Equipped with advanced tools, your mission is to detect, identify, and photograph extraterrestrials, each encounter involving unique behaviours and unpredictable dangers. Each mission is different: spawn areas, alien types, and phenomena are constantly changing. Some aliens are hostile, others are curious or even playful, but they are all watching you...

Use different tools to discover what type of alien you are dealing with

Sometimes relatively simple ideas can make for a good game, especially in the world of indie creators and UFOphilia is a perfect example of this.

It’s a first-person idiosyncratic science fiction horror adventure, which blends exploration, puzzle mechanics and mystery to create a unique experience. What it lacks in technical polish of bigger games it makes up for with its charming originality.

The game has an X-Files vibe about it; the game drops you into different locations and challenges you to discover clues about the alien hot spot. You're given different tools to try and discover what type of alien infestation you are dealing with. Solve the puzzles and discover the exact type of alien you’re dealing with means that you get to exit safely. Get it wrong and you may die.

You’ll find yourself traversing through environments where the dim lights flicker and danger lurks everywhere just outside of your torches beam.

The game has the slimmest of narratives, there is no character progression or story as such to enjoy, rather the developers have stripped it down to its most basic components. You are a UFO investigator who is following up leads of alien incursions. You must use your knowledge to work out what sort of alien you’re dealing with from the clues that are scattered about. Each place you visit demands that you use the right tool, there are different ones for each of the aliens. Track and identify it correctly and you can photograph the alien. Each successful encounter earns you points which can be used to buy new tools and open new locations.

Work out which alien you're investigating, and you won’t be abducted

Each of your tools has a specific function, like the ability to determine temperature. Some aliens can only exist in certain temperature ranges. As you use the various tools you build up a profile of the possible alien encounter. Get it right and you won’t be abducted.

Apart from the puzzling, one of the game's strongest elements is the creepy atmosphere it can generate with its use of lighting and sound design both of which contribute to the game’s suspenseful mood.

This is not to say the games does not have any faults. In the early part you’ll discover that there is no hand holding for the player and until you get the measure of the game this can be in parts both confusing and frustrating. Also, for players who are looking for a more dynamic experience, the game can feel slow.

Overall UFOphilia succeeds in offering an atmospheric horror experience with some good puzzling elements.

7

Charles Packer