White Knuckle

White Knuckle is in early access, so there are plenty of tweaks, improvements, and new content to be added over the next year. At present, there’s more than enough to keep players occupied. The need to push yourself and progress, to get faster and survive longer is a great motivation, and with the horror being just as much about the grim location as it is about the things that reside in Substructure 17, it’s quite the unique idea and I loved how challenging it was, even if I did feel like pulling my hair out from time to time. [Early Access Review]

Surprisingly, I didn’t encounter any bugs—aside from the roaches used as currency at vending machines—despite White Knuckle still being in Early Access. If I were to offer a suggestion, I’d say to include some on-screen tutorials at the start of a new climb. Not everyone plays the main tutorial, but it contains important mechanics that, if missed, make the game much harder. For example, just knowing you have an inventory to store items was a huge game-changer. In one run, I got stuck holding a can because I didn’t know I had to put it back into my backpack after eating. [Early Access Review]