It's a Daniel Mullins game alright. I think it's very easy to look at his love of Creepypasta/creepy internet culture and feel frustrated that his narratives don't have much meat to them. There's a love of the mystery, the search, and the atmosphere that replaces conventional elements like, oh I don't know, an ending or themes. Still I find this juvenile fixation on loose story telling incredibly charming.

How many times will there be an old haunted video game that shouldn't exist? Infinite, I hope, as long as Daniel's imagination is running wild.

There's clearly an immense amount of technical prowess running the atmosphere here. The sheer amount of time it must have taken to get the woodsman's hands just right both disturbs and delights me in one complex package my therapist has yet to explain to me. There are so many little things throughout the experience that show a wild amount of imaginative visual/gameplay styles that really intertwine into a diverse and engaging experience. The implementation of standing up from the table gives the player such an uncomfortable diegetic feel that I find it easy to forgive the hacky metatextual segments.

The gameplay really does peak in the beginning though. The introduction of more mechanics overtime feels like bloat rather than expanding upon the already good basis. I can't even begin to explain how the circuit system works, and nothing says bloat in a card game like a useless mechanic that never got in the way of me beating the game.

I appreciate Daniel Mullens for his imagination, his technical/atmospheric prowess, and the absolute love he puts into his games. He still suffers as a designer from not knowing how to make his gameplay adapt and change over time, and his twisty narratives never really rise above the realm of fun pulpy Creepypastas. I think Daniel Mullins is wonderful creator in the medium, and the technical work he puts into all of his experiences should be celebrated far beyond their shortcomings.