It Reaches

The developers clearly tried to incorporate as many proven elements from other horror adventure games as possible, but they didn’t fully succeed. The logical puzzles and the reasonable price are therefore the main things worth praising.

The game is just rather meh, the story wasn’t really doing it for me, and the combat was okay. But most of the problems stem from the oddly long and repetitive segments. It also felt out of place with having Thompson deal with his own personal trauma, while everything was going on. I personally didn’t see anything that connected him to what he was experiencing in the hospital. More so when the player has seen what he is grieving. Sadly, without giving spoilers, It Reaches just comes across as odd in a few areas. And with the amount of motion blur and stuttering I have already mentioned. I am giving it the Thumb Culture Bronze Award. If the various issues are resolved, then maybe it’s a silver.

There is a lot to like here, especially in terms of atmosphere, presentation, and the core loop of exploration mixed with combat and light survival mechanics. The body cam perspective alone gives it a distinct feel that helps it stand out in a crowded horror space. The upgrade system adds some welcome depth, and the enemy design and environmental variety keep things engaging throughout. At the same time, the game struggles with consistency in its mechanics, underuses some of its ideas, and ultimately falls apart in its conclusion. The ending feels abrupt to the point where it undercuts the journey that led there, and that leaves a lasting negative impression on an otherwise solid experience. Even with its flaws, there is enough here to make it worth playing if you are into horror games, especially ones that focus on atmosphere and tension. It is not fully realized, but it is still a memorable and effective horror experience in several important moments.

It Reaches is one of those games that makes its strongest impression during the opening hours. The atmosphere works well, the bodycam perspective is a smart stylistic choice, and the sound design does an excellent job of sustaining much of the tension the experience tries to build. The problem is that, once the initial impact fades, several hard-to-ignore flaws begin to surface. The chase sequences gradually lose their effectiveness, the puzzles do little more than the bare minimum, and the narrative struggles to live up to the expectations it creates along the way. What remains is a short horror experience with its own identity and a handful of genuinely interesting ideas, but also the constant feeling of playing something that could have dared to do much more. For a few hours it manages to convince; when the time comes to leave a lasting mark, however, it stops just short of succeeding.

It Reaches is a decent first foray into the world of horror games for this team, but after seeing indie offerings like Madison or Luto, this falls quite short in terms of both technical aspects and gameplay.

It Reaches lands as a half‑successful yet meaningful experiment in contemporary horror. It doesn’t reinvent the formula, but it smartly reshuffles familiar elements, balancing vulnerability and offensive options in a way that breaks the monotony of many copy‑paste indies. The body‑cam perspective—simple but highly effective—boosts tension and immersion, stylishly masking production limits and highlighting an unexpectedly polished soundscape. Its flaws, especially a script that loses steam and a rushed ending, don’t erase the strength of a compact, well‑paced experience with more than a few memorable moments. It’s not a new genre benchmark, but it’s still worth attention—especially for those seeking a short, tense horror with enough bold ideas to stand out from the sea of Outlast imitators.