One indie group, the Korean studio Project Moon, offers unique gameplay experiences for fans of horror and story-focused games with their titles: Lobotomy Corporation and Library of Ruina. While the two games are drastically different in terms of gameplay and style, players may enjoy the interesting -- and sometimes horrifying -- experiences that each title offers, and for half the usual price.
Lobotomy Corporation: Mix of Management and Monster
Project Moon's first title, Lobotomy Corporation, puts players in the shoes of the Manager of the titular corporation. Taking inspiration from SCP Foundation, the horror movie The Cabin in the Woods, and the sci-fi series Warehouse 13, players oversee the day-to-day operations of the company by ordering employees to interact with the many monsters housed at their facility. This is easier said than done, as over the course of the game, more and more departments and employees are added, as are more monsters to oversee.
Using strategy and careful management, players can use their cute, simply-drawn employees to study and interact with dozens of different monsters, referred to in-game as "abnormalities." While Lobotomy Corporation is a management game at its core, it's filled with horror elements. Many of the abnormalities have unnerving, terrifying designs, the employees can go mad with fear, and interacting incorrectly with some abnormalities can result in fourth wall-shattering jump scares. Occasionally, the abnormalities will breach their containment, leaving it up to the players to help their employees survive the onslaught and get the creatures back into their cells.
Players aren't expected to go about managing a facility of monsters alone, however. Lobotomy Corporation introduces a cast of colorful characters called the Sephirah, who oversee the different departments of the facility. Players are also introduced to Angela, an AI assistant that helps them throughout the game. As each day progresses, players uncover more of the dark history behind the corporation and the truth behind Angela and the Sephirah, which culminates in one of four endings, depending on how much of the game players have completed.
Library of Ruina: A Unique Turn Based with Card-Dice System
Project Moon's second game, Library of Ruina, is a direct sequel to Lobotomy Corporation and features Angela and the Sephirah in starring roles once more. Originally available in Early Access on Steam, Library of Ruina officially released on August 10, 2021. While its predecessor featured management-style gameplay, Library of Ruina focuses on deck-building: players collect cards to use in fierce turn-based battles.
Library of Ruina takes players out into the wider world of the Project Moon universe, which was hinted at and shown briefly during Lobotomy Corporation. A dark, sci-fi dystopia known as the City is run by mega-corporations, with citizens either living in the comfortable upper-class Nests or the dangerous Backstreets. Many turn to becoming Fixers, mercenaries for hire who are often sent to deal with the many happenings around the City, from strange cults to supernatural circuses. The City is a dog-eat-dog world, with some characters, namely a pair of cannibal chefs, taking that literally.
Library of Ruina follows Roland, a low-ranking Fixer who wanders into the titular library and is employed by Angela. Angela's ultimate goal involves finding "the perfect book" and becoming human, which involves inviting people into the Library and offering them a deal: if they win a fight against the librarians, they can take any book that they desire, but if they lose, they are turned into a book themselves. This leads to a snowball effect as more and more powerful people arrive at the Library for various reasons -- whether it be for power, to avenge a loved one who was turned into a book, or to destroy the Library before it can take anyone else.
While less horror-focused than Lobotomy Corporation, Library of Ruina still has plenty to unnerve players. The supernatural happenings around The City have turned many of its inhabitants into monstrous beings, some abnormalities of the first game make a reappearance, and the more detailed and serious art style showcases just how grotesque and terrifying the world of Project Moon games can be.
Featuring deep, complex plots and entertaining gameplay, Lobotomy Corporation and Library of Ruina are two games that fans of innovative and terrifying experiences should consider. Fans of projects like SCP Foundation and horror movies like The Cabin in the Woods may enjoy strategically managing the monsters of Lobotomy Corporation, whereas fans of turn-based gameplay and terrifying, dystopian worlds may enjoy Library of Ruina.
Additionally, Project Moon's third game, Limbus Company, is slated for a mobile and PC release in 2022. While Limbus Company is set to feature an entirely different cast of characters, it still takes place in The City and features turn-based gameplay similar to Library of Ruina's.