The Shape On The Ground (Steam Edition)

The way it's described on the steam store page + the reviews the Dev has linked there make this [strike]game[/strike] software sound fantastic, imo. And having played one of their previous titles I was inclined to believe this would be another worthwhile experience. To be honest though, the different endings + final readings aren't interesting at all. My final reading consisted of two words [spoiler] let go [/spoiler]. Other than enjoying looking at the artistic dioramas, I was just let down by how little enjoyment I got out of this title.

An interesting idea overall. Answering the question, walking around the map is pretty much everything, but that uncomfortably feeling that you are constantly being watched while answering what you see in this dark and strange imagery really has a great take on immersing player into this horror experience. Take a look at this title as an artistic horror experience, not a game. It's short, and I'm definitely getting back to this title again in the future. In my opinion, a quite nice title to have in your collection, as an artistic psychological piece.

About 16 minutes worth of entertainment. Not sure if I'd ever come back to this experience. It is creepy. However, my final reading was about as generic as a Public Service Announcement slogan. [b]Rate 5/10. Should be priced at .99 cents honestly.[/b]

That's the good weird shit that I live for

From the moment I laid my eyes on you, I knew that you were made for me.

Not much here to invest time wise or mind wise in my opinion judge for yourself if you wish.

veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeery accurate, surprisingly so. self-knowledge and exploration is very important. i think it's The Most Important Thing, really. props to the "game" for bringing this theme/activity to the screen.

Find 12 dioramas and choose answer from 3 choices to question "what do you see?". At the end you'll get an reading based on your choices.

Not for me I'm afraid. As the description says it's not a game, it's a quiet moment of introspection and a chance to be reflective. You come across 12 beautifully decorated dioramas, and answer a question at each one. And that's the meat of the experience. The game gets mileage out of these by having these dioramas be very non-specific, and intentionally "artsy", and the answers you have to choose from are equally vague. This culminates then in a specific final "reading" you get based on your answers and it is as vague as the previous answers but spread yet even more thin, like butter scraped over too much bread. And for me this just left me feeling more than a little bit unfulfilled. It's got me thinking at least to some degree - is actually wanting to be entertained an unfair ask when purchasing a piece of software? Am I incapable of self-reflection? But then I think, I'm not sure I care to answer those question, and will be putting that and this program swiftly out of my min...

Absolutely fascinating experience. The Shape on The Ground is a very niche piece of work, but has a unique excellence as a tool for esoteric introspection. As someone who is a tarot enthusiast, this experience is very much in the same style as a practical Tarot card reading as a tool for self reflection. The low-fi graphics are charming and efficient to their purpose, and the creativity of the dioramas is top notch. There is a wide variety of stuff to observe that is entertaining and thought provoking. The ambiance is subtle yet effective. It could very well be an early entry in a potential new genera of digital psychological experiences, which I am excited to see more of. The only areas where I could see improvement is giving a longer wait time between observation and delivering an answer (perhaps a more subtle button prompt), and I hit a crash at the end of my first run. Otherwise, had a great experience.