I usually deliberate whether or not to buy a game for days. And at the end of that period I usually decide against spending the money. Within minutes of finding out Lakeview Cabin Collection exists, it was in my Steam library. This is the game I’ve been anticipating for a long time, wondering why no one has really made it yet. Someone finally made it.
Before I had any real grasp on the control scheme, my player character was wasted on beer, skinny dipping in a lake. And long before I hit the ten minute mark, all my friends were dead, including the (presumably) virginal heroine who’s supposed to be invincible in movies like this. So in my second playthrough I tried to anticipate the killer, but the game just isn’t as fun if you choose this strategy (which isn’t to say there won’t be surprises anyway). No, it’s a lot more fun to roleplay the clueless teenager who’s about to be chopped into pieces, drinking beer and taking rips from a bong rather than setting up traps and hiding beneath bunks… at least until you discover a friend’s body.
Lakeview Cabin is like a mash-up of the NES’s Friday the 13th and Maniac Mansion. It’s a light puzzler with permadeath and each time you play it it’ll be different. If it had any shortcomings—and it really doesn’t, although ten bucks is a little high—they would be eclipsed by the fun and humor of it. If you still own Sleepaway Camp and The Burning on VHS, you owe it to yourself to buy this game. Just be sure to have a decent gamepad.
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