Undertale
2015
- puzzle
- role-playing (rpg)
- adventure
- indie
- fantasy
- horror
- comedy
- drama
- single player
The story
A small child falls into the Underground, where monsters have long been banished by humans and are hunting every human that they find. The player controls the child as they try to make it back to the Surface through hostile environments, all the while engaging with a turn-based combat system with puzzle-solving and bullet hell elements, as well as other unconventional game mechanics.
What it’s like
Chunky pixel sprites on a near-black cavern background, with soft ruby and teal palettes that shift from sugary cute to sudden stillness. The soundtrack is a chiptune-leaning mix of gentle melodies that turn melancholy or eerily quiet at the right moment, and sound effects are bright and bouncy, so the mood keeps flipping between warm and uneasy. Combat is turn-based, with brief dodge-the-bullets sequences in a small white box that feel like a playful bullet-hell puzzle, and the pacing alternates between chatty village wandering and sharp, unsettling beats. Its tone is quirky, sweet and bittersweet, with dark psychological undertones under the jokes; the feeling is cozy melancholy with a sting. Violence is cartoonish and mostly off-screen, but some scenes turn genuinely disturbing and emotionally heavy, so it suits a player who wants gentle, funny company with real emotional weight rather than pure comfort. Best for players who enjoy offbeat humour, rewarding choices, and games they can sit with for an evening or replay for a different ending.
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