Varney Lake Reviews
The follow-up to Mothmen 1966 is another fascinating, spooky treat.
On the surface, Varney Lake is just more of the Pixel Pulp adventure we got from the excellent Mothmen: 1966. Yet Varney Lake's story of childhood interrupted by a chance encounter with a vampire is a more captivating one.
Varney Lake is another strong showing for LCB Game Studio. Any fan of horror or visual novels will enjoy this one.
Minimalism breeds great impact in this adventure, with a sparse narrative approach allowing the game’s inner mystery to grow deeply as the corners of its story darken. Its lack of interactivity renders players largely as passive observers of an unfolding tale, but this powerlessness arguably strengthens Varney Lake. As summer dies, you can only watch in horror as each story beat unfurls.
Ultimately, I had a great time with Varney Lake. The story is well told and features a surprising amount of replay value. While I personally didn’t love the mini-games, they don’t do much to detract from the experience. If you’re a fan of tales of woe and love reading good stories, give this one a shot. It’s incredibly affordable and very enjoyable.
Varney Lake is a charming addition to an interesting game franchise. Seeing returning characters come back with a fresh new story to tell, working an X-Files and Stranger Things vibe, isn’t a bad thing at all.
Varney Lake is a wonderful experience that combines visual novels with puzzles, heartwarming nostalgia with chilling terror, all in a classic pixel style.
Varney Lake is a great interactive story, presented in a way that’ll appeal to casual readers and tome-spelunkers alike. The story is interesting, the characters are great, and the modest $10 price tag reflects the game’s shorter run time.
Aside from some odd (and not always fun) distractions, this has an engaging (though pretty brief) story to take in
Varney Lake tries to be a compelling thriller that obviously wants to keep its players guessing. The narrative lacked in its ability to keep me entertained and wanting to know what actually happened during that summer. What kept me interested was the way it looked, sounded and made me feel. It pulls off the "pixel" elements but very much fails to live up to the exciting, suspenseful narrative of the pulp fiction genre. If you're into game and audio design, or love the pixel artstyle , you may be able to forgive this, but if you're looking for a narrative that will have you clicking your mouse for more, best look elsewhere.
With a low play time of 2 hours or less, I would definitely recommend this game if you are at all interested. The story is engaging, even though it ends abruptly. You might feel yourself wanting more, but if you save your progress along the way, you can go back and complete those mini games you might have skipped or try to find the secret scenes. there isn’t much to dislike about this charming installment other than it ends too soon.
There’s connective tissue between LCB Game Studios’ games, so your experience with Varney Lake will be enhanced by having played Mothmen 1966 prior to it. It’s a short story video game that doesn’t take up your time, and is a great palate cleanser from other games you’re currently playing. I’m really excited for what’s in store next, and am enjoying how these play out. Varney Lake feels like PC adventure games of old, and will take you back to those summer or rainy nights of gaming, for a truly visual and aural treat of the senses.