Layers of Fear (2016)

Worth buying? What 300 Steam reviews say.Worth buying? Here’s what 300 Steam reviews actually say.

Very Positive · 90%Very Positive · 90%2016

The verdict

A short, atmospheric psychological-horror walking sim about a mad painter, praised for art, sound and shifting rooms. Skip it if you want real gameplay, danger or non-cheap scares.

Great for

Fans of art-driven, story-focused atmospheric horror who don't mind a short walking sim

Main risk

Little real gameplay and cheap, repetitive jumpscares can make it boring and not scary

What players love

Engaging story of a painter's madness

Mentioned in ~2 in 5 positive reviews

“the story slowly pulls you into the painter’s damaged mind”
Steam review · 2 h played ↗

“The story is top-notch. Scary and heavy.”
Steam review · translated · 3 h played ↗

Immersive, creepy atmosphere

Mentioned in ~1 in 3 positive reviews

“A really strong psychological horror game with an incredibly strong atmosphere, an amazing sound design and a good story.”
Steam review · 19.3 h played ↗

“The atmosphere is fantastic, the visuals still hold up, and the house constantly changing around you keeps things interesting.”
Steam review · 3.4 h played ↗

Striking art style and visuals

Mentioned in ~1 in 4 positive reviews

“What really makes Layers of Fear special is the art style. It is one of the most artistic games I have ever played.”
Steam review · 27.8 h played ↗

“This is actually a very beautiful game, in my opinion.”
Steam review · 2.3 h played ↗

Shifting rooms and clever level design

Mentioned in ~1 in 5 positive reviews

“I love how the level design feels like it changes every second and you never really know what is going to happen next.”
Steam review · 19.3 h played ↗

“Good graphics and super cool transitions (things change in rooms when you turn around).”
Steam review · 3.1 h played ↗

Great sound design and music

Mentioned in ~1 in 6 positive reviews

“The sound design is top notch, and the artwork is simply amazing.”
Steam review · 2.4 h played ↗

“Wonderful music, many beautiful paintings by real artists, like Goya.”
Steam review · translated · 11.3 h played ↗

Multiple endings and replayability

Mentioned in ~1 in 9 positive reviews

“The different endings, going through the story differently, it's just a blast.”
Steam review · 11.6 h played ↗

What players complain about

Walking sim with almost no gameplay

Mentioned in ~1 in 2 negative reviews

“I'm now a professional drawer opener. Thank you, devs, for this walking, drawer-opening, light-switching simulator.”
Steam review · 3.5 h played ↗

“you spend most of your time wandering from room to room opening drawers and cabinets, mostly finding nothing.”
Steam review · 3.3 h played ↗

“Didn't click with me, lots of walking and no gameplay.”
Steam review · translated · 2.8 h played ↗

Cheap, repetitive jumpscares

Mentioned in ~1 in 3 negative reviews

“Cheap jumpscares followed by opening drawers, followed by some reading, followed by more cheap jumpscares”
Steam review · 4.1 h played ↗

“A walking simulator with cheap jumpscares for a couple of hours.”
Steam review · translated · 2 h played ↗

Not scary, no danger

Mentioned in ~1 in 3 negative reviews

“You just walk get jumpscare and move on. You can't fail even if you throw yourself into the monster.”
Steam review · 2.5 h played ↗

“There's no danger in this game and as soon as you understand it the tension is gone.”
Steam review · 9.6 h played ↗

Weak, predictable story

Mentioned in ~1 in 4 negative reviews

“the characters and plot are flat and undeveloped, and nothing adds up to anything.”
Steam review · 7.4 h played ↗

“A boring walker with an obvious, uninteresting plot.”
Steam review · translated · 1.6 h played ↗

Tedious multiple playthroughs for endings

Mentioned in ~1 in 13 negative reviews

“you’ll need to play through the game a total of three times, plus the DLC [b] Inheritance [/b] three more times, if you want to achieve 100%.”
Steam review · 10.1 h played ↗

“Endings require full playthroughs (can't just repeat the last chapter) that need to fulfill very specific (and unclear) conditions”
Steam review · 13 h played ↗

Spinning effects cause motion sickness

Mentioned in ~1 in 14 negative reviews

“*Do NOT play this game if you have Motion Sickness or any type of vertigo problems.*”
Steam review · 3.1 h played ↗

“Then about halfway through its just nonsense spinning circles melting walls etc.”
Steam review · 5.4 h played ↗

System requirements

From the Steam store page

Steam Deck: Playable

Minimum

OSWindows 7

ProcessorIntel Core2 Quad Q8400

Memory4 GB RAM

GraphicsNVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 1GB / Radeon R7 250X 1GB

Storage5 GB available space

OSWindows 7

ProcessorIntel Core2 Quad Q8400

Memory4 GB RAM

GraphicsNVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 1GB / Radeon R7 250X 1GB

Storage5 GB available space

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