Normal games for normal people, that’s what everyone loves. Cosy experiences where nothing goes wrong and you have absolutely zero things to investigate and no otherworldly mysteries to worry about. It may shock you to learn that we were recently duped by “normal” gardening sim Grunn, which was not normal at all. But don’t worry, it won’t happen again. Today we bring you the ordinary and not-one-bit-suspicious Trip, which sees players wandering from carriage to carriage, chatting pleasantly with passengers during a long train journey. How long? Let me look at the timetable here, let’s see… “Forever,” it says. Hm. Must be a misprint.
Oh, all right, I’ll admit it. Trip is actually a dreamlike mystery that throws several curveballs at you quite quickly. Why do all these carriages look so familiar? How did this gym freak mange to bring a treadmill on board? Why is that child staring eerily into the corner and muttering in an indecipherable language? I don’t know. But I reckon if I keep travelling up the train cars, I’ll find ou– oh. Oh no.
You can play for yourself – the game is offering a demo as part of Steam Next Fest. It’s very short, barely 10 or 15 minutes long, and showcases some real crispy retro visuals. Mmmm, dithering. I also like the scenery that passes outside the train as it speeds smoothly along. The multi-coloured fish leaping out of the water, a lonely house on the horizon, seemingly floating on clouds. It’s like a purgatorial, claustrophobic Sludge Life.
It’s made by Bastien Mahaut, aka “Bastinus Rex”, who has some form in the Haunted PS1 community (that explains the retro visuals). In previous game Hamelin, you play as a rat skittering across the rafters in a reinterpretation of the Pied Piper’s story. In 10 Hours Below you scrub through a timeline of footage in which a house is steadily overcome by the ocean tide, in hopes of spotting aquatic monsters. Trip looks a little more lighthearted than those, but still retains an element of spooks. You’ll see.