nec(h)roma was a game made for the 2018 IGMC. This review will be based around the contest version and as such won't have an official score tied to it, but I will leave my personal score at the end of the review and am open to editing the review at a later date.

Visually, this game is treated very well. The polish starts from the get-go with a chapter selection screen that shows the kind of care given to the rest of the game. You can easily tell that inspiration for the game came from others like Catherine and 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors.

Mapping is very well done and a lot of care has been given to give almost every part of the map something for the character to comment on. The POP! City Horror graphics lend themselves well to personal spaces and look good besides. The sound is well used, and music is pretty good for helping set the scene well.

The main gameplay consists of two different characters and types of puzzles. As the father, you are a problem solver - collecting clues and items to fix together in order to find a way out of where you've found yourself. As the daughter you are a stealth expert, trying to make your way unnoticed through various areas.

Unfortunately we don't get to see much of the daughters' skills as the game ends in her chapter, before you get to control her, but what little was shown of her gameplay wasn't bad, though a little clunky due to the limitations of the software itself (RPG Maker was never really great for stealth-based minigames and it does show a bit).

We do get to see father's gameplay, though, and it's pretty fun. You run around collecting items and puzzle clues in order to solve the overarching puzzle of a room in order to escape. None of the puzzles are too hard and though there's a help system indicated to be existing at the end of his part, it's not up and running just yet.

The writing was well done and interesting. Though there were only three characters shown so far, they were each engaging in their own way and the set-up of the plot, while a bit cliche in some ways, was done reasonably well. This is an 'escape the room, find your loved one' type of horror game, but it's done well and that's all you can really ask for.

Overall the prototype version of the game is well-polished, the puzzles are interesting and fun, and the game has a lot of promise. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing the full version come out and I'd give what's already there a hard 4 stars.