The idea of a family vacation sounds horrifying enough as it is. But, what if they were all possessed by some sort of dreadful demons? Trapped: Family Vacation brings that to a terrifying reality, putting me in a small, quaint, and dingy hotel while trying to unravel the mystery behind it all. There’s enough variety here for multiple playthroughs, and it comes in at less than a cup of coffee. What better way to spend an afternoon than avoiding your family at all costs?
A Little Bit of ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ Mixed With a Nifty Spot-The-Difference Gimmick
On the door of each room, I found a nifty QR code. Scanning this would give me a quick look at the room before me. This way, I could examine the room before I stepped in. Each room was different from what was shown on the camera. Depending on the difficulty mode I selected, I had to find either four or five objects that were out of place while avoiding the gimmick of each room.
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One room had me spending time with my little sister, an absolutely terrifying little creature that sat on her bed. If I looked away for too long or brought up the camera to examine the footage of the room, she would begin crying. If I waited too long, she would spring off the bed, and my run would be over. I have to admit, the jumpscares are very effective here.
But beyond the cheapness of the jumpscares, each room has a genuinely ominous feel. While this is supposed to be a pleasant vacation, this hotel/motel shouldn’t get anything more than 1 star on Yelp. It’s disgusting, dirty, and most importantly, haunted beyond belief. Every room has a particular vibe to it, and none of them are pleasant by any means.
Much Like ‘The Cabin Factory’, Some of the Differences Are Subtle
Earlier this year, I had the chance to dive into another spot-the-difference horror game, The Cabin Factory. And much like that experience, some of the differences are rather subtle here. However, unlike The Cabin Factory, I found Trapped: Family Vacation to be a far more forgiving experience. Especially if you start your playthrough on Easy.
To understand the gimmicks and find out how things worked, I chose to start on this mode. If I failed a room, I wouldn’t need to start from the beginning, as my progress was saved after each room was cleared out. Honestly? I was very thankful for this because some of the gimmicks took me longer to figure out than I would have liked. I’m looking at you, Grandma.
I would strongly suggest wearing headphones while playing Trapped: Family Vacation. Using sound to your advantage in certain rooms will help you stay alive, much like it did for me. It’s a greatest-hits collection of spot-the-difference games with enough variety and spice to make it feel unique.
If I failed a room, it would restart and be rearranged. Procedural generation is nice to have here as I never knew what to expect when I found myself in the same room as my father. Just be sure not to step on the carpet, if you want a helpful word of advice.
On a Bang-For-Your-Buck Scale, ‘Trapped: Family Vacation’ Is Worth the Price of Entry
Trapped: Family Vacation is a breezy and genuinely creepy little game, well worth its admission price of $2.99. It’s not groundbreaking in any way, shape or form. And it’s not trying to be, either. It’s a great way to scare your friends, or a fun game to play if you’ve got a budding or established streaming career.
But, it’s technically sound, graphically efficient, and has a fair amount of replayability through and through. There are plenty of anomaly/spot-the-difference games available to play on Steam. But Trapped: Family Vacation may be one of my favorites so far. As a one-person project, it’s impressively well done and offers more scares than most modern horror flicks at a fraction of the cost.
Verdict: Recommended
Trapped: Family Vacation is available now on Steam. A code was provided by the publisher for the sake of review. Reviewed on PC.
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