Night of the Cephalopods

By: Derek Yu

On: December 1st, 2008

I thought this was rather apropos, considering our Lovecraftian Commonplace Book Compo just ended (voting will start this week)! Night of the Cephalopods is a simple, top-down action game where you have to survive until dawn with only a shotgun and a box of shells. Originally conceived at the Toronto-based Artsy Games Incubator, the interesting aspect of NotC is its prodigious use of voice-over (TIGdb) to lugubriously narrate the events that unfold. Everything from room changes to running out of ammunition is caught by the player character’s rambling inner monologue, to hilarious effect.

NotC’s gameplay feels deliberately slow, and claustrophobic, which adds weight to the dreadful narrative. I liked that. But something feels slightly underwhelming to me about the actual gameplay… maybe it’s because there’s nowhere to go after you’ve visited all of the rooms in the game (and there aren’t many). Because there’s not enough to see or do, the goal quickly ends up being finding ways to trigger all the voiceovers, rather than survival. It’s still a really charming game, though.

TIGdb: Entry for Night of the Cephalopods

(Source: Mr. Langosta, via Sensible Erection [NSFW-ish])