The Fridge is Red

An Exercise in apathy, neither solid nor liquid. Not exactly bad, but not very good either. Just a bit 'meh,' really.

The Fridge is Red ultimately fails to conjure up the scares and often impedes its own momentum, even if there are flashes of compelling horror to be found.

I was hoping to have an experience I would enjoy remembering on Halloween but after a strong start, The Fridge is Red did everything it could to be lost in my memory, only reviving nostalgia for the PS1 era.

The Fridge is Red stands or falls on its atmosphere and it has that part down on lock. Sadly, the storytelling isn't quite on the same level.

The Fridge is Red is an anthology of short horror chapters with a marked retro aesthetic, typical of the 32-bit era, which will appeal to fans of this genre.

Overall, The Fridge is Red succeeds in creating a creepy atmosphere through the use of liminal spaces and excellent sound design. The world immediately pulls players in with its unsettling feeling and almost demands to be explored. However, The Fridge is Red misses the mark significantly due to the lack of consistent scares, often obtuseness of puzzles, and low-quality graphics. The Fridge is Red includes several great ideas, twisting the stress of everyday encounters into something surreal, but they never quite become fully fleshed out, and they become predictable when they all end in more or less the same manner. Players looking for a few hours of new horror content this October could certainly do worse, but The Fridge is Red lacks the depth and frights needed to contend with the best short indie horror games currently dominating the genre.

The Fridge is Red is a fascinating horror game. Essentially six short experiences in one, this package highlights the best and the worst of the indie horror genre all in one. It simultaneously features some of the most innovative and interesting mechanics I've seen in horror games in a long time and some of the stalest. But with its satisfying ending and an overall dedication to establishing a sense of dread through its atmosphere and liminal settings, The Fridge is Red is still ultimately a batch of traumas worth exploring.

While the opening 30 minutes might convince you otherwise, The Fridge is Red is an uninspired walking simulator with little actual game to engage with. A cool retro art style and sense of atmosphere dissipate out of this open fridge into the ether of a bland, empty and lukewarm room. This fridge is sadly more grey than red.

The Fridge Is Red offers a unique take on survival horror games. With 6 different episodes to work through, there are plenty of puzzles that will confuse and frustrate you, scary and gross visuals, and a soundtrack that will creep you right out. This style and type of game will NOT be for everyone. The puzzles can sometimes be very confusing or obscure. Some others may be frustrated by the retro graphic feel, but it definitely makes you feel like you are playing an old-school Playstation horror game.