Have you played SLENDER? The original, dull and very boring game where you walk around, collect a few notes, and if you stand still too longHave you played SLENDER? The original, dull and very boring game where you walk around, collect a few notes, and if you stand still too long something pops up behind you and jumpscares you? Well that's exactly what The Hat Man is. Except instead of in the forest you're in an asylum, with repeated rooms, hallways, props, and atmospheric scares. Every now and then a light may fall from the ceiling, with the same animation every time, your heart may start beating faster, a demonic yell may occur nearby, something along those lines. And the game is stuck on repeat, it's the same thing over and over again, and the more notes you acquire the easier it is to lose, as something will pop up behind you if you stand still for a short amount of time (though I'm still not clear on exactly how that works).
The props are so repetitive; there's one chair model, one table model, a few blood splatters, one bed model, a fan, a ceiling light, a lamp, and a few other objects that are just copy and pasted all over the game. And the asylum mine as well be the middle of a dark forest, because every hall looks the same, and repeated objects like iron lung machines and wheelchairs are copy and pasted throughout those as well. There's no sense of direction and an asylum with architecture like this would only make it's inhabitants even more crazy, as it almost drove me insane because I thought I was going in circles when I was actually progressing. And clicking on doors only opens them about 20% of the time, you'll have to click about 10 times to open a bathroom stall door, but let me save you some time right now: there's nothing in any of them. Because this game is too repetitive and "copy-pasted" to have any unique discoveries. Hitting SPACE to jump also only works a percentage of the time; the controls are literally broken.
Stay away from The Hat Man, even if you're curious. The only time I'd recommend it is if you could get it on sale for like $0.19 like I did, and even then only get it if you're interested in reviewing games or making them in the future (like me), other than that stay away completely. This is a great experience for reviewers to get and people in the industry to play through this game and realize what makes a bad game bad.
I gave The Hat Man a generous 3/10, though I would've gave it the lowest score possible if it weren't for the decently established atmosphere, the beginning being so promising (it actually gives you a few tasks and seems like a normal game before it turns into a repetitive SLENDER knock-off), and the fact that if you experienced each atmospheric scare only once, it wouldn't be that bad of an experience. Though the game just falls short in basically every field, and overall it's just not fun to play. And why play a game that's not enjoyable in one way or another?
Stay away from The Hat Man, you'll regret it if you don't.… Expand
