Silver Chains is a paid adventure game from Cracked Heads Games. In this survival horror experience, which places heavy emphasis on story and exploration, you find yourself in an old, abandoned mansion. As you wander further inside, you start finding clues as to the horrible events that transpired.

Boasting photorealistic graphics and spine-chilling sound effects, Silver Chains is a quick fright perfect for fans of the genre. New players beware, though, as its effective atmospheric horror approach is not for the faint of heart. It’s much closer to Amnesia: The Dark Descent, but with slightly clunky animation like Granny.

Effective use of cliches

There are a lot of common elements bordering on cliches, but Silver Chains manages to make use of them. You play as Peter, who figured into an accident. After crashing into a tree one story night, he wakes up inside the mansion. Trapped inside, he is tasked with solving the mysteries of the place before getting out. This premise sounds commonplace, yet this particular experience still goes beyond the usual.

As mentioned, it focuses heavily on story and exploration. The monster that chases you every now and then is unkillable, leaving you to find other ways. The only drawback in this game monster is that it uses some clunky animation. On the plus side, you rarely see it but the way it keeps its presence felt is what makes it an effective video game monster.

Whether intentional or not, one challenge in playing this game is its interaction mechanic. It is difficult to tell interactive items from those that aren’t. Players have reported that you must stand too close to most items in order to reveal an interaction button. Additionally, some parts of the game throw you in blind, leaving you to discover what you must do in a particular area.

Top-tier for an indie game

For an indie game, Silver Chains has to be on the better half of the list. It maximizes available resources to deliver a photorealistic experience and manages to create a survival horror game from otherwise overused video game ideas. The game being story-driven also provides a sense of continuity in the middle of all the puzzles and the chases. However, these aren’t usually made clear to the player.