1. Scanner Sombre is one of those games where you walk around until it's time to stop walking around. Don't worry, it's not terrible.
2. My problem w/ this genre is a lot of the games in it tend to feel like they are in love w/ themselves and drag on for hours too long. Scanner Sombre presses up to the allowable time threshold for such a game but does not cross it. It absolutely maximizes the amount of time you can spend in its strange, psychedelic cave world. I'd say this is pretty much hitting the mark.
3. This game looks like you took a fistful of hallucinogens, closed your eyes and imagined a cave.
4. It doesn't really look like that. Nothing you can create on a screen actually looks like that. The graphical presentation is truly unique though. The gameworld starts out pitch black and you can only see the world you're in after finding the titular sombre scanner. You use this thing to tag little multi-colored dots all over the place. You can't actually see anything just the dots you've sprayed around everywhere. This is hard to describe. I'm sorry. I'm terrible at this.
5. As cool as it looks, I think the sound design of Scanner Sombre impresses even more. You have to find the scanner based on sound alone and you can do so w/o a problem because the directional sound is so well done. It's good on more than just a technical level though. The haunting music and echoey sound effects draw you in and set the mood for the whole thing.
6. There is a horror element that is really emphasized by this bit of sound.The game is mostly quite quiet and sudden sounds are used to great effect in punctuating tense moments.
7. Gameplay won't surprise you much if you are familiar w/ the genre. You move along through the cave this is set in and more and more about your situation and surroundings is revealed to you as you move forward.
8. This uses text rather than voice acting for its narrative. I recognize that preferring to listen to the voices in my head over an actual human being has alarming connotations but not having a voiced protagonist helps me to better put myself in the player character's shoes.
9. You can die in Scanner Sombre but it is not really a great choice for those looking for a hardcore challenge. There are points where it's a bit tough to figure out what to do next but, really, just wandering around will get you where you are going eventually. Still, you have to put in just enough work that you are made to feel invested in your progress.
10. One of your primary rewards for progressing in Scanner Sombre is
upgrades to your sombre scanner. These are functional but more so than that, it just looks really cool to use them--so cool I would get excited when I'd hear a beep-beep-beeping upgrade off in the distance.
11. The fact that the cave's history and your own story are pretty interesting doesn't hurt your motivation either. You are left not only wondering about the history of the world but how you got there and where exactly you are supposed to be going. The cave's story is very grim and knowing that you are going to fit into it somehow lends a sense of foreboding to your journey.
12. I know how the title of this game is supposed to be pronounced but in my head sombre will always rhyme w/ hombre.
13. As per point 2, I think this type of game is often poorly done and I feel like developers often lose the player while they go building their beautiful worlds. Scanner Sombre provides just enough structure, challenge and reward to keep you absorbed for its duration. It is carefully constructed from start to finish to be not only visually and audibly striking but also compelling from a gameplay and world building perspective. I'm into it.
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