Martha's Dolls 2 Review

Returning to Martha's House for a Tighter, Nastier Sequel

Martha's Dolls 2 picks up where the solo-developed first chapter left off, sending a new urban explorer back into the ruined estate of Martha, a dollmaker whose porcelain collection has since claimed the lives of everyone curious enough to go looking for answers. You play someone drawn in by the local legend, only to discover scattered notes and abandoned gear left behind by previous visitors named Dennis and Alex — none of whom made it out. It's a familiar found-footage horror premise, but reviewers who played both games consistently describe this as a meaningful step up from the original in nearly every category: sharper graphics, better voice work, and a lore-driven structure that actually rewards reading the notes scattered through the house rather than treating them as filler.

The game is built and published by AJB GAMES STUDIO, a single developer working with a small team of collaborators on voice work, and that solo-dev context shows up repeatedly across the review base — both as an explanation for the game's rough edges and as a reason reviewers extend it real goodwill. At $4.99 for roughly an hour of polished, atmospheric horror, most reviewers treat the price as fair even before accounting for the one-person production behind it. Worth noting for context: a substantial share of the written reviews openly disclose receiving a free review key from the developer, a common practice for horror indies looking to build early word of mouth — it's not disqualifying, but it does mean the review base skews toward people the developer specifically reached out to, which is worth keeping in mind alongside the overwhelmingly positive score.

A Camera, a Dying Battery, and Dolls That Punish Looking Away

The central mechanical hook is the camera you carry throughout the house. Its night-vision mode is required to read certain clues and navigate darker rooms, and it runs on a battery that depletes steadily and only recharges by scavenging spares hidden around the estate. Several reviewers single this system out as the game's smartest addition over the first chapter — the battery meter becomes, in one reviewer's words, "a constant little voice in the back of your head," turning every drawer search into a small risk-reward decision about whether it's worth the detour. It's a mechanic clearly inspired by found-footage horror games like Outlast, and reviewers who draw that comparison mean it as a compliment.

The dolls themselves — including named threats like Arthur and Sachiko, plus a fan-favorite Mime Doll — chase on sight but can be held off by staring directly at them, a stop-motion-style mechanic that more than one reviewer compares to a low-budget Weeping Angel. It's a simple system, but reviewers describe it working reliably in practice, giving players a genuine tool to navigate close calls rather than relying purely on scripted chase sequences. Puzzle design around the house is generally described as fair rather than obtuse — code combinations, keypad locks, and a gasoline-and-color-code puzzle all reward paying attention and retracing your steps rather than demanding moon logic, and multiple reviewers specifically praise the absence of excessive hand-holding.

An Hour-Long Horror Bite With Real Bugs and a Few Recycled Ideas

The most common structural complaint is length. Most reviewers finish the game in fifty minutes to about an hour, and it ends on an explicit "to be continued" cliffhanger rather than a resolution — a choice several reviewers say works fine for the price but leaves them wanting the next chapter sooner rather than later. Battery scarcity is also flagged repeatedly as tighter than the first game, to the point that a few reviewers spent significant stretches of the back half navigating almost entirely in the dark.

More concerning are the reported bugs. Multiple reviewers describe a padlock puzzle that can reject a correctly entered code, leaving no way to progress and forcing a restart — a real softlock risk rather than a cosmetic annoyance, and one reviewer reported hitting it more than once in a single playthrough. Others report a visual glitch where the screen suddenly looks washed out, occasional frame-rate dips in particle-heavy rooms, sluggish character movement during tense moments, and a fuel-related puzzle that can stop responding without a way to reset it. None of these appear to be universal — plenty of reviewers report a clean run start to finish — but they show up often enough across the review base to be a real risk rather than a rare edge case. One critical reviewer also points out that at least one puzzle appears to be recycled directly from the first game, which reads as a shortcut in an otherwise higher-effort sequel.

Heavy on Gore and Jump Scares, Light on Slow-Burn Dread

Where reviewers most sharply diverge is on tone. The majority describe the atmosphere, lighting, and sound design as genuinely effective — multiple reviewers specifically recommend playing with headphones and the lights off — and treat the frequent jump scares as well-placed rather than cheap, even when a few admit the accompanying musical cues eventually telegraph the next scare after enough exposure. A smaller but vocal minority pushes back hard on this point, arguing the game leans on gore and jump scares at the expense of the slower, subtler dread that dolls as a horror subject are naturally suited to. One detailed critical review goes as far as sketching out an alternate, more restrained version of the story it wishes the game had told, arguing that the volume of bodies and blood on display eventually becomes numbing background noise rather than genuinely unsettling. Both readings show up often enough in the review base that it's worth going in with the right expectations: this is gorier and more jump-scare-forward than a slow-burn psychological horror game, closer in spirit to a B-movie haunted house than a restrained art-horror piece.

Verdict

Martha's Dolls 2 is a clear, well-received improvement on its predecessor — tighter pacing, better production values, a genuinely tense camera-and-battery mechanic, and a doll-stare system that gives its horror some real mechanical identity, all wrapped in roughly an hour of atmospheric, gore-heavy found-footage horror for five dollars. It's held back from a stronger recommendation by a real softlock-capable puzzle bug, a handful of other technical rough edges consistent with a one-person production, and a short runtime that ends on an unresolved cliffhanger rather than a satisfying close. Horror fans who want a quick, effectively staged scare and are forgiving of solo-developer jank will likely come away as pleased as most of this review base did; anyone hoping for restrained, slow-burn psychological horror over jump scares and gore should adjust expectations accordingly.

Pros:

• Meaningful upgrade over Chapter 1 in graphics, voice acting, and lore-driven storytelling
• Camera-and-battery mechanic creates real, sustained tension throughout
• Effective doll stare-down mechanic gives players a genuine tool against threats
• Fair, non-obtuse puzzle design that rewards careful exploration
• Strong atmosphere and sound design for a solo-developer budget

Cons:

• Very short at roughly an hour, ending on an unresolved cliffhanger
• A padlock puzzle bug can reject the correct code and softlock progress
• Heavy reliance on gore and jump scares undercuts slower psychological dread for some players
• Assorted rough edges: visual glitches, occasional frame drops, and motion blur discomfort