Love, Sam lets you experience love as it blossoms sweetly until it drives off a cliff called madness. In this paid psychological thriller game, a weird adventure is laid in front of you as you start reading a diary and the story within its pages. However, as you move with the pages, the room shifts and creates elements no one could prepare you for.

As more of a psychological experience, Love, Sam is reminiscent of similarly taxing games like God’s Basement or Layers of Fear. This, however, throws the awkward element of young love gone wrong into the mix.

Read and fall in love

The entire premise of Love, Sam revolves around having you, the player, read through a diary. However, this is where things start getting creepy and the game begins shining through. The game uses atmospheric horror instead of a relentless phantom or monster that bugs you, or minor one-time characters that rely on jump scares. Using the surroundings for horror, when done right, creates unexpected and memorable horror moments for players.

Also, this game is not for players who prefer exploring maps. You are seated all throughout, with the room transforming depending on where you are in the diary. There’s no exploration or fighting mechanics or the need to leave the room or go elsewhere. However, it still has a great story and it manages to keep players on the seat despite this unique feature.

As God’s Basement is a “walking simulator,” then this app must be a “reading simulator.” There is lots of reading involved, which will bore players looking for action. However, if you get engrossed by the experience, reading from start to end won’t matter. Also aside from the environment, the diary also leaves puzzles for the players for you to solve, which keeps the experience interactive in the more conventional sense.

Play from cover to cover

Love, Sam is both a book and a video game. Not only do you get to follow a weird, complex story, but you also experience a part of it through the audio-visual treat that the video game provides. If you’re willing to go through this unique adventure, which has no exploration or fighting mechanics, this game is a great piece. This slow burn is highly recommended.