Jonathan Lorenz

@jonathanlorenz.bsky.social

Indie gamedev from Belgium | Totally Convenient | Pawggle | Working on REWIND AND RECLAIM : a turn based horror adventure inspired by 90's horror movies that I love! Wishlist it now s.team/a/2669250

Rumors speak of a fisherman who emerges from the sea at night to attack anyone who approaches the harbor. The cold storage room, which is supposed to be out of service, is locked and emits an unpleasant odor.

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Beyond Dark Castle (1987) by Silicon Beach Software Explore the castle, dungeons, forests, a clocktower, and defeat rats, snakes, executioners, and weird monsters. I loved the variety in scenery and challenges. Before that, the best looking game I had was a version of Chess!

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Alone In The Dark (1992) by Infogrames It was such a unique game at the time it launched. Needless to say my young self didn’t understand what I was supposed to do, but I loved the simplicity and the mood of the game. Spend hours exploring the manor and dying.

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Haunting Starring Polterguy (1993) You play as a ghost who interact with its environment to haunt objects and scare a family. I loved trying out different objects in the environment to figure out how to puzzle them together to achieve your goals. Spooky!

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Dark Seed 2 (1995) by Cyberdreams Another weird FMV point and click. You explore a world full of nightmarish (and pixelated) sceneries to get your memory back and investigate your girlfriend’s murder. It’s like a proto Harvester but with some H.R. Giger’s artworks!

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Harvester (1996) by DigiFX Interactive Back then, we thought the future of video game graphics was digitalized pictures. In the golden age of FMVs, Harvester was one of my favorites with its awesome B movie vibes. You could attack every NPCs. Pretty unique for a point and click.

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Sanitarium (1998) by Dreamforge Intertainment : We’re in 98, I told a friend I like point and clicks, he gave me a CDRom with a dismal eye on it. I was expecting a Lucas Art-like game. Boy was I wrong. Dark, weird, moody, unsettling. I was shocked, and in love with it.

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Shadow Man (1999) by Acclaim Studios Teeside An action/ puzzle/ exploration/ platformer (like most games around 2000). I remember an industrial style cathedral, metroidvania mechanics, voodoo stuffs, the fight against Jack The Ripper... The game made a great impression on me at the time.

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American McGee’s Alice (2000) from Rogue Entertainment The BEST adaptation of Alice in Wonderland (sequel is also great). The level design is mind blowing : rooms are warping, floors become ceilings, walls become platforms … Never find anything quite like it, and it’s 25 yo.

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Splatterhouse (2010) by BottleRocket A brutal and uninhibited game, with satisfying kills, a great soundtrack, and a simple but effective story. The game includes some nods to the previous installments. It's more on the pop side of horror, but it still counts.

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Dead Space 2 (2011) by Visceral Games A great sequel that perfected the formula of the first one. Exploring the ship full of different sceneries and grotesque creatures felt dangerous and rewarding. Again, the overall mood is what makes the game stick to me.

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The Darkness 2 (2012) by Digital Extremes Loved the visions of your dead girlfriend and how they blend in with the game. The mood of the psychiatric hospital serving as a hub was both creepy and comforting. The good and bad ending choice left me genuinely asking myself what was the best option.

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Bloodborne (2015) by FromSoftware The horror doesn't just come from the desolate atmosphere of Yharnam, the nightmarish monster designs, or the haunting soundtrack. It also comes from the terror of losing your progress after making significant headway in hostile territory.

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The Evil Within 2 (2017) by Tango Gameworks One of my favorite games in terms of monster design. It’s a great mix of creepy and beautiful, organic and mechanical, familiar and unexpected. The chase sequences, while being heavily scripted, are one of the best parts of the game imho.

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