The horror game ROUTINE was announced back in 2012, but it wasn’t released until 13 years later, in 2025. We’ll find out in our review whether it was worth the wait.
ROUTINE takes place on a lunar station, where the protagonist, an engineer who arrived to debug the security system, finds himself. At the beginning of the game, the protagonist awakens to find himself in a classic situation: the station’s personnel have disappeared, and aggressive robots roam the corridors , trying to catch and kill him. Armed with his knowledge and a miraculous device, the engineer must investigate the cause of this unfolding chaos.
The game’s plot is quite good, but getting to the heart of the matter won’t be easy: ROUTINE doesn’t bother to explain the story. To understand what happened at the station, you need to carefully read the notes and study the surroundings. Ultimately, it all boils down to a variation on the theme of “scientists discovered something alien and alive beyond Earth, and then everything started spinning,” but it’s a captivating variation, and unraveling the web of intrigue and events is interesting.
But the project’s appeal extends beyond its plot. The game impresses with its atmosphere and retro-futuristic setting. The station looks incredibly authentic, harking back to sci-fi films of the 70s and 80s, and the VHS filter only adds to its charm, though it doesn’t always have the best effect on visual clarity , sometimes obscuring fine details.
The diegetic interface , carefully integrated into the game world, also influences perception . To interact with the computer, you hover over its screen—a cursor will appear, allowing you to navigate menus and open emails. To switch the IPC’s operating mode , a multifunctional tool, you don’t just press a button on the keyboard , but activate the keys and levers on the device itself. Even the hero’s ID number can be seen at any time simply by looking down—it’s printed on the character’s spacesuit.
This execution is initially disconcerting, but you quickly get used to it. If the developers had made a VR version of ROUTINE, the immersion into the universe would have been 100% complete, but even without it, it’s very easy to separate yourself from the outside world and lose yourself in the virtual one.
Gameplay-wise, the project is a walking simulator with puzzles and occasional stealth sequences. However, not all of these components are equally well executed.
The game was originally conceived as a walking simulator. And it shows: you’ll spend most of your time traveling through the station’s corridors (but not only there—you’ll also walk on the lunar surface and explore other locations) in search of a route that will lead you to solving a mystery. It’s worth noting that ROUTINE isn’t particularly player-friendly, so there’s no map, for example, so you’ll have to rely solely on your memory.
The same applies to puzzles: no one explains how to solve a particular challenge; you need to study notes for clues and use logic. You can get stuck in a room for a long time, not understanding what’s required of you, but when you figure out the solution, you’ll experience true satisfaction. Many puzzles require the use of the IPC, a sort of multi-tool that can be used to short-circuit a junction box, search for fingerprints under ultraviolet light, or shoot at robots to temporarily disable them. The device requires power, which is replenished with batteries, but there’s usually no shortage of them, fortunately they’re generously scattered throughout the locations.
There are few enemies in ROUTINE: either robots that can be easily bypassed or temporarily disabled, or a terrifying, unkillable creature that will stalk the protagonist. Its behavior is reminiscent of the xenomorph from Alien: Isolation, but the Alien is significantly smarter and more cunning than this blockhead, so the game’s stealth isn’t particularly inventive or engaging—it often evokes a feeling of “here we go again” rather than excitement.
Unfortunately, it’s not just the stealth that’s becoming routine. The game involves a lot of backtracking, which is especially annoying due to the lack of a map. Some puzzles are frustrating, and even online guides aren’t always helpful, as the conditions and codes can be randomly generated. Encounters with robots feel unnecessary and artificially drag out the gameplay.
Still, ROUTINE makes you grit your teeth and push through the dull gameplay – for the atmosphere, visuals, gorgeous audio, and immersion in a retro-futuristic world. The game will surely impress fans of classic sci-fi from VHS tapes. We wouldn’t recommend it to everyone – it’s a niche project, but it will find its audience.
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