The Rake Sees You

A creepypasta legend, faithfully rendered

The Rake Sees You is a cheap, short first-person horror game from Fireplay Studio, the latest in a string of low-cost horror releases from the developer, this one built around the well-known Rake creepypasta legend. Players explore a forest at night with a camera equipped with night vision, scavenging for notes and supplies while trying to avoid the titular creature, working toward one of three branching endings. This review draws on an English review sample of 31 reviews at the time of research, out of 82 total reviews rated Mostly Positive, a genuinely mixed reception rather than a uniformly glowing one.

Praised for atmosphere and a faithful take on its source material

Where this review's sample is most consistent is in praising the game's forest atmosphere and its fidelity to the Rake legend specifically. "A genuinely creepy forest horror that nails its atmosphere," reads one detailed review, adding "the sound design alone is worth the price of admission — unsettling, immersive, and effective." A separate reviewer, describing themselves as a longtime fan of the Rake creepypasta, writes, "Finally a rake game... that is accurate to the model and story, every other rake game make him look like some alien or get zero lore right." A third independently calls the atmosphere "tense, immersive, and constantly keeping you on edge," noting "the forest feels eerie in a way that really sticks." This review treats that convergence as fair: three independently written reviews, one from a reviewer with explicit prior familiarity with competing Rake-themed games, agreeing the atmosphere and creature fidelity land well, is credible evidence the game succeeds at its core creepypasta-horror premise even before weighing its rougher edges.

Praised repeatedly for value at its price

A second clear throughline in this review's sample is enthusiasm about how much game the low asking price buys. "Honestly, it's not a bad game for $4," reads one review, while a separate reviewer who identifies as a repeat customer of the developer's other games states, "you definitely get your money's worth with this game, being twice as long as any game they had made previously." A third independently calls it "amazing value for the money," and a fourth simply states "great game, really cheap and very well made." This review reads that repeated, independent praise for value as a genuine strength, particularly given how many reviewers frame it in direct comparison to the developer's own back catalogue of similarly priced horror titles, rather than against pricier competitors in the genre.

A fair, corroborated complaint about jank and inconsistent execution

Set against that praise, this review found a real, corroborated complaint about the game's technical polish. "The hitboxes are OUTRAGEOUSLY off from where they should be, which isn't game breaking, but my god the pin," reads one review, which is otherwise largely positive about the experience. A separate, more negative review states flatly, "very bad quality game... cheap any crappy glitchy gameplay, DONT WASTE YOUR TIME." A third reviewer opens by describing the game's early jump-scare sound design as "annoying" before the experience improves. This review treats that as a fair, corroborated complaint: multiple reviewers across a range of overall sentiment, from mostly positive to outright negative, independently flag execution issues, distinct from the atmosphere and value praised above, and consistent with the meaningfully higher-than-typical negative review share this title carries overall.

A fair complaint about missing controller support

A second specific, corroborated complaint in this review's sample concerns accessibility of controls. "No controller suport no way to remap the controls to fit my own style," reads one negative review, and a separate, more positive reviewer independently notes wanting "an option to turn off headbob, as it's not working" properly, a related control-comfort complaint. This review treats the lack of controller support and remapping as a fair, specific gap for a game otherwise priced and pitched as an accessible, low-commitment horror experience, distinct from the broader jank complaints raised above.

This review's own check of Steam's overall review data and achievements

This review's own check of Steam's aggregate review data found a genuinely mixed reception: 60 positive against 22 negative out of 82 total reviews, landing at Mostly Positive rather than the more uniformly enthusiastic scores many of this review's other small-sample subjects have carried. Steam's global achievement statistics show a moderate falloff consistent with that picture, from 90.2% of players earning an early achievement down to 28.4% for the game's rarest late-game milestone, a curve this review reads as broadly consistent with a short, largely linear horror walk that most players finish, but with a meaningful minority bouncing off before reaching its later content, in line with the jank and controller complaints raised above.

A note on price and developer track record

At NZ$6.39, The Rake Sees You is one of the cheapest titles this review has covered, a price several reviewers explicitly weighed favourably against the game's length and presentation, with more than one describing it as the developer's longest release to date. Reviewers with prior experience of Fireplay Studio's earlier horror games frame this one as a continuation of a consistent formula, "cheap, concise games with some good jump scares thrown in," rather than a one-off experiment, a track record this review reads as a point in the game's favour when weighing its low asking price against its rougher technical edges.

Final verdict

The Rake Sees You is a cheap, atmospheric creepypasta horror game that this review found genuinely delivers on mood, sound design, and value for money, credited across a majority of its 31-review English sample and reinforced by a developer track record several reviewers cited directly. That praise is tempered by fair, corroborated complaints about hitbox jank, inconsistent execution, and missing controller support, reflected in a meaningfully mixed overall review score. For fans of cheap, short creepypasta-inspired horror who don't mind some rough edges, it's worth a look at this price; players sensitive to jank or needing controller support should wait for further patches.