Nauseous Pines

Rail Slave (the developer) likes to make psychedelic experiences that generally don't have good gameplay or mechanics. Usually, the purpose of his game has nothing to do with its core gameplay, but instead, you are trying to find that hidden philosophical context. The difference between a bad game, and the intentionally bad game is kind of a gray area, but I am not convinced that Rail is making worthless projects on purpose. If you look at reviews for his other entries they average about 45% user score, with one exception. I think a lot of people give up because his games are too cryptic. Therefore, most players are not even aware that Rail is not trying to make a generic game in a first place. As for myself, it took me about 2 years to appreciate his 'art', and even with all of that found context, his misunderstood self-expression can be hard to digest.
Where do I even begin with Nauseous Pines, even for a Rail's game this is super confusing. You start with what appears to be a desktop screen, click twice to interact with icons. You can play a breakout game, listen to the music player, or go into the dungeon-crawler adventure which seems to be the main gameplay mode. Assuming that you figured out how to access it, you can fly around the 3D room which seems to have only a few points of interest, the game, and the shop. The goal of each stage is to collect resources in a limited time while avoiding enemies. It's kind of like a labyrinth mini-game where you are the mouse, and the sniper is the cat. Then you can spend resources on tapes and attributes, don't ask me what they do, I assume they affect the game or progress, for all I know the thing is broken because I can't buy one of the items.
Pros & Cons ?
Normally I would list some pros and cons, but with Rail's games it's always a special situation. Everything that I like here is completely subjective, it's an aesthetic experience. However, you can point out plenty of things that are wrong, not that he really cares. If you expect a game that makes sense, you probably will not enjoy this.
Overall Thoughts: 6/10
I had a few interactions with the developer over the last year or so, and he always helped me with whatever I needed. I told Rail I would pay for the game to support it, and he still gave me a review copy, plus the soundtrack. I like a lot of his ideas, that weird design that defies all common sense, but I think you have to find a way to translate it better.
When you make the game too difficult to understand, you cut off 60% of the player base as you can see with previous projects, it's not that people don't like the games, they didn't even give them a chance.

Steam User 29

Reviewed 11.2019

Rail Slave (the developer) likes to make psychedelic experiences that generally don't have good gameplay or mechanics. Usually, the purpose of his game has nothing to do with its core gameplay, but instead, you are trying to find that hidden philosophical context. The difference between a bad game, and the intentionally bad game is kind of a gray area, but I am not convinced that Rail is making worthless projects on purpose. If you look at reviews for his other entries they average about 45% user score, with one exception. I think a lot of people give up because his games are too cryptic. Therefore, most players are not even aware that Rail is not trying to make a generic game in a first place. As for myself, it took me about 2 years to appreciate his 'art', and even with all of that found context, his misunderstood self-expression can be hard to digest.
Where do I even begin with Nauseous Pines, even for a Rail's game this is super confusing. You start with what appears to be a desktop screen, click twice to interact with icons. You can play a breakout game, listen to the music player, or go into the dungeon-crawler adventure which seems to be the main gameplay mode. Assuming that you figured out how to access it, you can fly around the 3D room which seems to have only a few points of interest, the game, and the shop. The goal of each stage is to collect resources in a limited time while avoiding enemies. It's kind of like a labyrinth mini-game where you are the mouse, and the sniper is the cat. Then you can spend resources on tapes and attributes, don't ask me what they do, I assume they affect the game or progress, for all I know the thing is broken because I can't buy one of the items.
Pros & Cons ?
Normally I would list some pros and cons, but with Rail's games it's always a special situation. Everything that I like here is completely subjective, it's an aesthetic experience. However, you can point out plenty of things that are wrong, not that he really cares. If you expect a game that makes sense, you probably will not enjoy this.
Overall Thoughts: 6/10
I had a few interactions with the developer over the last year or so, and he always helped me with whatever I needed. I told Rail I would pay for the game to support it, and he still gave me a review copy, plus the soundtrack. I like a lot of his ideas, that weird design that defies all common sense, but I think you have to find a way to translate it better.
When you make the game too difficult to understand, you cut off 60% of the player base as you can see with previous projects, it's not that people don't like the games, they didn't even give them a chance.
Steam User 3

Reviewed 07.2020

I had to literally moan a lot to actually complete this shit. And im not talking about difficult here. Game is acceptable but i think it could have been a lot better with a few tweaks.
Steam User 7

Reviewed 11.2019

The motorcycle you drive plugs itself into the protagonist's orifices I believe?
Steam User 8

Reviewed 02.2021

oh my god
(one of rail slave's best)

Nauseous Pines

Gameplay Features:-

Game Discussion

Anonymous

Steam User 29

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Steam User 8