SIMULACRA Reviews

*SPOILER FREE REVIEW*

The idea behind “SIMULCARA” itself is great and the overall design and ease of gameplay were really well done, however it wasn’t enough to excuse the hokey acting, unintentionally hilarious dialogue, and ridiculous twist ending.

There is very little problem-solving or puzzle elements that this game offers: instead we (the players) are left with HUGE chunks of the story involving “texting” and “messaging” random characters back and forth over and over in order to advance the plot. This was not the experience I was hoping for. There were certain elements to the story that I wish got explored more that were kind of tossed to the wayside to make way for *more* texting.

Despite all of that, the biggest letdown here has to be the lack of thrills; sure its got some good jump-scares here and there, but that’s essentially it. Like I said earlier the idea of the haunted phone narrative is certainly a good one, but how the creators executed it? It’s just not scary!

This game will most likely appeal to you if you are a young teen, enjoy B horror movies, are disturbed very easily, and/or play those “scary” text-simulator stories. If you want something that’ll leave a lasting impression or keep you up at night, you’re going to be disappointed. There were some good elements here, but not enough to keep me interested or excited. Pass.

I cringed a lot throughout the story but it was good enough that it kept me hooked. I wanted to find out what happens at the end, and wow the story makes no sense at all. The game itself is good and the fact that it doesn’t hold your hand makes it even better, it doesn’t rush you to finish the story, it gives you the information and you have to figure out what to so with it, I liked that a lot. I didn’t care about Anna or any other character in the game, the characters aren’t relatable at all but I liked the fact that they all had backstories, just not interesting ones. All in all, not bad. The story makes no sense but the game itself is good, I like.

I like the detective style puzzles, and the implementation of the fake apps and such. What I didn’t like were the farcical characters that I didn’t care about in the end. Both Taylor and Greg were caricatures and hard to relate too, and Anna and her forgettable friend were really shallow. I did like the over arching idea of the story, but all the pictures an msgs were pretty dull.

Also, in terms of realism, I think if you make it so the incoming calls are just voicemails instead, it would make a lot more sense, and if the gameplay simply stuck to piecing together evidence and not interacting with the people in her life it would be a lot more tense and immersive.

Thanks though, I totally enjoyed solving your puzzles, and I look forward to more of this genre of game...

I love this game! I love the tasks you have to do and the mystery is amazing to solve, but I was a little disappointed at how limited you are in doing things, like you only get notifications from the people you are supposed to talk to, jabbr, or the emails you get when stuff is backed up into the phone. I would’ve liked to have seen more interactions with other characters like the parents, (I was really surprised the mother didn’t text or call at least once) or more interaction between Greg and Taylor to where they make up and work together. I would’ve loved to see an ending where Greg can be killed instead (unless I just haven’t figured that out yet) or being able to kill both. Also we don’t ever find out what happened to Toby (anna’s cat). There weren’t a lot of jump-scares and I do hope more get added. overall though, an amazing game, I think if you just added a few things would be perfect! Love your work!

I have been looking for a game like this for years! I’ve always been interested in text-based story telling, such as apps like Hooked where stories are told through text messages. This game is all that and more. It kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time and has a good story line. Plus, the ending was such a plot twist! I enjoyed having to look for clues throughout the phone and that I got to talk to so many different characters. Though I do find I am left with a few unanswered questions— what happened to Tobias the cat? Why, throughout the entirety of Anna missing, did her mother never try to make contact or ask where she was?

This game is a really neat idea, and it’s really well executed. It was very fun to poke around in someone’s phone - I also thought the story itself was well plotted. The only thing I found frustrating was that the writing wasn’t 100% doing it for me - stylistically it was okay, but there were some weird grammatical errors (noun/verb agreement and some odd word choices) that took me out of it. I did enjoy the accurate amount of swearing for 22 year olds looking for a missing person! But I think a little polish on the writing would go a long way (especially since it’s such a text-heavy game). All in all, a very fun experience and well worth the price.

