"Vanish"

Vanish is a 2D top-down pixel-art horror game set in a disturbing prison-like setting. You play as Nineteen, a test subject who wakes up with no memories, inside a hostile, oppressive facility where survival is (literally) a twisted game. Through tense exploration, ominous atmosphere, and unsettling moments, you slowly piece together the disturbing truth of your circumstances.

The game unfolds over 40-60 minutes (for a first-time play-through, and not including extra "modes"), with a sharp focus on exploration and story telling. Featuring a mysterious and chilling environment, unique character interactions, and a simple Atari-like control scheme (4-directional movement and single action button), Vanish challenges players to uncover the dark secrets of the facility - and decide who, if anyone, can be trusted.

Nineteen (the player) is jolted awake by another test subject, Eleven, who warns that the next “game” is about to begin. Dressed like prisoners and stripped of memories, Nineteen struggles to understand what’s happening. A bell rings, and an announcer calls Nineteen to the Game Room, where failure or forfeit means certain death.

While searching for answers, Nineteen explores the facility, uncovering signs of cruelty and decay - vomit-stained halls, bloody handprints, and ominous symbols. Along the way, we get not-so-subtle hints that not only are these horrific games happening, but they're also being filmed and broadcast for an audience to enjoy and even gamble on. In a TV Room, Nineteen discovers what seems like the main control terminal for the games/facility (which is also implied to be "alive" within itself). The terminal and various books/journals reveal the facility’s "games" are systematic and run on point system:

• 1 Point: Unlocks lobby computer
• 3 Points: Revives the contestant should they die
• 5 Points: Escape
• 10 Points: Escape with your memories

As Nineteen plays the games - pulling levers, choosing pills, and surviving trials - he encounters two other subjects:

• Eleven, eerily calm and devout, who believes the facility’s trials are justified in the eyes of God
• Three, hardened and distrustful, is determined to win and escape at all costs, having already used his one “revive”

Time blurs as Nineteen starts documenting his experiences, desperate to preserve his thoughts before they’re erased. When he’s forced to play a game called "Bon Appetit," Nineteen chooses between two pills: “The Truth Hurts” or “Ignorance is Bliss” (a very Matrix-like situation, but instead this time choosing between life and certain death).

After successfully choosing the right pill, Nineteen begins noticing glitches in the system (the main terminal's "vitals" aren't reading anymore) and we hear from Three that Eleven has died. However, in a shocking moment, Nineteen is suddenly woken up one night and led by Eleven through a labyrinth of severed heads and corpses, culminating in Eleven’s own head on a pike. Awakening from the nightmare we find we're in, Nineteen discovers Three holding a hostage (facility employee) in the Server Room, trying to escape as the facility descends into chaos.

Further exploration reveals:

• The Disposal Room: filled with failed test subjects and journals from a previous escapee, who confirms the games are rigged and that the 5/10-point "escape" was never real anyway
• The Basement of the Disposal Room: a corpse's written plan to sabotage the system and escape failed, underscoring how futile resistance seems

Mistrust boils over when the hostage is later found dead, and Three accuses Nineteen of sabotage. The escape plan continues, and our characters get out of the facility, but the cracks widen as an external narrative reveals that the facility’s administrators are keeping tabs and now cleaning house: "Agent S" reports to his Supervisor that three subjects escaped; and in the last moments of the game, it's revealed that Eleven had faked his death and successfully escaped during Nineteen and Three's exploits (he was the body in the basement), while the other two are being tracked in the van they stole - sure to soon face their ends.

[ Kumu Map charting Character-to-Plot relationships within the story of the game: ]

Vanish explores dehumanization and the ease with which cruelty is normalized (and sometimes even encouraged or enjoyed), particularly when systems reduce people to numbers. The story asks: What would you do to survive? What price is too high? The test subjects - stripped of their names, memories, and humanity - are reduced to entertainment, highlighting the dangers of such moral complacency.

• Exploration Focus: Players navigate the facility, unlocking story events by interacting with key objects, characters, and rooms
• Unique Interactions: Nearly every sprite has a unique text interaction, immersing players in the facility’s eerie lore
• Simple Mechanics: Navigate with arrow keys and interact with a single action button, ensuring the focus remains on storytelling
• Atmospheric Design: The ominous soundscape and subtle pixel-art visuals create a claustrophobic and oppressive atmosphere

Vanish is a solid time. The main things I appreciate about it are the length, play-style, and story. It's fun to try and unravel the big mystery on your own before it's told to you outright (whether through books/items, characters, or other non-essential/world-building rooms). It's an incredibly accessible game, not only regarding the control scheme (that even people who don't play games can easily get used to), but also because it's entirely playable in a browser - no reason not to give it a shot if you're interested. The pixelated art-style is probably exactly what you might expect, and while it's not visually breathtaking, it definitely serves its purpose. Additionally, because it's not very intensive, and all the visuals are clear-cut, it motivates the player to check out anything and everything that may stand out (which is even rewarded by the developer, as most everything has some kind of text or interaction to discover). I also appreciated the soundtrack, which is pretty understated generally, but incorporates a lot of creepy, droning ambience that adds to the whole effect. As alluded to with the length, Vanish also doesn't waste your time. You hit play and you're thrown into the story - and even if you're the type of player who likes to look under every single nook and cranny, it doesn't take more than an hour to experience. If there was anything I'd like to see different about it, I think it'd be cool to get another chapter focused on either playing or seeing how Eleven was able to make his escape under everybody's (even the player's) noses. Overall, Vanish is a great game with a creepy and impactful story that clearly has something to say, and I would certainly recommend it to any interested.