From Indie With Love – Slayaway Camp

I never used to be much of a fan of puzzle games. Part of that’s because I’m stupid, but I always thought the majority of them are boring. You play one, you’ve played them all. But these days, there’s more variety in the puzzle gaming scene than ever. You’ve got games like EchoChrome and the upcoming Gorogoa that are trying different things. There’s also Slayaway Camp, which for all I know is the most unique puzzle game in the world. It certainly feels like a breath of fresh air.

A Bloody Good Time

Slayaway Camp puts you in the shoes of a serial killer, and it’s your job – no, your destiny – to guide this killer to his victims. Now that’s a pretty gruesome concept, but the game livens things up with some clever ideas. The first is that you’re not really a killer, you’re an actor. Each level is framed around a movie – Slayaway Camp, Slayaway Camp 2, Slayaway With a Vengence, Live Free or Slay Away, that kind of thing. You select levels at a video store, there’s “director commentary” in the bonus levels detailing behind the scenes accidents, and you get paid based on how well you perform kills between levels – which comes down to a QTE.

The game is bursting with humor. The cutscenes are all spoofs of famous horror movies and the voice over is delightfully ridiculous. The kills themselves are all equally absurd, like throwing a beehive at somebody or stomping on someone like they’re a goomba. This is further sold by each of the kills having silly names, like Farewell to Arms when you chainsaw someone’s arms off or “pun-cushioned” when you shoot someone with a nail gun. The game oozes cheese like a melting Wisconsin dairy factory.

For more about this devilishly awesome puzzle game, check out the video above, or on our YouTube channel if you like clicking things.