This game is very fun to play when you need something to do. It’s a great sequel to Sara is Missing, but you can play it without having placed SIM. There’s a lot to uncover, whether it be juicy or not, and a lot of different paths to play. I won’t give away anything, but there are many, many hidden secrets, all worth exploring.

The acting of Anna is awful, I’ll say that much. Some of the audio clips could have just been shown through text and were largely unnecessary, as well as the calls that come in. Can’t even reach your own voicemail. Taylor’s actor did great though, and you’ll grow to appreciate some of the characters. Overall, not worth an entire $5, but if you’ve got the money, why not?

I haven’t even finished this game yet but so far it really cool. After playing Sara is missing, it really seems to be the tutorial for this game. I see why charge it for the amount of money that the developer charges. The programming put into making it as real as possible to an actual smart phone interface. There were moments where I really felt like I was talking to these characters, and actually trying to solve this mystery. My only question for the developer(s) is why call this game this app? I’m genuinely curious about where the name for this game comes from and what it represents in terms of this game.

Game was very fun! Only thing I didn't like were the couple of jumpscares and random noises*.
Fun and interesting little story, too! Clues weren't so difficult as to be frustrating but weren't just handed to me either. Definitely recommend!

(*STOP READING IF YOU DON'T WANT A WARNING ABOUT THEM) the game will periodically make little noises throughout. I mostly heard little knocking like it was coming from one headphone and later, another. I've also seen people say they heard laughter and whispers(?). And I think there are about 4(?) short jumpscares where the background of the "phone" will change to something frightening and make a quick, loud noise. They were off-putting – especially since jumpscares put me in an angry mood more than anything.

I loved this and stayed up way past when I should be asleep to finish it because I knew I wouldn’t be able to stop thinking about it if I didn’t. Quite a few jump scares. I’ve only played once through, and the ending was really interesting. If you’ve ever been on dating apps and actively involved in social media this will most certainly creep you out. Some of the acting (Greg!) was beyond horrible but others were so believable as their characters (Anna). At times, I truly got so immersed and engaged with the story line that I kind of felt like I actually found someone’s phone. I fought with my natural instincts a lot during text conversations, so it will be interesting to play through again and try different approaches and see what happens. I killed Taylor and I’m pretty sure Anna died, too. Whoops! Have fun with this game! Totally worth five bucks.

I was skeptical when I first got this game that it would have enough ‘features’ on the phone to make it feel real. Well, hats off to the developers. The game is interesting, it pulls you in, but it also has substance and enough complexity that you really feel like you’re using someone else’s phone. There are several apps, lots of conversations to be had, clues to figure out, things to unscramble. I played for hours yesterday to beat it, and it turns out there are multiple endings, so I think I will try again. If you are like me and have ever done any investigating on the internet, you’ll love this game. It even has multiple game-only websites you have to use. I also just want to shout out to the actors in the game. You all did great. You seemed like regular people which was perfect for what was going on. Great game!

This game. Y’all don’t know how amazing it was to experience this type of game. The jump scares are ever so entertaining that I almost broke my phone by dropping them to the floor. This is a must for everyone that wants to dig deep into secrets. You devs need to Create another game that’s similar as to this one but another type of twist into the game. More or so like the first one but also be the same as this game too. Plus, make the game extra longer and make it a little more challenging too so that we need our knowledge to know what we need to uncover the story. I apologize for the long review. I’m just so freaking happy that I got to play a game that actually made me jump up not once, not twice, but a couple. You guys friggin made it awesome. Hopefully you guys have another coming soon. Cannot wait to play it if it’s released soon or in the near future.

I didn’t really play that many horror games, when I saw this games I thought “oh a cool concept for a game I’ll check it out”. I forgot to read what is main thing about and I was astonished and creeped out how this game played and how your choices depend on the games ending and how you develop like these other conclusions of “where did this person go or why did this person did this”. The characters you meet, the details on the phone and the story just fascinated me so much. So if you never played a horror game and want to play one for starters play this and yes it is worth 5 dollars of your purchase.

