Bernie’s Nightmare
The Deepest Fear
15-year-old Bernie Janson had a normal, high school life, before a terrible car crash sending his mother to death. What’s worse, he was in the car with her and he watched her die but unable to help. Bernie became overwhelmed with trauma and couldn’t leave his house for days. But he saw his mother once again…
One day, Bernie discovered a new type of horror game called The Nightmare Machine. By scanning deep inside the player’s brain, it brings out their deepest fear and turns it to a physiological horror that will hunt them. Bernie was brave and decided to play. And before he knew it, he was seconds away before blasting off in what he presumed to be a horror game. Horror? Yes. Game? No. What he saw was real. He saw his mother. But is it really his mother? Or a sociopath. Or is it just a game? Reveal the truth in Bernie’s Nightmare…
The Escape
Bernie wakes up inside this strange house he had never seen before. His head is hurting like it’s going to explode in any second. He sees a table besides him. There is a flashlight and wait! There is also a note – Welcome to the Nightmare machine. Immediately Bernie remembers what’s going on. He then hears a familiar woman’s voice crying, it is his mother. But is it? His mother is now a half human half zombie with a burned face and mouth that shows all her teeth. Bernie doesn’t feel very good, he wants to stop this game. But there is no way to this, except going through the main door in the house, that’s locked and the key is nowhere to be seen. In order to return to reality, Bernie must search the house for the way out while avoiding his monster mom who tries to kill him.
The Gameplay
You play as Bernie, search the house and find the way out. There are places you can hide, puzzles for you to solve, objects for you to find. There are 3 difficulty modes: Easy, Hard, Impossible. If it’s your first time playing, try the easy mode to get a feel of what to do, you have the ability to turn on lights in the house. With the Hard mode, there are no lights in the house except your flashlight. If you manage to survive, challenge yourself with the Impossible mode. In which Marny- Bernie’s mom always knows where you’re at. You must be completely familiar with the map and be creative with the gameplay. Good luck!
Includes :
- Full control of lights, turn light switches and lamps on/off
- Large map
- Smart enemy AI and random patrol
- Hold and drop objects
- Hiding Spots
- Flashlight
- Doors
- Notes
Game Discussion
Steam User 22
Before reading my opinion on the game, please consider that this game was made by a single fifteen year old and that in itself is impressive.
There are many pros and cons to the game, and some things that could be improved on, as well as some of my own personal suggestions.
Lets start with the pros:
While the game in itself may not appear to be that scary, it may certainly catch you buy surprise (and maybe even make you jump) given the fact that the enemy has no audio cues that give away its location except for a constant crying sound, however, the game keeps you on edge due to the fact that this single noise will quiet the closer she gets, therefor she is able to catch you by surprise because she will be virtually silent when she is nearby.
The game will immediately throw you into it, without any clear context or objective for you to follow, you have to figure it out as you progress. This is both good in bad, the good is that it can bring a bit of freedom to the player, but on the flip side, if the player gets lost they are basically going to remain lost.
The game also provides and hiding mechanic similar to games such as Outlast in order to lose the enemy, you are able to hide in/under beds, tables, cabinets and more. The game is even more punishing and challenging because if you get caught, you have to restart from the beginning. I have found no save points in the game.
Overall I think that this game is worth at least a try, its only $2 after all.
Now lets move on to the cons:
The game settings could be improved on, as of this moment there is no way to adjust you volume and mouse settings in the game.
The AI for the enemy is a little inconsistent, sometimes when you hide she will just remain there and may take a while to leave, but this doesn't happen often.
The music is remains the same and there is no way to adjust it, this is not game breaking by any means but it can become a bit of an annoyance after a while.
The character movement is a bit slow, but i guess this is intended to make it difficult to outrun the enemy.
Overall I could see some minor improvements but I have enjoyed playing the game, and i definetly recommend it for the price
Steam User 7
For €0.10 not bad i guess
Steam User 6
Good game.
Good adventure.
Nice graphic and sound.
And you can earn achievements.
Steam User 2
this game was so much fun, the graphics aren't amazing, but it didn't bother me. It's part of the ambiance. The thing I like most about the game is the way it gives you toys for later use. The way you had to use the hole map as your tool; when you had to run and bait his mother, and hidden clues key and batteries scattered across the map
really loves this game
6/10 game
11/10 0,79€ game
Steam User 1
I don't quite know how to describe why i like this game. The graphics aren't great, i mean the game's enemy looks like Gollum from Lord Of The Ring. The soundtrack is the same simple melody played over and over again too loudly, with no option to turn it down. Enemy's AI is almost laughable. Yet somehow i still had a great time with this game. I think the features some would call lacking, ends up working for the game's better, as it gives the game great simplicity. Bernie's Nightmare doesn't need a big budget to give you the true feelings of fright, stress nor hurry that it does.
Overall, for 0,79 euro, this game is an absolute banger.
8/10 would Recommend.
Steam User 6
I was surprised when first opening the game. To begin with i wasent expecting much from a new and up coming indie developer but the game took my judges and smashed them into the ground. I thought it was gonna be just like a boring average horror game but what I got was a well produced horror title with a reasonable price for what is provided. The scares arent boring and useless and you feel desperation and stress in some of the situations. i would recommend it if you enjoy the horror esc game type.
Steam User 2
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