Killer in the Cabin

by Aethyna May 18, 2022 | 1 Votes | 63 Played | 0 Reviews

8 rate

Genres:

Adventure

Graphics:

Labels:

Survival , Crime , Social

Platforms:

Publishers:

Games People Play Set in the Norwegian mountains, you and a couple of fellow travelers found yourselves trapped in a remote cabin. Not only will you have to work with your group mates to survive until rescue arrives, but you’ll also have to avoid getting killed by the murderous psychopath that’s among you… unless you are the killer that is! Play Now Similar Games

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Summary Gameplay Community Graphics/ Sound Conclusion

Summary

Killer in the Cabin is a 5-player social survival game similar to the popular hit, Among Us, where teamwork and betrayal is key to the gameplay. The game’s set in a remote cabin in the Norwegian mountains where you, and a couple of fellow travelers found yourselves trapped in. Not only will you have to work with your group mates to survive the elements and satisfy personal needs until the rescue comes, but you’ll also have to avoid getting killed by the murderous psychopath that’s amongst you… unless you are the killer that is, then your goal is obviously different – you’ll want to be the sole survivor.

Gameplay

As a multiplayer-oriented game, Killer in the Cabin offers two kinds of lobbies – Public and Private. Anyone can create a lobby or join one in the Public lobby, but for Private games, you’ll need to have the code needed to join one.

There are many ways you can customize your game as well, from choosing how many bots to fill up any empty spaces – each game can house up to 5 players – to deciding how long the game should last... as in how much time everyone will have to survive and how long the killer will have to kill everyone else.

There are three difficulty levels too. Harder game modes will mean tougher survival conditions so, for instance, you can expect fewer ready-made foodstuff and more raw ingredients instead.

You can also customize how your character look before heading into a game. Besides choosing one of the many characters available, you can even put in fancy hats which you can buy using coins. However, before splurging all the coins you have at the very start, know that coins can only be obtained if you found them while scavenging in-game, and not by completing a game.

So far, I’ve managed to find around 2 coins per 15-minute game so you can have an idea how many games you’ll need to play to get that costly pirate hat (priced at 216 coins) for example. There are also some exclusive hats that you can only get if you’re a streamer or an early access backer. For me at least, I got the cheapest hat of the lot – the crown.

The gameplay itself is actually quite fun and intriguing since there are two kinds of survival elements going on this game – fulfilling your character’s needs and making sure you don’t get killed by the killer, or in the case where you are the killer, making sure you don’t get voted out by the other members of the group.

The survival part can be quite challenging all on its own, especially if the survival duration is longer than the default 15 minutes. Not only will you need to make sure your group survives the biting winter storms of the Norwegian mountains by starting up the fireplace and keeping it going, but you’ll also need to have enough food and water… and no, the cookies, muffins, and chocolates you find won’t be enough.

You can use the various food ingredients you find, along with raw ingredients gathered from the environment, such as fish and blueberries, to cook delicious meals at the stove for the group. These food items will satiate your character’s hunger much longer since they are supposed to be more filling.

Of course, this also means that you’ll need to venture out into the wilderness and explore your surroundings. After all, scavenging and exploring are important parts of the gameplay, and there are lots of places where useful loot can be stashed. To put it simply though, you’ve got plenty of stuff to do here even if you’re not playing as the killer. You’re not just running around blindly trying to find the best hiding spot.

However, the map for the game is always the same, so once you’re familiar enough with the map, you should already know that, for instance, you can get blueberries on the little island in the middle of the lake. Personally, I think that the game would be better if there was a bit of randomization here.

Unlike a typical Werewolf/Mafia party game where the killer is encouraged to start killing right away, even if you’re the killer in Killer in the Cabin, it’s actually to your advantage for you to wait for your group to help set up the fireplace and gather the resources you’ll need to survive. It’ll also help you appear like an ordinary member of the group, at least until an opportunity presents itself, or if you create an opportunity for yourself to kill.

