Horror in the Asylum

Introduction

Horror in the Asylum is a first-person indie horror game that traps players in a decaying mental institution to escape a cycle of jump scares and puzzle-solving. Developed and published solo by Adham Jaber, it launched on Steam on 1 February 2016 at NZ$5.99. Its 30 English-language reviews sit at 33% positive, Mostly Negative. This review read all 20 negative reviews in that sample alongside every one of the 10 positive reviews.

A small kernel of real scares

Even reviewers who ultimately criticise the game credit some real atmosphere. "I like to start any review with the positives, so let's get that over with: the game's got two genuinely creepy jumpscare deaths," reads the sample's most detailed negative review, before detailing why it still can't recommend the game. On the positive side, one reviewer credits the sound design specifically: "the strong atmosphere, the musical score, so terrifying precisely because of its minimalism." A third simply reports: "I honestly got scared! so good job, I only lasted 12 minutes."

A punishing, checkpoint-free structure

That's where the goodwill mostly ends. This review's full read of the negative sample converges overwhelmingly on one structural problem: there is no way to save or checkpoint progress. "There are no checkpoints, no save points, nothing. You have no health; any enemy that attacks you will," reads that same detailed review, describing the result as "one of the most trial-and-error horror games I have ever played." A second reviewer, independently: "there were no checkpoint or saving system to be found... complete waste of money." Even a positive review concedes the same point from the other side: "I wish this game had checkpoint, unfortunately it doesn't. There's a lot of memorization this game," acknowledging the design as a real barrier even while still recommending it.

A specific, repeated asset-flip accusation

The most serious recurring claim in this sample is a specific one this review could not independently verify. "This game is essentially an asset flip; anyone who has played a decent handful of low-budget horror titles will notice several familiar looking assets," reads one detailed review, going on to name specific environment elements it says are reused wholesale from purchased asset packs. A separate reviewer levels the same accusation more bluntly, calling the developer an "asset flipper" directly. This review could not confirm the specific asset-reuse claims itself, but the pattern recurs across multiple independent, detailed accounts rather than a single outlier.

Verdict

Horror in the Asylum has a couple of real, effective scares and a genuinely unsettling minimalist sound design, and this review's full read of both sides of its small review sample confirms that much. But a punishing, checkpoint-free structure that turns any death into a full level restart is a severe and widely corroborated design flaw, compounded by specific, repeated accusations that the game reuses purchased stock assets rather than original work. Skip it unless you're specifically chasing horror-genre completion at a very low price.