I always jump at the chance to try anything in the horror genre, whether it’s a big well known title or a more lesser-known title. I’m always keen to see what developers can cook up within the horror space. Indies have been shining these past few years, so I always find myself on the look out for the latest and greatest Indies, especially when these fall into my beloved horror category.

Mothered is a first-person horror adventure game featuring point and click mechanics. Playing as Liana, Mothered’s story takes place over the course of seven days, as you arrive home to stay with your mother after having undergone some major surgery.

Returning Home

Starting with an eery car ride with your father, you make the long journey home to rest and relax and spend some time with your mother. Right from the off, Mothered’s unsettling tone shines through and gives you an uneasy feeling whilst having to explore around the house and adjacent grounds. Deliberate or not, the character model for the mother is very mannequin like, only adding to the games unsettling nature.

You’ll pass the week by spending some much needed quality time with your mother, helping her with tasks and enjoying her somewhat unique breakfasts she cooks up for you. The old school, CRT TV like visuals are great and work well for the overall tone of the game alongside mother’s character model, too. Each day takes place in Morning, Afternoon and Night over the course of one full week and you will have to complete tasks for mother to progress each part of the day to reach the next.

Sadly, these tasks can feel like busy work at times. Whilst not inherently bad, one moment in particular became increasingly frustrating. Mother will task you with picking 8 apples from the orchard, but this becomes a tedious slog, as the contrast of the games visuals make it near impossible to spot red apples in the sunset against red leaves within the orchard. I spent more time trying to find these than I care to admit, and with a complete lack of an options menu, you can’t tweak the brightness or contrast to try and make these items more visible.

The game really leans into the “old-school” vibe with its transition between sections being reminiscent of the old trailer menu’s that you would see on DVDs. Couple this with the creepy soundtrack and audio cues and Mothered manages to maintain an eery, unsettling tone throughout. With only the aforementioned apple orchard removing any kind of suspense for a brief moment.

Horror In Name, Not Practice

Whilst the title would lead you to believe this is a horror game (that does a great job with its atmosphere) it’s certainly not going to keep you up at night. It does a great job of not relying on an overuse of jump scares, but I’d be hard pressed to say I was terrified or scared to progress, aside from a couple of key standout moments that I wouldn’t want to spoil for you here.

The story is surprising and honestly the main reason I wanted to continue playing, as it did have me engrossed and left me wanting to find out what exactly was going on with this mother. Taking me only 2 hours to complete, it doesn’t overstay it’s welcome whatsoever, there is however a secondary (or secret, if you prefer) ending that you can keep playing for.

Learn The Truth

Overall, Mothered keeps up its interesting and mysterious story and couples it’s with a some decent audio and creepy atmosphere. For all it does good though, it does hold itself back at times. Gameplay certainly leaves a lot to be desired and the lack of an options menu that lets you play around with your display settings can certainly make it hard to see in places.

The atmosphere is here, but the scares aren’t. I wouldn’t be jumping at the chance to recommend this for fans of horror, but it’s certainly unique and different and worth checking out, should you be in the mood for that.

If your at a loss for what to play and you want something on the unsettling side, Mothered is short and cheap enough to tickle that fancy.