I found this game when it was available for free over a limited time and figured I would give it a shot, not knowing anything about it but recognizing it as something several YouTubers have played, and I’m SO glad that I gave it that chance. I wound up playing it nonstop until I completed my first ending, and I certainly have plans to play it through again to see what else I can find. It’s so delightfully disturbing, indicated by the fact that I certainly didn’t expect to get jumpscared by a game that took place entirely on a phone’s interface. Wonderfully done!!

this game was so well made and extremely addicting. there is more than one ending meaning i’m definitely going to play again to see what i can do with the other options. considering it’s just a game, i did get quite frightened at time which really kept it feeling real. this would be extremely fun with a group as well, deciding choices together. headphones would have made this experience even scarier as there were random noises every once in a while that scared me. overall a great mystery game with a super cool ending!

I’m not really one to get scared by horror games; it takes a really special one to make me do more than jump a little. This one had me jumping, backing away from the phone, and at points I even went “Oh no no no no no”. It made me care about the characters involved and forced me to do things I didn’t want to do. It’s a game, but somehow it feels so, so, so real. It feels as if my actions have dire consequences and put this awful pit in my stomach that only an amazing horror game can do. The story moves at a great pace, and even the trickier parts aren’t excessively hard. It pulled me in, almost had me worried that something bad would happen to me personally. All that, and I’ve only explored one ending so far. Truly a great game, Simulatra was more than worth the money.

TLDR: This game made me FEEL, something that the horror genre has very rarely done for me.

It took me a long time to finish it, but it has many freaky things, and my only thing I Wondered was did you use real people for the photos, other than that a well done game was made, I did have many thoughts on it, like why include other parts of her life, or why her out of millions of people, it was a very good game but many things was a little off to me, like why was she targeted out of every person in her life you could of used, but a good game I would say but answer me this... WHY WOULD YOU CREATE SOMETHING LIKE THIS SO CLOSE TO REALTY, OR DID THIS HAPPEN TO YOU? AND WHAT END DID YOU PLAY?¿?¿

I’ve probably played through this game 10+ times. It is incredibly interesting and so immersive. You truly feel connected to characters you’re interacting with and at there may be a point where they feel so real, you get attached. (Almost like a really good book) I loved how you were able to explore the phone and get to know not only Anna, but the people she has relationships with and how what may seem like a pointless conversation may be important in the future. I hope the company continues making games like this. $5 is worth it!

My little brother made me watch a few videos of people playing this game. I decided to give it a try. It’s pretty cool. Definitely entertaining. Though I’m not sure if I want to do this all over again, I’ll most likely play again to see what else can happen 🤘🏽
Had fun. I wasn’t very scared though. Sound effects are rad. Would be cool if there were more intense background sounds. The knocks got me every time 😂 thinking it was my actual door and forgot it was the game. Until next time.

I mean that. And I mean that in terms of all platforms from consoles, to pcs, to mobile phones. This is one of the best sci-fi horror games of all time. The mystery of going through an abandoned phone is interesting enough, but this game lures you into a very dark atmosphere that is terrifying with or without headphones. Play in a dark room for the scariest experience. You will frequently experience a chilling sensation of something being terribly wrong as you unravel this mystery of a missing girl named Anna. I have never been more frightened and fascinated by any horror game in my life.

This is such a well done game. I love it. It was so thought through. Listen, if you like horror, then this game is for you! And, in my opinion, it was totally worth it to buy it. So if you are thinking about getting this game, buy it for sure. Tbh I almost peed my pants twice in this game. It has a lot of really cool jumpscares that make me jump out of my seat. It is well thought game and I feel like this is the only game I enjoy playing on my phone. All the recorded messages and pictures really made me tgink that there was a lot of effort in this game which makes me smile. If you’re a person who gets easily scared, then this game isn’t really recommend for you, if you’re feeling extra brave, then I encourage you to try it. It is a really great game. Also this game is not ment for the faint of heart and people who are easily disturbed. But the only down side to this is that I wish there were more ways to play the game and what I mean by that is that there are only 5 or 6 paths that you can play through this game, and once you played them all, it kinda feels like your $5 went down the drain. I would like at least 10 storylines at best, but all in all, I love this game.