Your Toy Review

Everyone has those toys that are forgotten about, left at home, maybe in an attic. Gathering dust and not being used. But what if these lifeless things we take for granted had a soul of its own? What if it feels abandonment and pain, we explore this in Your Toy, a creepy escape room sort of horror game. Your Toy takes from the likes of Resident Evil Biohazard (minus the actual terrifying nature of that game) and exploits the first-person perspective in horror.

I will admit, the first section of the game is in the restroom. I was rather scared, I won’t lie. I have played the Outlast games, all Resident Evil games and more, yet this put the shivers in me… I seem to be frightened of anything childish it appears. The atmosphere in the first section is great, it can be spooky and can have you right where the game wants you. For the first half an hour to an hour of gameplay the £5 seems worth it! But… after I saw the ‘big bad’ our ‘villain’- no spoilers as to what it is, though if you’ve seen the trailer it’ll spoil it anyway. But the reveal of the bad guy seems to ruin the rest of the game for me. It is no longer scary; the atmosphere seems immature and tedious at times after the first section and the bad guy turns into more of a nuisance than anything scary.

So yes, the atmosphere does seem to dip after the first section, but the horror is not the best thing about this game. Most of your time will be spent solving puzzles, which can be difficult. I say it can be difficult because, if you’re used to any other horror game which involves solving puzzles to advance and find clues, you will overthink this game… so much. Think basic and simple, that’s my advice, look at everything, most of the solutions are obvious. I kind of liked the fact that the solutions were not what I expected, it made me frustrated- hell yes, but it kept me playing. I’m not the best at puzzles anyway, so many others will probably disagree and say they finished the puzzle sections without trouble. Yet I’m not saying I would rage quit but it was an interesting change having things literally right in front of you, plain and simple. As well as the puzzles though the setting in this game is very well done, as I say the beginning is very effective in adding to the mood, and the bedroom can also appear to add tension, yet it just isn’t scary.

The graphics are also nice looking and don’t seem to fault mid game or anything major. The bad guy disappeared from chasing me at one point, like I literally saw him vanish from right behind me, which may need to be patched, as it happened more than once. Apart from the disappearing act though the graphics are very well done for this sort of game I think, it adds to the scary feeling at the beginning of the game, which yes again is lost, but not due to graphical fault.

The game is very short, it took me about 2 and a half hours, but that was due to me looking at everything and getting all the achievements. I do wish the game was a little longer for selfish reasons, not necessarily making the puzzles harder, but maybe just one more setting or room to explore. Yet the game seems worth it for the price you pay. I personally predicted the plot twists and facts before they were revealed, but it is still an interesting story that should be given its credit. To get the most story and game time out of this game I suggest looking for all the collectible material, such as notes. Personally, I found them hard to miss, as well as the achievements, they didn’t seem difficult to get at all, so you may find yourself collecting everything and getting 100% on achievements without breaking a sweat. I feel obliged to add that a lot of my play time was added by whenever I had to turn the game off to do something or to leave my house, I was taken back a fair bit in my progress, so had to catch up again. It can become tedious, I advise waiting until you see the saving icon, even though it does save in between, or even until you change scenery/ setting as it is shouldn’t set you back in this instance.

Your Toy is a good puzzle game in my opinion but happens to be lacking what it takes to be a good horror game, I would in no way say it was terrible, as it has the story and the setting potential, it is just the execution which could use the work, as being chased in circles to advance the story does not sound like my idea of fun- I don’t know about you, but no not my cup of tea. Regardless I enjoyed Your Toy, and the ending left me feeling satisfied, the game feels worth what is paid, but be mindful that you will most probably gain all the achievements and substance form the game in your first playthrough, so there will be next to no chance of replay ability. Even with all my criticism, the game has a charm and I will say I did enjoy it and do not regret playing it so give Your Toy a chance.

REVIEW CODE: A FREE Microsoft Xbox One code was provided to Brash Games for this review. Please send all review code enquiries to editor@brashgames.co.uk.

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