Like Clay Demo

Mysteries are not always very intriguing in real life, mainly because there are not nearly enough terrible monsters or ghosts in the real world. Thankfully, we’ve got books, movies and video games to keep our imagination active. Hence, it’s always fun to explore interesting environments and participate in exciting mysteries without any actual consequences.

Like Clay is a first-person adventure game with puzzle elements and a bit of horror in it to tie things together, completed by simple gameplay mechanics and decent graphics. Don’t expect a truly terrifying experience either, because this is not a hardcore horror flick. Even so, the suspense is enough to raise your heartbeat, especially if you are in the right mood.

It all starts when the main character’s college friend disappears all of a sudden, and he is the only one interested in what happened. In short, your job is to start at your friend’s place and follow the clues in order to find out what went wrong. Notes, misplaced objects and a few other things help you along, but the puzzles are not very difficult to solve.

You interact with the environment using simple mouse clicks, so it’s not a very complex recipe. On the other hand, it can be pretty difficult to spot the items that might be useful, especially since the interface is very lightweight and basic. The horror elements are not particularly intrusive either, but they are noticeable when you find yourself in the dark with strange sounds all around you.

As for the graphics, they are not ugly, but don’t expect anything too great either, given the fact that everything is kept as simple as possible when it comes to textures and post-processing effects. It’s a bummer that most of the environments look very similar, given the repetitive level design, but every now and again there’s a bit of originality as well, which helps a lot with the atmosphere.

In the end, Like Clay is far from a memorable game with engaging new ideas, but it’s interesting enough to keep you busy for a while. The horror elements are quite well integrated, even if there’s no real sense of fear.