and moments of sudden surprise and shock, but it plays its cards extremely close to its chest until the final moments of the Chapter where you finally face down your first threat: a deranged Mollie Maccaw who comes screeching after you in an enclosed play place, desperate to tear you to pieces. One thing I will note is that getting caught by Mollie isn’t necessarily as horrifying as perhaps it could be, however this is easily made redundant moments after with a horrifying piece of art showing exactly what the creature that just got you looks like. In this way, it takes the act of dying and respawning, which typically deescalates tension after a sudden jumpscare with a more neutral reset, and flips it on its head by reminding the player that this is what just killed them, and now it is ready to do it again.
Indigo Park is a refreshing new take on a genre continually struggling to support the number of established franchises adding new entries and hopeful newcomers hoping to make their lucky break. Breaking away from the pack with sheer spectacle, detail, polish and passion for the project, the game is a triumph of first-time Game Development and proof that anyone can create something to be proud of with enough resolve and dedication. The game takes plenty of time to acknowledge its influences and to show support for other projects in a natural way that doesn’t distract the player or shift focus away from the story. It is clear that this game is not only a love letter to the game that started its creator’s Game Development journey, not just to all of the games that he has played that helped him build the foundation of this one, but to the audience, community and friends that he has made along his journey. Although not a perfect experience, its flaws are simply a side-effect of a burgeoning developer and their talented team getting situated with their vision, and I am certain that the next chapter in the series will only increase the level of quality in all regards. In fact, during the writing of this review, the game’s GoFundMe page managed to meet its goals to fully fund Chapter 2 of the game with time remaining, a clear showing of the popularity of the game as well as how passion inspires passion in others. I greatly look forward to my next visit to Indigo Park, OSHA violations and all, and I encourage you to take a trip to the park as well.
Indigo Park: Chapter 1 is available for PC via Steam.
Related: Reviews by Aaron Grossmann
Gaming is a passion that I, like many other people, hold near and dear to my heart. As an aspiring Game Writer and general Storyteller, I enjoy looking into the vast worlds and deep stories of every game I can. Then again, sometimes bad guys just need a good pummeling, and I am more than happy to provide!
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