As a kid who grew up in a small Midwestern town with little to do, I have a great deal of experience with blowing up my old (or my little brother’s new) toys with fireworks and other means of destruction. But what if those toys were living beings with feelings? What if one day, they had enough and decided to fight back? That’s the nightmare world Your Toy puts us in.

The journey into madness begins in a locked bathroom stall, which gives the player a true sense of dread. Left alone in the small area with a couple of seemingly useless items and my own wits, it was a truly disturbing way to start the game, and I will admit, playing it alone in the dark did initially give me goosebumps. After exploring the tiny area, I was able to find a cell phone and a toilet paper roll with a set of numbers jotted down on it. After a failed attempt at dialing 911 (don’t judge, you know you’d do the same thing), I was able to figure out the first puzzle the game offered. In a similar fashion to the recent Layers of Fear or a toned down version of Silent Hill, the surroundings began to morph and change before my eyes.

After escaping the claustrophobia inducing stall, you’ll be free to explore the rest of the bathroom. Aside from some strange looking toilets, it is well rendered and on par with other recent horror offerings this console generation. You’ll wander about the small area collecting more items, some of which require you to zoom into a specific area using the right trigger and then follow quick time event style prompts. This is where the big issue with the game comes in; most of the things you can interact with simply pop a prompt on the screen while others require you to zoom. This is not explained whatsoever and will cause most players to seek out a guide, as I ended up doing.

After completing a number of steps that are extremely complex, as well as occasionally randomized, you will meet the antagonist of the game, a walking teddy bear who appears to have been split in two up the middle and then partially stitched back together. With iron maiden-ish spikes protruding out of the stuffing, it is a mildly horrific sight until he… hugs you. Yes, hugs you, which starts an awful quick time event, which will be repeated each time he catches you. If you fail, you’ll be given a few additional attempts to escape. Complete and utter failure results in being kicked back to the main menu. The game does have a checkpoint system, which is usually fair, but in some instances you’ll have to repeat a few of the puzzles which can become tiresome. Ted (how I’m going to refer to the bear) does have a limited number of attacks, so evading him is pretty easy in most of the game’s three sections, unless you are fumbling with the mediocre inventory system.

While the game does control well outside of the quick time events, the inventory system is very sluggish. In the segments where you are being pursued it can cause a bit of a headache. This is the most prevalent during the second segment of the game, where you are wandering through a large maze area set in a dark cave. Ted will pursue you throughout this segment, which again, is randomized, and will require you to use a hammer to smash lights. Luckily, your criminally underused cell phone does come equipped with a flash light. This will be its main function outside of receiving a few (not nearly enough) ominous calls or texts. These are the main cause of horror after Ted becomes less of a threat.

As far as the puzzles go, Your Toy delivers a number of challenging puzzles, but its lack of direction or a hint system will cause many players to be frustrated. Sadly, the horror aspects fail on most levels once the initial sense of dread wears off, leaving you with a short game that can be completed within 30 minutes if you’re super smart or use a guide. Lacking any real replay value, I would only recommend this title if you are looking for a real challenge of your wits.

5 out of 10

Pros

• Challenging Puzzles
• Well Rendered Environments
• Early Areas are Truly Creepy

Cons

• Lack of Direction
• Boring Antagonist
• Super Short
• No Replay Value

Your Toy was developed by VIVA GAMES and published by E-Home Entertainment. It was released on X1 November 16th, 2017, for $14.99. The game was provided to us for review on X1. For more on Your Toy, visit its official site.

 

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