The Dark World: KARMA

Karma: The Dark World is a horror walking simulator set in a dystopian science fiction setting. There are some light stealth elements and puzzles in the game, however around 85% of the game is exploring the beautiful environments and watching long cutscenes. The game took around 5 hours to complete, and then another 2 hours to mop up 100% of the achievements.
+ The game is extremely optimised and polished. I didn't even know my computer could run graphics like this so well. Max settings at 4K, the game is absolutely gorgeous. Absolutely no bugs, stuttering, or frame rate drops. The developers spent many hours fine tuning this game and it shows.
+ Super atmospheric original setting.
+ Ode to David Lynch is always a plus.
+ The puzzles are original and have a well balanced difficulty.
+ The music is beautiful. The sound design of the whole game is beautiful. All of the voice actors do an excellent job. Some of the songs used are super emotional and memorable.
+ Just the right amount of fun collectibles to collect.
+/- The story will be very divisive with players. The story is extremely dark, deep, and disturbing. The problem lies in the fact that it is super surreal and hard to understand with one playthrough. In order to fully appreciate the story, you will need to play multiple playthroughs or read a summary online.
- Some of the cutscenes can run on for too long.
An unforgettable, original, extremely well made piece of art.
Overall: 9.5/10

KARMA: The Dark World is a psychological thriller set in 1984 in East Germany and yes, you can draw lots of conclusions from this one line. Karma shows its inspirations on its sleeve and is more of an art form with cinematics, than an interactive game, an ode to 1984 – George Orwell. Chinese developers Pollard Studios aren’t new to this type of media, having other popular titles with heavy walking sim elements such as Martha is Dead, Close to the Sun and The Town of Light. All of these games…. I preferred much more than this.
Story
You play as Daniel McGovern, an agent for the Thought Bureau who investigates crime scenes and can delve (literally) into the brains of the accused to see their memories. The world is 1984 – George Orwell, yes…the famous book you’ve most likely heard of (or if you haven’t, please go read it). Even the eye is a central part of the gameplay here, as well as phrases such as “Mother is Watching you” and SO, so much more. If you’re a fan of this book (who isn’t) and want to enjoy it in a video game – walking simulator version, this is for you. If you want something a bit more unique, you may need to look a bit further.
Now, I love this book. I enjoy this theme and have played countless games which use it as their inspiration ... but I found this game to use 1984 as its sole identity (even a 1984 book is part of a puzzle incase you’re a bit slow to catch on… really?) Combine this with lacking narrative elements, as most of it seems to draw from other popular media and Karma starts to lose its identity.
Gameplay
Karma is predominantly a walking simulator. There are some hefty puzzles throughout but I found all to be fairly logical and although a hint option wasn’t included, I didn’t feel I needed one, which is a great indicator of balanced puzzles.
I don’t mind a game with little gameplay elements, as I love to immerse myself in the world. It is quite linear and you’re often jumping through memories, seeing contorted imagery and trying to deduce if what you’re seeing is real or not. There’s a few scares but the real horror is in the stunning art design and tension created by the atmosphere.
Motion sickness is quite prevalent as there are many scenes with unstoppable head bobbing, bizarre angles (adding to the surrealistic horror) and just general feelings of unease. For the most part, this didn’t bother me too much and I applaud the tension carefully crafted through the atmosphere and score.
Visuals & Sound
The art direction of this game is stunning and clearly has had immense thought poured into it. It felt like each new scene provided something new, a different style. A different medium to tell its narrative. It was never stale and kept evolving the entire way through.
The horrors of the world are expertly portrayed through a fantastic cast of voice actors and the game felt raw. Raw emotion, agony and despair. If you know Orwellian dystopias, this is no walk in the park. There is no sun hiding behind the clouds, it is dark. Classic themes of totalitarian control, surveillance, suppression of individualism and so much more are so clearly on display here.
Technical & Stats
This game was played using mouse & keyboard, and with the following PC specs.:
AMD Ryzen R5 7600x 5.4 GHz
32GB DDR5 5200 CL36 RAM
Radeon RX 6800 XT
2560x1440 resolution
NVMe 3.0 SSD
Windows 10
Playtime: Approx. 8 hours
Conclusion
My opinion of KARMA: The Dark World is rather mixed. I definitely like the developers previous work much better, but there is no denying that this is a very ambitious project. Personally, I would have liked to see a bit more of a unique spin on the Orwellian dystopia to really highlight the stunning art design of the game and to feel like something “different”. Instead, it feels like they tried to make “different” through a rushed ending with mass lore dumping via monologues that all became a bit confusing and detracted from the feeling the game had at the start of the game. Overall, I would say this is ok, especially if you’re new to the theme, particularly in games. Otherwise, there’s not much that’s fresh here - a very tentative recommendation.
I tend to review wholesome, puzzle, horror and narrative-driven games. If that sounds up your alley, please feel free to check out my curator page Cookie Reviews.
Review copy kindly provided by IndieGems

