‘Trapped: Family Vacation’ Is an Anomaly Game That’s an Anomaly in Itself (Review)

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.

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

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Trapped: Family Vacation is available now on Steam. A code was provided by the publisher for the sake of review. Reviewed on PC.