A scary game with a twist? We haven’t seen one of those before! But Cabin Factory’s big move is enough to set it apart.
I love a good prank. I think this term unfortunately has a negative connotation, used by people to downplay something neat as the sole reason for a product – a game, a movie, some piece of technology. , Etcetera. The Cabin Factory is basically a gimmick. It’s not really a whole game built around a gimmick, it’s just a gimmick. However, it’s actually pretty cool. Are any cabins haunted? Yes or no. Easy. I couldn’t play with headphones, the room needed to be bright, and I played Bluey on my phone next to my monitor to reduce my stress levels. This is a very scary gimmick!
You play the role of a cabin inspector at The Cabin Factory Incorporation. As you may have noticed, the factory builds the cabins, but it also fills them with scary props. The problem is, each cabin is based on a ‘real’ one in which a family was struck by tragedy, and the props belong. It’s all a little strange, but perhaps the fact that some cabins are haunted makes it a little easier to believe.
As an inspector, you must go to each cabin that comes out of the factory (they all look the same from the outside) and find out if it is haunted. Once you’ve made the decision you get out and press the Danger or Clear button, then another cabin is brought to you via a giant conveyor belt. To finish your shift (and the bulk of the game), you must successfully rate eight cabins in a row – failure to rate them accurately sees the counter reset, but it also made me wonder if I could rate them. Why give a rating when the system (or the strange audience in the observation room) already knew.
Then how are they haunted? Well, in different ways, mostly using the four members of the family who lived there. You can enter one (the lights are dim, and you don’t have a flashlight) and see the father sitting at the table, as if eating something. There’s a painting of the mother hanging on the wall, the daughter missing, and the son upstairs in front of the TV, but with a cloth over his head and a plush frog looking adorable lounging on a chair. All a bit disturbing, sure, but not haunted. You move towards the door quite happy, but on the way you see dad’s head turning towards you. This is nonsense for laughs! Now it’s time to take it out of the cabin and smash that danger button. The cabin is removed, and a light comes on above the number one. Only seven more in the row to make an accurate assessment.
The cabin factory is small. I couldn’t play for more than an hour and a half and that included an extra section at the end. However, it’s priced accordingly at £2.50, so I’m okay with it being a more complete kind of experience. If you want to play with friends or fan yourself as a streamer, there’s probably a lot more to discover, but I had everything. you get a little bit [redacted to avoid spoilers] Which livens things up a bit beyond the main cabin inspection after cabin inspection, and also clears up the minor narrative. but this is nothing portal 2-esque game where you sneak out of the system, so to speak, revealing the workings for all to see.
I had fun for 90 minutes. Well, fun might be the wrong word. Sharp, perhaps. I haven’t been daring to go into any cabins for quite a while, let me tell you – even the fancy cabins you get in the big garden centers now scare me a bit, if I’m honest . Like I said, I like gimmicks. Cabin Factory is that horror movie you rented because you wanted to turn off your brain and have a good time with your friends, and Don’t Look Now wasn’t going to give off the right vibes, even if the guy at the counter insisted It was better if you gave it. It works.
A copy of The Cabin Factory was provided for review by Future Friends Games.