Wee-woo, wee-woo! ITS THE THOUGHT POLICE, OPEN UP. THAT OPINION ISNT STATE-APPROVED! Yup, nothing says safety like being afraid of your own internal monologue. Have you ever had the uncomfortable feeling that your own mind is being watched, judged and/or quietly rewritten? Ohh dyes, come come, this game will feel right at home.


In KARMA you play as Agent Daniel McGovern, a Thought Operative in the Cognition Crimes Division. Ya! Let that sink in for a moment (ꈍᴗꈍ) You are operating inside a bleak and oppressive system where reality feels fragile and truth is anything but stable. From the start of the game, the experience feels less like a conventional game and more like stepping into a controlled psychological space.

The game is divided into a prologue and three chapters. Aaand as any respectable detective story knows, it all begins with a moider. Without spoiling too much, I can say that your very first deep dive will be into the mind of an ordinary worker, replaying their daily routine. It's so damn surreal. In my language, we have a saying: 'wekker, wakker, werken' which basically means alarm clock, wake up, work. In other words: Life on repeat, nothing but work. Lets just say that some people are going to relate to this worker experience a little more than theyd like. But the reason I'm mentioning it, it started so strange, but ended so crazy. Very awesome work here.

The game really feels like a fusion of horror and an art project. The environments are hauntingly beautiful, constantly placing you in surreal, meticulously crafted spaces. Many scenes feel like they belong in a fancy gallery. And then, amid all the dread and psychological tension, the story gradually shifts toward something more personal and intimate. Themes of control and fear move towards love and connection, adding an (for me) very sudden and unexpected warmth and depth to the experience.

A small warning though: the beginning is quite vague and, yes, kind of slow. The narrative starts out abstract and fragmented. It's sometimes genuinely hard to follow. But this is a moment you have to stick with. Youre not given clear explanations. That initial vagueness is deliberate. Trust it. It really does become an unique emotional experience and you'll understand more about whats really going on later.


Recommended! A game that wants you to observe and feel. It may not immediately explain itself, but for those willing to stay with it, the journey becomes haunting, thoughtful and quite heartfelt. And who doesn't wanna shout 'THOUGHT POLICE' while kicking down doors? ♡

KARMA: The Dark World
I love this type of game — you don’t expect much from it, and it rarely disappoints.
It’s a thriller-horror with an arthouse vibe (or maybe it is arthouse), probably in the B-movie category.
There’s a decent story (for a game of this tier) short runtime, solid visuals, and some actual gameplay - even though it’s a walking simulator, there’s still something to do.
What surprised me were the puzzles specifically the ones for collectibles, since the story-related ones are fairly simple. Honestly, I don’t remember seeing that kind of thing in other games. I rarely play puzzle games (not that smart), and I even gathered a Discord council of friends who helped me solve them via stream. It was funny - and in its own way, engaging.
As for the ending, they overthought it, as usual. They aimed for a powerful story with a surprise twist, but ended up with the classic arthouse mess - throwing in a bunch of stuff all at once right before the finale.
It’s a good game. It doesn’t try to be a masterpiece, but I still enjoyed it. Personally, it reminded me of Observer, which I liked back in the day.

this game one of those rare hidden gems , a deeply atmospheric , underrated experience that slipped under the radar for many players. It absolutely deserves more attention .
Give it a chance , unforgettable journey .
باللنسبة لي اللعبة واحدة من أجمل الالعاب الرعب النفسي اللي قدمته لي , قدمت لي قصة جميلة وتويست رائع جدًا
لعبة قصيرة الحقيقة ولكن تستاهل تجربتك الشخصية ان كنت تبحث عن قصة رعب نفسي
بنهاية جميلة ومرضية انصحكم فيها وتستاهل وقتكم .

This is a game that gets under your skin and I think it'll sit with me for a long time. Highly recommended if you're a fan of David Lynch, George Orwell, Terry Gilliam's Brazil, Kojima, and other trippy masters of surreal/apocalypic fiction. Don't be put off if you're not a fan of horror, this one is worth experiencing.

Trippy walking simulator. Looks stunning with great sound and audio design. Story is probably not be for everyone and you have to pay real close attention to "get it". Since it is a very short game and there is really not much you can do, get it on sale. Recommended.