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Atmosperic, layered "one-room" horror with fantastic writing, April 4, 2024The premise of Studio is simple: for lore reasons only hinted at, your safe house studio apartment has been broken into by an armed intruder looking to kill you. (It's technically not all one room since there's a bathroom, but it's close enough.) You spend your run(s) in a tense thought game of cat-and-mouse as you and the intruder creep around each other in the tiny studio apartment.
Your playthrough begins with you having just moved into your new studio apartment. Here you have as much time as you like to explore, and Charm Cochran takes care to incorporate a surprising level of character depth, should you choose to look for it. Some of it is given to you with the REMEMBER command, but others are easily missed (Spoiler - click to show)like the text messages to her handler. Her quirky nighttime routine is a fantastic way of infusing character into a tutorial, and attention to detail is rewarded.
Then once night falls, you understand how justified her paranoia is. The intruder NPC is smart and reactive to your own choices, making him feel like a real threat. The game itself (Spoiler - click to show)takes place in mere moments as the main character plans her escape (another lovely character detail!) and this framing device allows for many interesting playthroughs. Playing the game once through is short - it doesn't take that long to get just one of the endings - but I found myself playing for hours, resetting the scenario over and over again to try everything the apartment has to offer. After a few runs, I suggest (Spoiler - click to show)restarting the game altogether so you can prepare your studio apartment for the night to come.
This game is very polished. The CSS enhances the nerve-racking mood without being distracting, and Cochran has taken care to reward unusual decisions -(Spoiler - click to show)I was surprised when standing outside the door when the police arrive gave unique lines!. The puzzles aren't punishingly difficult, but aren't immediately obvious. There is lots that can be missed even with several playthroughs (Spoiler - click to show)like many of the radio stations. If you like atmospheric games with vivid writing that you can come back to again and again, this is for you!