https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bteZ0isWaqk

Really short indie horror game where you close up a small food stall and try to survive the walk back home. The atmosphere is great and the story starting point was pretty ok, but the ending felt really rushed and came out of nowhere. Clean up the shop, walk through dark alleys, get spooked, repeat. Worth a try if you like quick psychological horror.

This one falls into that niche horror genre where you work the night shift, serving customers who stop by to share stories while a killer is on the loose somewhere in the city. This time, you're working at a lugawan, a small stall that serves traditional Filipino rice porridge.

Your little stall sits beside the main road, where the occasional car passes by, and after every shift you have to walk through a dark alley on your way home. Your job is to greet the customers as they arrive, listen to them chat about their day and the strange events happening around town, especially the rumors about someone lurking in the shadows, and then serve whatever they order.

Even without a tutorial, it's all very easy to figure out because there isn't much to learn. You grab a plate, interact with the pot to prepare the food, and place it in front of the customer. You'll also need to bring them either a glass of water or a bottle of Coke. Once they leave, you collect the money from the table, clean up, and get ready for the next customer. At the end of each shift, you wash the dishes, switch off the lights, and make your way home through the alley that’s not scary at all, because nothing exciting happens.

The visuals also play a big part in creating that uneasy atmosphere. They follow the familiar style seen in many indie horror games, with blocky environments and simple textures that resemble games from the era before modern graphics cards. The most disturbing detail has to be the characters, who have real human faces plastered onto basic humanoid models. It looks bizarre, and somehow that makes it even creepier.

The story unfolds over three nights, with a few extra tasks mixed in alongside serving customers. Everything is straightforward, and whenever you need to pick up a specific item or interact with a certain spot, it flashes to make sure you don't miss it. The game is also incredibly short, with nothing interesting happening, and you can easily finish it in around half an hour with a very unsatisfying ending.

Based on the achievements, though, there seem to be multiple endings. I honestly have no idea how to unlock them. My first thought was that they depended on the dialogue choices you make while talking to customers, but I finished the game twice and got the exact same ending both times. At this point, I'm starting to think the achievements might just be bugged.

I didn't dislike ESKINITA, but it wasn't really for me.

The story had potential and I liked the overall idea, but the game felt rushed from beginning to end. Just when I thought things were about to get interesting, it was already moving on. I never really got the chance to connect with the story or feel genuinely scared.

It's not a bad game by any means, I just think it needed more time to fully develop its ideas. I would've loved to see the atmosphere and story explored a little further.

My rating: 6.5/10

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKKpKr84MJc