Out of Sight is a horror indie game developed by The Gang and published by Starbreeze Entertainment. The game was first seen on Icth.io and is now available as a full release on Steam. It puts you in the shoes of Sophie, a blind child trapped in a mysterious house. When you first awaken as Sophie, you learn that, as her, you can magically see through the eyes of her teddy bear, who she lovingly calls Teddy throughout the game.

Gameplay

As Sophie and Teddy, your job is to escape the house and evade capture by the local enforcer, Clayton. The house is full of noise-making obstacles such as mousetraps and chimes. Every time you start to make a sound, your screen will start to glow purple, so watch out when that happens. Using Teddy is very key to escaping the house and evading the two adults trying to catch you.

When the time comes for Sophie to use her hands, you put teddy down and use his eyes to see what you are doing. This is such a cool way to freshen up a title with this sort of gameplay loop. From climbing onto tables to turning keys, Sophie cannot do any of it unless she puts Teddy down. The game does a great job of making things very obvious though.

Not Too Puzzling

Each time there is a puzzle or a Teddy-less action, there will be a pink blanket which shows you where to place Teddy down. Sometimes Teddy will be placed on a moving platform, so part of the puzzles may be figuring out the best position for him. The puzzles themselves are fun and not too difficult to figure out, and there is no set progression of difficulty. However, some of the puzzles definitely take more brain power than others.

The puzzles involve moving furniture, gathering keys, pushing buttons, and pulling levers, and all of these tasks are fully interactive. When you pull a lever, you will need to grab it with one button and then pull the left analog stick in direction the switch needs to go. The movable furniture is also very obvious, and each piece you move has masking tape strips on them.

Not only are the puzzles fun and entice you to keep playing, there are also collectibles to find in some of the rooms. These are in the form of children’s toys and keepsakes, so make sure you always do a full sweep.

Graphics and Sound

The Gang does an amazing job with immersion. As you are crawling through ducts, dumb waiters, and the halls of the house, Sophie talks to Teddy. As you can imagine, the conversation is quite one sided. There are also the voices of Clayton and the main antagonist, who will remain nameless in this review. The “come out, come out wherever you are” banter from the oaf of an enforcer really adds to the atmosphere. The house also looks very old, so it does creak.

The music, as one hopes for a horror game, is spot on. This is especially obvious in the chase segments. The speed increase of the melodies in tenuous situations and slows down appropriately when you escape those certain situations really adds to the experience. Those slower moments are definitely a nice respite for your heartrate.

Much like the sound, the art style and graphics stand out. While a very simple style, it really takes you into the location. As expected, “this old house” is large and many of the ducts are cookie cutter. I would expect nothing else from an abode such as this. As you crawl through the tight passageways, you will come across cobwebs, passing mice, and eerie apparitions.

Sophie, herself, is your typical looking little girl in a video game except she has a red blindfold on. The reason she has this on will become clear as you play the game. Out of Sight uses the blindfold as a marker of sorts. If you are caught, you will see it on the ground as you move back into the area from the last checkpoint you respawned from.

Final Reaction

Out of Sight is a beautifully made, immersive experience, with some really cool mechanics. With a playtime of 5-6 hours, it is a perfect game for a completionist. Out of Sight is available today on Steam.

There is also a VR version in the works. Supporting indie developers is so important for the future of the gaming industry, and with a 20% introductory offer for the first week of release, definitely pick it up if you can.