Toca Mystery House

A suspenseful Toca game that goes off the deep end (in a somewhat “good” way).

Let me be honest here (as I always am, bear in mind!) This game kinda weirded me out, but not in the way that you might imagine.

I get the point about the crackling noises and other eerie ambient sounds. After all, it wouldn’t be a horror-themed game without any of these tropes. But this game has some of the strangest ways of conveying horror that I’ve seen in a while, particularly in a kids’ game.

For starters, the kitchen is inhabited by the freakiest slimes ever. There’s one point at which you have to clean the refrigerator with what appears to be a living “vacuum machine”. However, this “thing” (which I don’t even want to know what it is) is even more gross than whatever it is that it’s supposed to clean!

Then there’s some disconnect with the music. I get that, being a children’s game, Toca decided to add some light-hearted themes to tone down the horror, but perhaps they might have supplemented these scenes with something a bit more quirky and not the type of music that we got, which would usually fit most other Toca titles. 

I say this because it’s precisely the reason why I was a bit dumbfounded by the refrigerator minigame and the music it plays in the background. It’s sending me mixed messages and I’m not exactly sure how a kid is supposed to take that.

Another one of these moments emerges when your go down the elevator and reach the basement. You’ll meet a definite nightmare fuel (ok, I’m probably exaggerating). 

I mean, look at that head! Really, what the heck, Toca!? Some people might actually find this head adorable, but I’m not sure if it’s fitting for little kids to see that monstrosity doing all sorts of eccentric stuff. I don’t mind these kinds of scenes in my games, but games that my children play? I’m not so sure. The funky music in the background only made it even more horrifying, and this is not exactly a compliment.

Even though it may look as if I’m hating on this game, trust me, I’m not! Toca games have been known for delivering consistent quality experiences across the board. The visuals here (referring to the aesthetics rather than graphical horsepower) are astoundingly fresh and the overall environment is, for the most part, enjoyable (a statement you may find weird since I criticized several aspects of it just moments ago). Likewise, even when some musical pieces didn’t seem to fit too well, the soundtrack as a whole was pretty engaging.