Here’s a horror game that I’m sure most of you haven’t heard about! Probably because some might debate how much of a ‘game’ it really is. Water Womb World is a short little horror game made by a single developer who goes by the name Yames. They have a few games under their belt, most of which can be found on itch.io and Steam and all of which seem to be pretty short but not nearly as short as Water Womb World, which is currently the only game of Yames’ that I have played. Though that is probably going to change given just how much I enjoyed it!

Now I’ve talked about short games in the past but I really need to stress just how short of a game Water Womb World actually is. The game can be finished in its entirety in about 15 to 20 minutes. Even as someone who often argues for horror games to be on the short end that is pretty damn short! But it works for Water Womb World. Of course, such a short game is going to have a short review too but I have a little more to discuss along with my thoughts on the game. But let’s go ahead and jump into that!

In Water Womb World you play an unnamed Christian Scientist, something that might seem like a contradiction at first but the opening explains his thought process very well and what exactly he is doing. The scientist is trying to find the origin point of “man’s fall from grace” or basically when mankind deviated from God’s plan. Meaning when Adam and Eve ate from the fruit of knowledge. To do this, the scientist has come to a region in the ocean called Gaspar’s Zone. Here he has set up a lab at the bottom where he can study his finding there and then. After this introduction the game starts with you in the lab where you can interact with a few things!

As you probably guessed, the goal of the game is to find life that dates back to this origin point and study it. You do this by going out into the sea bed and sift around for items and try to catch fish so you can study both. You’ll be told how many of each you need to find before you can return to the lab. The sea bed is kind of intimidating at first until you realize how small the explore able area actually is. It’s simply an 8 by 3 grid with your lab always being at the bottom. You can only face one way so just hit down a bunch and you’ll always find your way back! Not that it matters too much though. Even though you have limited oxygen, if you actually run out you’ll simply go back to the lab, there really isn’t any game over. Which I guess I could complain about if I wanted to saying something like ‘why have the oxygen be a thing’ but you’re really not playing this game for its “game play”. Water Womb World is far more about the experience of it all.

After getting your items and fish, you return to the lab to study them and marvel at your discoveries. And with that you’ve technically seen everything the game has to offer and are about half way through the game! But like I said, you aren’t playing Water Womb World for the game play.

I could go on and talk about the story and how it’s both creepy and interesting watching someone explore their religion through a scientific lens and how their discoveries change them, but at this point, I’d just say go play the game for yourself! Water Womb World is not only short but it is also completely free, on both Steam and itch.io. So if you’re even a tiny bit curious about it, give it a go! The game isn’t hard to play in the slightest either. If you didn’t advance dialog by hitting ‘E’ you could play the entire game with just your mouse. So please, give the game a go if you are interested! Not only is the premise and story great but the visuals are awesome too. They are all very simple but despite that they are still so creepy. There is a real charm to them as well, something that can be hard to capture in these low budget horror games and certainly something missed in most big AAA horror games with cutting edge visuals. And while the game can be finished in like 20 minutes, Yames has included a commentary mode where you can hear their thoughts and comments on how they made the game. Which offers some great insight!

Still, despite my praise it does feel a bit weird to recommend such a short experience. It got me thinking about how someone might go about making short horror games like this and what their appeal could be beyond telling some cool and freaky stories. Like, is there a way to go about doing this sort of thing while still being able to market and sell it. Video games are an interesting medium for this sort of thing. Short films and mini TV series are things, but you really don’t hear about short games like this all that much. Which is a shame since I feel Water Womb World only really works in this sort of format but I don’t see many other games pursuing this sort of thing.

While I’m sure there are ways to stretch out Water Womb World, like having there be more sections of you going around the sea bed or have the research be like a mini game or something, I feel like those things would honestly hamper the experience more than enrich it. The game is this perfect little bite sized horror experience that tells its story well by giving the player just enough context to wonder what’s going on while also not giving enough that there feels like there’s one single conclusion. Which is something that would probably change if the game had been longer. Water Womb World really is an experience that excels in this format. So how do we get more experiences like this? All of this obviously got me thinking about short form stories in all media and that made me realize there’s at least one solution that could work. Have a compilation of small horror games!

As someone with ADHD and dyslexia, I can struggle to read things. Or rather struggle to have any interest in reading things. But something I can read and enjoy to read are short stories! They are easy to get through, not overly long, and finishing one feels a lot better than just getting through one single chapter of a much larger book. But you can’t just sell a single short story, it doesn’t make sense to. So what most authors do is compile a bunch of short stories into a single book! And I think this could be an awesome way to experience a series of short games. After all, Water Womb World really does remind me of reading a short story. Just a quick experience I pick up and finish in that sitting before putting it down, but an experience that was more than worth experiencing!

Short games like Water Womb World can absolutely fly under the radar due to how niche they can be, but if it was bundled together with similar short horror games, I feel like every game involved could get lots of attention! They don’t all need to be super similar either. Most short story compilations aren’t all related after all. Some will resonate more than others depending on the person but with each being short experiences it’s hard not to at least try each of the games bundled together.

In fact, a similar kind of game came out just a couple years ago called UFO 50! As the name implies, it was a compilation of 50 mini games made by multiple developers with very different styles for each. The game was extremely well received as well showing that this sort of thing can work. Granted, I feel like it’ll be harder to sell a group of horror games over a variety of different games, but still! UFO 50 proves that short bundled together experiences can work.

Honestly, regardless of what form it takes, I just hope we can get more games like Water Womb World. I feel like there should be a place for these shorter experiences in the industry. There’s always been a lot of talk about what makes a game a game, like how much game play do you need to have people calling your game something besides watching a video. I’m sure some might try to argue that Water Womb World shouldn’t be called a video game due to its length and barely having any game play and that is a shame! Video games are an art form and shouldn’t have to try and fit in to any kind of specific definition of what a video game is. Granted, I also can’t say I’d pay money for such a short experience, which is fine since the game is completely free, but that’s why I think a compilation of games like this could work if wanting some financial gain is what is holding back others from trying to make experiences like this one.

In the end what I’m trying to say is, go play Water Womb World! It’s free, it’s short, and it’s a very spooky game! A kind of game I really hope we see more of. Which is why I do plan on checking out the other games developer Yames has made. They appear to be longer more dense games, if the price tag on Steam is anything to go by, and I’m very curious to see what they are like! Hopefully they’ll wow me enough to want to talk about on here.

But those are just my thoughts! What are some of yours? Thinking about checking out Water Womb World? Do you enjoy short games? I’d love to hear your thoughts so don’t be shy!

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