Out of Hands

Out of Hands is one of the most bizarre experiences I've had with a game in my entire life.

- By Jacob Sanderson

Going into things, I expected a relatively clear-cut roguelike deck-builder with a quirky art style, but I was severely underestimating the experience. This title is a more unique experience, using the genre as a framing device for the story, which is relatively unconventional.

The first thing you're going to notice is the art direction: it's unique, incredibly weird, but unbelievably charming. There's a really interesting combination of techniques used here, too, which is very impressive. Also, a lot of stop-motion is used, primarily in the sections between Dreams, and this makes for a unique vibe. This space functions as a menu, with the main character wandering across multiple spaces in his apartment and physically interacting with every different aspect, which adds more of a tangibility to the world, and makes for a clear distinction between it and the Dreams, which are navigated differently.

In the Dreams — where the core gameplay takes place — you'll take control of an avatar, exploring extremely bizarre locations that act as weird recreations of locations from the main character's past. These seem to hold some keys to unravelling the mystery behind the nightmares, but there's not much clarity on what these mean. I'm going to be intentionally vague when discussing story-specific elements because the mystery is so key to the experience, but I can say it's genuinely incredibly intriguing. The protagonist is in a bizarre situation, and finding out why is a very strong motivator.