Zoonomaly
Zoonomaly is a puzzle based survival horror game set in a condensed open world zoo map. The game is non-linear so any approach can be taken to achieve completion.
Welcome to Zoonomaly
Numerous monster sightings have been documented across the country over the past year. After extensive research, the source of these monstrosities has been triangulated somewhere in a local zoo. You have been tasked with entering this mysterious zoo, finding the source, and putting a stop to it. To accomplish this task, you must collect 10 key cards by solving puzzles throughout the zoo. Once all 10 are collected, you will be able to find the source of the monster anomalies. You have been supplied with a powerful flash lamp. May it give you light on your journey and a forceful deterrent to monsters in pursuit.
EXPLORE THE ZOO:
You are free to explore the 64 acre (25 hectare) zoo grounds. Find hidden secrets, creepy exhibits, rogue monsters, and immerse yourself in this delightfully disturbing zoo.
STAY ALIVE:
You must attempt to stay alive while inside the zoo. Monster anomalies of all different shapes and sizes wander the grounds. Avoid contact at all costs. When in doubt, RUN!
COLLECT TO WIN:
Only by finding and collecting 10 key cards scattered across the zoo will you be able to unlock the truth. Key cards can be found inside the animal enclosures.
SOLVE PUZZLES:
In order to collect a key card, you’ll need to solve a puzzle inside each enclosure. These puzzles are spread throughout the zoo and must be solved to obtain each key card.
DEFEND YOURSELF:
Equipped with the powerful flash lamp, you have the ability to halt any monster that chases you by releasing a forceful blast of light. The flash lamp defense requires any light bulb to fire the blast but you can only hold 5 bulbs at a time so use it wisely.
Game Discussion
Steam User 55
This game was quite fun and took me a while to beat. I would recommend getting it on sale though. But there still are some problems and things that should be added.
Here are some current issues that I saw:
1. I hated that the enemies would camp the "safe zones" so I would have to waste a lightbulb.
2. The puzzles became a bit repetitive but there was still some ones that were slightly different.
3. The boss fight teleports you miles away if you died and even though I saved next to the boss fight it just reset everytime.
4. There are no autosaves so if you don't manually save then you will have to restart or go back to your last save.
5. The weapon took so long to charge up and I died several times because of it.
I do understand that this is the creator's first game but I hope he releases patches to fix these issues.
There are several things that should be added:
1. Multiplayer: This would be a cool game to play with friends, you can play the main story with friends or there could be a PvP mode where one player is a monster. There would also be more shards in multiplayer.
2. Randomly Generated Puzzles: This would make the puzzles a bit more unique and add more replayibility.
3. Steam Workshop: Custom made maps with these creatures would be fun and would add even more stuff to do in multiplayer. There would also need to be a level maker too.
4. Upgrades: This could make the weapon much more powerful and stun enemies much longer.
5. Some New Mechanics: The mechanics in this game get a little old after a while and it would be nice if there was more tools that could be used. Maybe a shotgun or something.
Well, overall I still enjoyed it and may replay it eventually.
Steam User 37
This is both terrifying and fun! I've been following lights are off on social media for a while, and I have to say that I was very excited for this game, being able to explore a world of their creation is an amazing feeling! I'm certainly not disappointed by what I've seen so far, and I'm excited to see all that this game has to offer!!!
Steam User 22
So after having just finished this game, I think I can give it a fair and informative review. The ambiance? Good. Sounds? Good, if not a bit grating at times (though monster volume can be turned down and even muted in the settings). Monster design? Good. There are a few creatures that definitely stand out, and I liked coming across new ones as I moved around the zoo. With that out of the way, lets get into the actual game-play.
The first thing that I want to say about it is that this game is 90% trial-and-error. I spent the first 30 minutes echoing the sentiments reflected in this game's bad reviews; each time I fell from a scaffold or missed my target and had to traverse the entire puzzle again (and depending on the enclosure, avoid being mauled by the residents) I found myself becoming more and more frustrated. I don't think I would have left a bad review, but I certainly wouldn't have said much if not for one fairly obvious revelation that ultimately saved my play-through.
You can save at any point, and it only takes a few seconds to quit to the menu and reload your save.
I recommend the following: each time you reach a new platform or make a successful jump, save your game. If you fall, just quit and reload. It takes very little time to reload a save and it saves you from having to traverse the puzzle again and collect more light bulbs in order to do so. Having figured this out, the game is actually quite fun if you don't mind a bit of trial-and-error in your puzzles. If played this way, you'll find that this game is a fun little atmospheric puzzle game with non-linear progression and an interesting concept.
The one thing that I will say regarding this method is that you can't really use the save-and-reload method during the final boss fight, because each time you reload the game the door to that area is reset and you have to use the key open it again. I reloaded inside the room and was effectively locked inside, and the boss only spawns after the door is unlocked, so I couldn't even allow it to kill me in order to respawn outside. Having said that, it's not quite a soft-lock. I was able to unlock the door from the inside after pressing myself against the door and trying a few times. I'm not sure how, but I will say that it's possible; I fired a bloom-blast at the door around the time that it seemed to work, so if you find yourself in a similar situation give it a shot.
