Critters for Sale is a master work in atmosphere, creating a sense of menace and possibility that permeates every aspect of the game.
Inspired by North African and Middle Eastern folktales, the game’s two available short stories take you to a dangerous desert and a surreal night club. Both could be hostile for various reasons, but developer Sonoshee weaves visuals, sound, and winding narrative to create this sense of constant danger. Everything shudders and shivers, like the world is about to distort into some hellish space.
In this disturbing space, anything feels like it can be the right answer to move forward, though. It feels like a place where you must give in to a kind of fluidity of meaning, where any answer can mean death, but any answer can mean moving forward into the cosmos. The story grabs hold tight, whispering hidden meanings behind the words and visuals as you cannot shake this sense that you are walking into real danger. But still you move forward, compelled by darker things lurking beneath.
Critters for Sale is both compelling and chilling, captivating in its storytelling even if you constantly fear for what will happen to you next. Combined with this unsettling visual style that loads everything with fear, as if the very fabric of reality means you harm, as well as audio that makes you certain that your nagging fears will all become true, it is a staggering work of horror, and I am eagerly awaiting the chapters that come next.
The first two episodes of Critters for Sale are available now on Itch.io. You can also add the full game to your Steam Wishlist.