I’ve been really into “No, I’m Not A Human” lately.
According to its Wikipedia page, “No, I’m not a Human is a first-person survival horror game developed by Trioskaz and published by Critical Reflex. The game revolves around the sun‘s increasing temperature and guests who need shelter from the burning Sun. Guests can be humans or Visitors who crawl out from underground with unclear intentions.”
The scary deductive reasoning and the pressure you feel from every decision you take (who you let into your house, those whom you reject, the personal biases you may have against a character’s appearance, etc.) are what keep me attached to the game (I can’t stop watching playthroughs from many youtubers).
In regards to MDA perspective, I feel that No, I’m not a Human’s mechanics are 1) the limited energy level, 2) random identities for the players, 3) the unreliable clues you can use on the television, and 4) recurring random events that will happen, such as when the cult leader forces you to shelter 3 of its followers or even the Mushroom Eater, who has its own alternative ending if you complete his tasks. These mechanics create the environment where I am forced to make the important decision and go against my biases or put myself into the shoes of the main character and his utopian world (e.g., will I or won’t I use the clue from the television?) without enough information to be 100% confident. I ALWAYS spend time second-guessing if my clues are real, if I missed an important hint from interacting with my guests, or if I have killed someone who was not actually a visitor.
The aesthetics/kinds of fun I get from playing No, I’m Not a Human is the anxiety/challenge and narrative tension from interacting with the “visitors/guests” that knocked on my door. While most puzzle games give the player an “aha” moment after solving the puzzle, with No, I’m Not a Human, there is an overwhelming sense of uncertainty about whether you’re making the right decision with the clues you are giving on the television (ie the design of the tall man is terrifying, but he actually is a very chill guy). One personal example is the game system for the Vigilante checking up on you almost every night after the initial nights. You can feel the vigilante is watching and judging to see if you are not a visitor. This is another reason why I constantly check on my character to see his health. I do my best to clean up, smoke, and do everything I can to make sure my character passes through the vigilante’s check. The anxiety created by these constant reminders (taking care of my guests, making sure everyone is human in my house because visitors kill your guests, making sure I am not alone so that the main visitor doesn’t kill me, etc.) allows for the creation of strong memories of the game and creates a high level of engagement while playing it(at least for me)
Reference: https://no-i-am-not-a-human.fandom.com/wiki/No,_I%27m_not_a_Human_(Game)
