Daymare Town Series (Mateusz Skutnik)
"Sketchy outline-only drawings give more artsy look to the gameplay and create a bit of minimalist atmosphere. Add creepy sounds and twisted story and you get the picture. DMT is the harderst puzzle game I made so far. It’s really nasty, so be warned." - Author's description
Why play it? The Daymare Town series is instantly recognizable due to Mateusz Skutnik's sketchy artstyle. Skutnik makes particularly good use of heavy lines to add presence to the darker corners of the eponymous town, suggesting a sinister belly lies just underneath the sunny disposition. He's especially talented in giving tangibility to the hard textures of architecture. It gives the buildings a life and history of their own -- a blank wall is never just that -- which is very important as you'll be staring at them a lot.
Throughout each of the games is an unsettingly quietness, as if something is watching you, and doing its best to keep out-of-sight. That said, sometimes you will meet the inhabitants of the town and soon wish you hadn't. They're fond of staring, moving around behind your back, and working against your intentions. But who can blame them? It's you who has walked in on their turf during their personal time.
The Daymare Town series is worth playing for the eerie ambiance and peculiar architecture that you're left to fumble with; finding hidden passages, mechanisms, notes stuffed in holes. I particularly love learning how the strange, esoteric objects you find connect with the environment, or their significance to their owners.
There are some rough spots where a solution to a puzzle isn't as obvious as it should be, but that's easy to glean over due to the coalescence of art, puzzles, and mystery. - Chris
Play Daymare Town 1 here (Browser)
Play Daymare Town 2 here / Buy HD version for $2 (Browser, Windows, Mac)
Play Daymare Town 3 here / Buy HD version for $3 (Browser, Windows, Mac)
Play Daymare Town 4 here / Buy HD version for $5 (Browser, Windows, Mac)
Play Daymare Invaders here (Browser)
Play Daymare Kite here (Browser)
Play Daymare Cat here (Browser)
