Look Outside

Look Outside is an extremely original project and gameplay-rich masterpiece created in just half a year. The game offers deep narrative, a great variety of actions and possibilities, a multitude of endings, and much more. It is capable of delivering many indescribable emotions that are worth experiencing for yourself.

Look Outside is one of the most interesting projects I've played in 2025 so far, and I believe it will find a legion of fans over time. With the surprise release, a good portion of the public will still have a way to go to get to the game, but the project is so solid, different, creative, and thought-provoking that I doubt word of mouth won't have its effect. I really had a scary, impactful, and fun time playing this title, and I hope it won't be long before we see more from Francis Coulombe, a name to keep an eye on in the coming years.

One thing you could never criticise about Coulombe’s work is that he has a great eye for detail and understanding about what “art” means in the context of video games. It’s the clever use of interactivity, the playful subversions of expectation, and freeform creativity that ensures that Look Outside will remain with you, coiled in your mind and puzzling you long after the computer’s put in rest mode.

When I saw that Coulombe was involved in the cult classic, Barkley, Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden, I knew I was in for a ride simply by association. But I wasn’t fully prepared for the depths of creative madness I was gazing into with Look Outside. Each step was full of dread and morbid glee, as I never knew what to expect, was terrified of what could happen, but absolutely refused to miss a thing. I would’ve liked a little more balance when it came to getting mauled by random enemy encounters, and controller support was a little weird, but any frustration I felt from a momentum-halting game over melted away when the next stop on this roller coaster of suffering came into view. Frankly, I was bummed to get off when the ride was over.

Look Outside is genuinely one of the scariest games I’ve played since P.T., and that’s an incredibly high bar to clear.

One of the best survival horror games of the year and an impressively disturbing mix of EarthBound and The Thing, that also happens to be one of the best bargains of 2025.

Having been released with no build-up, Look Outside is unlikely to feature in conversations alongside gaming horror greats like Silent Hill 2 or Resident Evil, but it deserves to be. Sure, some of the retro designs feel obtuse, or archaic at points, but that doesn’t take away from horrific moments that will stay with me when I’ve switched the game off, and crawled into bed.

With an awesome setting and artwork, interesting characters, and a spooky yet intriguing story, I really enjoyed Look Outside and look forward to playing it again to check out other endings. It’s got a lot of charm, and I love the setting. If you’re interested in the story, and you don’t really want to play a survival horror RPG with an emphasis on resource management, the game also offers an easier mode that takes away a lot of the stress. Just make sure if you play, you check out what’s outside the window. You’ll see something beautiful!

Look Outside is a unique and dense experience. It leverages its relatively short runtime by being fit to bursting with interesting mysteries, meaningful gameplay decisions, characters both eerie and endearing, and a horror aesthetic that knows when to depict its grotesqueness outright and when to leave things up to the player’s imagination. Its mashup of survival horror resource gathering and turn-based combat is less successful for the way the former garners more satisfying engagement than the latter, but even still, Look Outside is an easy recommendation for anyone—but horror fans in particular—on the lookout for something new.

Look Outside is truly exceptional in places, is full of creepy character and mostly juggles multiple plates with success. It’s wild just how much missing some basic features slowly drags it underwater.

Look Outside is a wonderfully eerie adventure with some of the most unique scenarios and sights I’ve seen in a horror game in years. While it makes a strong first impression, though, as time went on, I sometimes wondered if I’d be better off just looking outside. However, there are still enough strong moments to make it worth checking out for those who love horror games and RPGs.