When it comes to horror-oriented titles on the Switch, unfortunately much of what has come to the system has been a mixed bag. More often than not, jumpscare-laden walking simulators or generally buggy messes have been the norm, though thankfully there have been some that have worked as well. Stasis: Bone Totem ends up landing somewhere in the middle, with loads of ambiance and atmosphere helping to make it compelling, but its controls and general design letting it down a bit.

One smart move the developers made with the game was to make it more in a classic point-and-click adventure style. Not only has this allowed them to focus more on establishing the rundown state of the environments, it also generally helps to keep most of the exploring within a tighter overall area, cutting down on the need to wander through too many corridors where you have nothing to interact with. Another aspect worth paying some respect to is the general story and work of the voice actors, who have quite a bit of dialogue and generally do well with it, further helping to establish the mood. I can also say that some of the turns and revelations in it I can truly say were a surprise, and there’s something to be said for that even if some of it is just plain weird.

Unfortunately, there are also aspects that don’t work as well, though most of these overlap with common point-and-click adventure issues. The first is that in part because of the great ambiance in the generally dark environments, intuitively knowing where to look for clues can be tricky. It seems like the developers understood this, enabling you to use a device to point out everything around you that you can interact with, but without those clues there are spots I don’t think you’d ever have known to check. The second pretty common trap is inventory items and their use or how you need to combine them. Sometimes it works, and sometimes you’ll just resort to trying anything in the hopes you’ll be able to move on. The last is that there’s a fine line between experiences being well-written with sufficient lore and them becoming encumbered by it. I’d say this falls more on the overwhelming end with you needing to sort through too many logs and bits to find what matters at times.

While it’s hardly perfect, there’s no question that Stasis: Bone Totem has ambition and aims to do things its own way. Rather than stick to the tropes and beats most horror games fall in line with, it taps further into sci-fi and other more unusual inspirations to differentiate itself. The mere fact that it deviates from the typical path is also part of what can make it compelling and more unnerving, just the fact that so much of what’s happening won’t be terribly familiar. Of course, that could also end up being a downside if the choices it has made don’t click with you, but in my mind it’s worth the risk if you can overcome some of its point-and-click shortcomings.