Cootie Patootie

Introduction

Cootie Patootie is a short horror game created by AestheticGamer as part of the Ludum Dare 35 event. As such this game is rather short and clocks in at about 10 minutes or so once you've figured out how to traverse through the various chase sections of the game.

Story

On the story side of things Cootie Patootie is about a girl exploring a tunnel that leads to the heart of the Earth which will supposedly allow the main character to find love. A task that quickly takes a turn for the creepy and ends in a way that feels a bit out of left field.

Gameplay

In general you largely spend your time in this game exploring rooms and interacting with various objects. Though, at certain points in the game you'll need to run away from enemies that will kill you if they touch you. Thankfully, the game contains a rather helpful check point system so even if you get caught you won't lose that much progress.

On the downside the first chase section can be turned into a rather boring affair once you've worked out how to avoid all of the patrolling enemies. And, the second chase scene isn't that much better since you'll probably figure out the correct path after a few tries.

Graphics

On the graphical side of things the game is entirely custom which is both a strength and a major weakness in my opinion. On the plus side it means this game stands out from most of the RPG Maker games your likely to come across. On the downside the surreal nature of the art prevented me from connecting with the main character so I never felt like anything that was happening in the game was real. As such, I found this game to be more disturbing/creepy then scary.

Sound
Music: On the musical side of things the game also is a rather mixed bag for me. On one hand the sound track in this game is entirely custom as far as I can tell. On the downside the game also features a song that includes lyrics where the person singing makes my ears bleed. I suppose it may have been on purpose to a certain extent to make the song both high-pitched and annoying since it later downshifts in pitch and slows down in order to set a creepy atmosphere, but that isn't enough to make me like the song or like the fact that its included in this game.

Voice Acting: On the voice acting side of things the game is alright. Though, I imagine others will find it a bit irritating at times. Though, I suppose it does feel like a shift from the usual go happy voice you'd expect for a girl searching for love. Though, that shift from the usual does make sense considering how the game ends.

Conclusion

I suppose for an event game thrown together in less then 22 hours this game isn't that bad. On the other hand I find myself not liking it for reasons that are more subjective then objective in any sense. In fact, I'd love to give this game a 0.5 in revenge for my ears, but I'll try to be a bit more mature then that and simply refrain from giving this game a score.