Typically indie games, much like their movie counterpart Fan Films, are made by fans with lots of ideas but unfortunately very little affinity in the chosen medium of their project. There are, of course, exceptions to the rule, those rare gems with the potential to become wordwide phenomenons like Peggle, Plants vs Zombies and Angry Birds. And while we doubt that Sience of the Sleep will reach out to such a wide audience as those games, we still expect it to be a huge hit once the game is finished.
Made solely by one man, Finnish 25 year old Jesse Makkonen, Silence of the Sleep is an eerie, chilling, unnerving game that within the first ten minutes will have you and your nerves on the edge of your seat. The game is reminiscent of many movie and videogame classics of yesteryear - the animation conjures memories of the original Prince of Persia, while the puzzle and exploration elements remind of the legendary Monkey Island series, and the monsters and setting of the game feel like an unholy melding of the chilling Silent Hill and Stephen King's The Shining.
The game and its many characters are presented in silhouette against a background of, usually, sombre tones and faded color grades that add to the settings feel of abandon. With a torchlight to light your path of darkened rooms you can walk left and right, opening doors, examining objects and collecting key items, navigating through the games many puzzles all the while questioning the games NPCs and avoiding any encounters with the games nightmarish creatures. All to the eerie and unsettling original score that seemlessly adapts to the situation, adding to the feel of dread and panic. Added little details such as dust caught in the cone of light from the light fittings, and out-of-focus interiors of rooms glimpsed through an open door all add to the games feel of quality.
The opening 13 minutes of the game, as seen in the video below, start with our main character seemingy commiting suicide only to wake up in the delapidated and abandoned "Moonlight Motel". After meeting a mysterious bar-tender, whom gives you a room key and a torchlight, you are free to explore the Motel, but your fumblings soon attract the atention of a strange mannequin-esque creature...
As mentioned earlier, the game is as-of-yet incomplete, but the developer Jesse Makkonen is hoping to release the game via Steam Greenlight by the 1st October. Furthermore, Jesse is looking for translators capable of helping him translate the games 3,500 lines of English text, so that his game can be played in German, Russian, Spanish, Italian, French, Brazilian Portuguese and Japanese. And while he cannot offer translators any income, he will gladly add any translators to the games end credits.
Interested in helping Jesse complete his debut game, or just interested in playing this potential indie classic, then why not head over to the games official site over at www.Silence of the Sleep.com, but dont forget your flashlight.
