''The Shore'' is a

Lovecraftian horror Lovecraftian horror, also called cosmic horror or eldritch horror, is a subgenre of horror, fantasy fiction and weird fiction that emphasizes the horror of the unknowable and incomprehensible more than gore or other elements of shock. It is na ...

exploration and

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

developed by

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

indie developer Ares Dragonis. The game takes place on a remote, mysterious island, where the protagonist is searching for his missing daughter. A playable demo of the game was released in July 2020. The full version of the game was released for

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

on February 19, 2021.

Gameplay

''The Shore'' borrows elements from walking simulators and

survival horror Survival horror is a Video game genre, subgenre of horror games. Although combat can be part of the gameplay, the player is made to feel less in control than in typical action games through limited ammunition or weapons, health, speed, and visio ...

genres, with a large portion of the game's earlier levels being focused on navigating and interacting with the environment in search of clues and items that develop the story, while later sections involve combat and monster chase sequences. Certain abilities (e.g., the ability to jump) are gradually unlocked as the player progresses in the game, including 'The Artifact', a projectile weapon that can be used to stun and kill monsters. As part of the exploration component, ''The Shore'' features a variety of

puzzles A puzzle is a game, problem, or toy that tests a person's ingenuity or knowledge. In a puzzle, the solver is expected to put pieces together ( or take them apart) in a logical way, in order to find the solution of the puzzle. There are different ...

, many of which involve the player finding and using items scattered throughout the environment to unlock access to the next area of the game.

Plot

Based on the works of

H. P. Lovecraft Howard Phillips Lovecraft (, ; August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937) was an American writer of Weird fiction, weird, Science fiction, science, fantasy, and horror fiction. He is best known for his creation of the Cthulhu Mythos. Born in Provi ...

, ''The Shore'' tells the story of Andrew, a fisherman in search of his daughter on a mysterious island overrun with nightmarish

Lovecraftian Lovecraftian horror, also called cosmic horror or eldritch horror, is a subgenre of horror, fantasy fiction and weird fiction that emphasizes the horror of the unknowable and incomprehensible more than gore or other elements of shock. It is na ...

entities.

Development

''The Shore'' was mostly designed and developed by indie game developer and 3d character artist Ares Dragonis, who began working on the game in early 2019, mainly as a skills exercise. Working solo on the project for 11 months, Dragonis eventually joined forces with programmer Adonis Brosteanu and composer Thanos Zampoukas, with voice-over work for the main protagonist being provided by Brandon Fague. A playable demo of ''The Shore'' was released in July 2020, along with a

crowdfunding Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and Alternative Finance, alternative finance, to fund projects "withou ...

campaign on Ulule to support a full commercial release. The campaign successfully ended in August, raising the necessary funds for Dragonis and Brosteanu to flesh out the game's Story mode.

Reception

The original free-to-play demo of ''The Shore'' released in the summer of 2020 received widespread praise for its graphics and atmosphere, going on to gain financial support from

Epic Games Epic Games, Inc. is an American Video game developer, video game and software development, software developer and video game publisher, publisher based in Cary, North Carolina. The company was founded by Tim Sweeney (game developer), Tim Sween ...

via its Epic MegaGrants program. After its release in February 2021, reception for ''The Shore'' has been mixed. The game currently has a "mostly positive" rating on

Steam Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is inv ...

, with approximately seventy three percent of the users giving the game a positive review. On review aggregator site

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, ''The Shore'' currently has an average score of 59/100 based on 7 reviews. Critics generally praised the game's visuals, atmosphere and sound design, but criticized the gameplay, particularly ''The Shores

and combat mechanics.

The Shore VR

A few days after the game's release, developer Ares Dragonis announced plans for a separate version of ''The Shore'' with VR support. This version of ''The Shore'' released on

on 8 January 2022.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shore 2021 video games First-person adventure games Horror video games Survival video games Indie games Microsoft games Video games set on fictional islands Video games based on works by H. P. Lovecraft Video games developed in Greece Single-player video games Windows games Virtual reality games