Andrea Baroni’s Midway to Daybreak is unbelievably bleak for a sport you may play from begin to end in about 10 minutes. I imply that as a praise; it’s the very best horror expertise I’ve had on the Playdate but.
As somebody who tends to gravitate in the direction of all issues spooky, one of many issues I’ve been most thinking about as I discover what’s on the market for Playdate is seeing how builders will make horror work for the bizarre little handheld. Midway to Daybreak takes a blended strategy: within the first half, it’s a text-based narrative sport the place you’re scavenging for assets and readying your self for the lengthy evening forward; within the second, it’s an all-out combat on your life in opposition to an onslaught of eldritch creatures.
Midway to Daybreak wastes no time in setting a temper of desolation and impending doom, starting with dialogue from our protagonist about feeling “as lifeless as these scattered remains of humanity” in a metropolis overtaken by some unnamed terror. Through the narrative portion of the sport, you need to select amongst totally different areas to go to — the mall, pharmacy, gun retailer and a home — so you may hopefully discover issues like first assist kits, weapons, ammo and traps. However there’s no telling whether or not every of those journeys can be profitable.
You may discover a field of shotgun shells however by no means get your palms on a shotgun to really use them. You may even get damage whereas scavenging. There may be additionally the choice to relaxation, which is able to refill your well being bar (when you’ll begin with full well being on Simple mode, Onerous will begin you with two out of the six well being factors already depleted). However an hour will move after every choice, and it’s a must to keep aware of the time. The clock begins at 6PM, and as soon as it strikes 1AM, you’ll be compelled to exit and defend your self in opposition to the monsters till daybreak.
At this level, the sport turns into a top-down shooter — and relying on the way you fared with assets, a fairly difficult one at that. Monsters can be closing in on you from all sides, a few of them more durable to take down than others, and you may solely replenish ammo and first assist kits out of your finite provide at set breaks marking the passage of 1 hour. Should you run out earlier than then, you’ll haven’t any alternative however to attempt to combat off the monsters with a knife, which you’ll swing utilizing the crank. That’s about as efficient as you’d assume it’s.
Midway to Daybreak is a really, very brief sport, but it surely actually had me sweating on some runs. It’s a enjoyable one to maintain coming again to, for the reason that randomness of useful resource assortment makes for a special expertise every time. And the strain of all of it is completely rounded out by a synth-heavy soundtrack (accessible on Bandcamp), which could possibly be proper out of an ‘80s B-horror film. If creepy is your factor, that is undoubtedly a sport to take a look at. Midway to Daybreak is on the Playdate Catalog and itch.io for $5.
