Inspired by the real life Penjikent Murals in Tajikistan, The Penjikent Creature follows the story of an archaeologist who visits a woman in possession of one of the rare murals.
Though only around 15-20 minutes total for all endings, the gameplay world is a high quality design that fits together perfectly. You drive in on a dark, rainy night to check out a centuries old painting in an reclusive ladies attic. The secret combo and multiple areas to explore in the attic made it very much worth it to replay.
Getting the gun is important for the other 2 endings. If you can’t figure out the combination for the box through the game, they do just plainly display it on the itch.io page. The other areas of the attic were fascinating to explore. It’s just like in real life, exploring a narrow and seemingly out of place passage that nobody has seen before.
Final Thoughts
At first, you’re under the impression that the painting is cursed. When you first discover it, the cloth over top slowly falls down while ominous music plays. All along it was the old lady though, giving the game a realistic spin on top of the other horror things. With the gun you can shoot down the medals where you can peacefully run into her. Or you can gun her down at first sight, she was trying to murder you all along while wearing a spooky costume. If you give me a gun in this sort of situation, she’s going down for sure.
The Penjikent Creature has the indie horror game charm that got me into these games. It has a decent story, multiple endings, and many great little details included. The PS1 style graphics are also some of my favorite, there’s not too much warping and they just perfectly fit the atmosphere.
Preview The Penjikent Creature in our featured gameplay video