If you play the game without saving/reloading then it's maybe a solid 3/10. If you go into it with that knowledge, it'd rate it as high as a 7/10 if you like finding new weird anomalous monsters and getting launched between platforms. I think the price is reasonable, but if you're not sure wait for it to go on sale. Overall? I had fun - thumbs up.
Steam User 21
I like it! It's creative, it has a rogue like feel and it's good at being scary! I absolutely love the light bulb mechanic as it feels like you're being forced to strip the world of it's natural light in order to use it as a defense mechanism. Now, given that it's LightsAreOff's first game, I won't go too harsh on some things it needs, but there are a few QoL changes I would like to see. Being able to cancel the Bloom o Bang while it's fully charged without wasting the light bulb would be nice, as well as hints towards items like keys that you need to obtain some of the key shards. Maybe a scrawled arrow to point you in the right direction. Some more control options would be great to see as well. Sensitivity and the ability to turn off motion blur are definitely musts. I was also a little disappointed to see that a lot of the monster designs feel too similar. Almost all of them share features of a big mouth with sharp teeth. Would have loved to see some more unique monster designs that you see alot of in his animations on TikTok and YouTube that make them all feel different from one another. Now, all that constructive critism, lets go back to the good things! Graphics are great, a little poorly optimized, but again, first game, so nothing unexpected. The controls are well made and gameplay is unique and creative! The bloom o bang being an all in one survival tool was a great way to make the game have alot too it, but also not bog the players down with a million different tools. Overall I'm really happy with it and I would say it was worth the wait and the price. solid 7/10
Steam User 16
Please let us explore after the game is over, similar to how cool it'd be to see all those animals healed up once we've taken down the final boss. It would make completing this game that much more satisfying. Anyway, great job!
Steam User 17
A genius horror/puzzle game that requires a lot of patience. Zoonomaly is pretty difficult but far from unfair. The game has gorgeous graphics, a great soundtrack and a lot of really scary moments, but the puzzles can be extremely frustrating if you don't understand the core mechanics. The game has gotten an update since launch (hopefully there'll be more in the future), and it has already made the game more understandable. I recommend getting this game just for the creative monsters and terrifying open world. 8/10, can't wait for the sequel.
Steam User 12
This game is... hard to place. I don't regret purchasing it, but I can't say I'm entirely happy with it either.
Zoonomaly is a sort of mix of platforming, puzzle, and horror. The aesthetic is great, and while monsters can look doofy, some can be scary and really make you jump if they sneak up on you! You get a big open zoo to explore, light beams to guide you on your way, and a set of unique mechanics to play with. You need to find 20 key pieces, primarily through entering enclosures and using a mix of launchers and jumping to reach them. A few of them hold special challenges such as mazes, key hunts, and more.
Therein lies the game's main, frustrating problem: these launchers. They have Xs on them to try to guide you where to stand, but they aren't always accurate. You can stand right on top of them and be thrown off the structure entirely, forcing you to begin again - or be thrown right into the maw of an angry animal. As much as I like using physics to maneuver, I feel their unreliability is more trouble than it's worth and I advise the devs to have these Xs launch you to predetermined spots rather than rely on the physics.
Additionally, some of the puzzles require a lot of guesswork. There can be multiple branching paths in a structure and it's absolutely impossible to tell which one you need to follow, which is incredibly annoying when they're one way paths. Some launchers throw you REALLY far, and you just have to pray you're on the right spot to be thrown where you need to. You also only have a limited amount of ammo to activate these launchers with, so if you run out, you've gotta jump off and start over - and I worry some might be impossible if you use up the bulbs scattered across the structure but fall off before you finish.
If steam allowed it, I'd rate my opinion as neutral instead of positive. There's definitely potential here, but it could use some adjustments to tone down the frustration. If you're a patient player, I'd say it's worth a shot... if you're not, you'll likely have a bad time.
Some other smaller nitpicks:
-I feel something needs to change with the monsters - either let them be stunned longer, or decrease their movement speed, or increase camera reload speed. Right now, it can be a challenge to even start a puzzle to begin with because they'll run you down and attack you before you can even get a launcher ready. There needs to be a way to keep them at bay long enough to at least START an attempt.
-At least once, I ended up sandwiched between a swarm of monkeys and a zookeeper atop one of the zoo's respawn points. I escaped by stunning them, but I fear what might've happened if I'd run out of ammo beforehand. I worry it could be a potential softlock. Perhaps have zookeepers or the animals respawn farther away/at set points when you die.
-When you fire your weapon and reload, you're blind for a couple seconds. It makes sense, since your weapon is your flashlight, but a lot can go wrong when you're wandering in the dark even briefly. Perhaps its flash can last longer while you're reloading?