As a killer, you are given plenty of ways to make a kill. You can go the stabby and very messy route which usually doesn’t play out well, or choose something more discreet like poisoning and strangling someone when they slept. You could also drop a bear trap and try to trap the unsuspecting someone just so you can do the deed.

If you’re lucky, you might stumble upon the rare shotgun and the ammo that you’ll need to operate it which can be very helpful in killing people from afar.

Killer in the Cabin is social at its core. The game encourages you to communicate with your group mates via the in-game voice chat, though you can still use the chat box at the bottom left to communicate if you don’t have a mic. There’s even an emoji wheel that you can use, but unless someone’s looking directly your way, it’s unlikely anyone will notice that kind of gesture you’re making.

You might also be wondering – the game would be ruined the moment the killer tried to murder someone because the victim could just yell out the killer’s name and warn the other players… well, you can’t. When you’re attacked, you won’t be able to communicate for 10 seconds so unless you managed to run and get away, the killer would have ample time to smother your character with a pillow, for instance.

As fun as Killer in the Cabin is, I think the game might have been released at an unfortunate time when people are tired of staying cooped up at home. It would probably have seen better success had it been heavily promoted during the height of lockdown during the pandemic.

That being said, for a party game that doesn’t support Steam’s remote play, it might be good to have a bundle offer where a player can buy several copies of the game at a bundle discount and gift the games to his/her friends so they could all play it together. A free weekend promo might work well for the game as well, as it did for the co-op game Unrailed!, but the content here is comparatively more limited and is mainly centered around the collective experience the players created for themselves within the context of the game.

Killer in the Cabin could also use some variations in terms of the map and some of the details in the game. For instance, it’s always the same bedroom door that’s locked. There can be some randomization added to the mix to provide slightly different landscapes or events for the group of players to survive through.

Community

The game is designed solely for multiplayer and this shows. However, since it doesn’t seem like enough players are playing the game and if you go into it solo, you won’t be able to find a public game. Instead, you might want to head on over to the game’s Discord to try and recruit some players to play the game with you, or better yet, get your friends to grab the game as well and play with them.

The game even has a Karma system in place to prevent players in public games from trolling or ruining everyone’s fun, which is nice. The game is great for streaming too if you happen to do it. You can hide the status of your character and let your audience decide if you’re the killer or not – before you make the first kill and reveal your identity to the people watching, of course! You can even play with your viewers by sharing your private lobby code and inviting them to join you.

I’d also like to point out that the devs have only recently added in bots so they are very dumb at the moment and will just stand around doing nothing and eventually die of hunger, thirst... well, you get the gist of it!

Graphics/ Sound

To be honest, the graphics look a bit dated in Killer in the Cabin but the visuals are still functional for the purposes of the game. Personally, I really like the comic-style splash screen and greatly exaggerated effects whenever someone dies. Plus, in case you’re like me and get sick from motion blur, be sure to disable it in the settings as well!

In terms of sound, the game offers a nice ambiance and sound effects. However, none of this interferes with the most important part of the audio – the voice chats.

Conclusion

If you love games like Among Us, you’ll enjoy playing Killer in the Cabin. It puts a fun survival twist to the gameplay, giving players who aren’t the killer something to do besides just running around and looking for places to hide. As the killer, the game is even more entertaining, especially with the many different ways you could go about killing other players. The social aspect of the game is where the game really shines but unfortunately, this only works if you’ve got a dedicated group of friends to play the game with you. Finding a random public game to hop into just won’t work here.

New Game Added: Killer in the Cabin

by Aethyna May 18, 2022

Set in the Norwegian mountains, you and a couple of fellow travelers found yourselves trapped in a remote cabin. Not only will you have to work with your group mates to survive until rescue arrives, but you’ll also have to avoid getting killed by the murderous psychopath that’s among you… unless you are the killer that is!