"Uncanny Valley" Review

A dark and atmospheric puzzler, "Uncanny Valley" is a dense and circuitous survival horror title bounding with obtuse clues sheltering multitudes of Easter eggs.

It takes a studious effort and fine-tuned attention to detail -- as well as the willingness to undergo multiple playthroughs -- to uncover everything. Your choices affect the outcomes in ways many games promise but few deliver. This is a truly branching-path effort in the "Choose Your Own Adventure" tradition.

In addition to the mysteries themselves, additional difficulty comes in the form of oddball design choices and convoluted structure. "Uncanny Valley" takes pride in being out of the ordinary, so those looking for something conventional should look elsewhere.

After releasing on consoles in February, the effort from developer Cowardly Creations gets an encore debut on the Switch. The game could gain new life in the new release, with handheld mode making some of the more frustrating qualities more tolerable.

"Uncanny Valley" is far more intriguing when played in shorter, bite-sized go-rounds.

While too convoluted and burdensome for those with short attention spans, the game has the uncanny tendency to gnaw at you when you leave it, sinking into your subconsciousness in the way intriguing works of art tend to do. An overthinker's dream, "Uncanny Valley" has a way of sticking to your ribs.

Publisher provided review code.