ROUTINE

Gripes aside, Routine is exactly what I wanted it to be. I want more. I would love to see these mechanics and this world taken further, especially if they can somehow make this more immersive with different ways to solve puzzles and the like. Extremely impressed. I simply cannot believe I finally got Routine let alone that it was this bloody good.

ROUTINE is a wonderful addition to the survival-horror genre, debuting on Xbox Game Pass with a meticulously realized retro-futuristic world set on the moon. ROUTINE's gameplay can feel clunky and your objectives can feel nebulous, but Lunar Software has absolutely nailed the art direction, audio design, and horrifying atmosphere.

Considering how long ROUTINE took to make and how this is Lunar Software’s first game, the overall game is an absolute marvel. It isn’t perfect, but I was enamored from beginning to end with its beautiful aesthetic, terrifying setpieces, and unnerving narrative. I can’t wait to see how Lunar Software progresses its craft with its next game.

No words can accurately transcribe the primal terror I felt during Routine's short runtime. Many players will bounce away because of the purposefully heavy and slow gameplay, yet the journey is unforgettable and oh so special. Floored.

ROUTINE combines a retro-futuristic aesthetic with an unnerving sense of dread to create an incredibly engaging and highly atmospheric horror experience.

What Routine lacks in quantity, it makes up for in staggering quality. It’s cassette futurism at its most tactile, with an aesthetic direction that’s only matched by the novelty of its CAT tool. Lunar Software raises the bar in sound design to deliver a singular experience for sci-fi horror fans.

Routine is a survival-horror game in the lightest of senses. There are robots and creatures to run/hide from occasionally, and you have little in your arsenal to fight back, but that genre tag is a misnomer – this is a puzzle experience drenched in tension and terror. With your CAT tool and the wits you’d hope appear if you, yourself, were placed in this terrible situation, a seductive Pandora’s box of escape rooms awaits you.

A short but brilliantly immersive horror experience that will haunt you long after you've finished playing.

After an enormously long development cycle, the end result was worth the wait. The developers persevered through development hell to deliver a striking retro-futuristic setting enhanced by well-crafted horror elements. Across its 4–5 hour, mostly narrative-driven experience, the story and its deadly presences will keep you on edge.

For most of its runtime, Routine is an extremely well-constructed horror game where even the tiniest detail has a big impact. Even if you've been following it since 2012, it has been worth the wait. [Issue#419, p.104]

Routine is a tense, atmospheric adventure through an unforgiving lunar base where everything is out to kill you. It has its imperfections, but, in the face of the narrative and puzzle craft that beckons you through every minute of Routine, they seem infinitesimally small.

Routine is one of the best linear narrative experiences I’ve played this year and is well worth the lengthy wait for release. The atmosphere and aesthetics combine to create a game that oscillates between unnerving and genuinely terrifying whilst the surreal and philosophical storyline will hook you all the way to the game’s conclusion. I’m looking forward to a host of video essays dissecting the narrative in the near future.

ROUTINE may have been a long time coming, but it’s definitely well worth the experience now that it’s finally here, especially for fans of the horror genre. It keeps you immersed at all times thanks to its lack of UI and full-body awareness.

ROUTINE is a game that thrives on atmosphere rather than mechanics, on suggestion rather than surprise. It's an old-fashioned, almost artisanal horror game that enchants and captivates with its retro-space aesthetic and the suspended melancholy that only empty spaces can evoke. There are limits, tangible and recognizable, but this is a project that has chosen a risky but decidedly personal path: it's not perfect, but it's hard to forget.

Routine is one of those games that made me feel relief after finishing it. And I will never play it again. But not because it’s bad – on the contrary, it is a terrifying horror with a very immersive world. The atmosphere is so bleak and heavy that it can scare off some players. And that’s good.

This is a game that’s both notable for convincingly placing you in the shoes of its protagonist and for the way it builds tension on the margins.

While there are minimal downsides to the game, like the overall setup of the puzzles and how to get through later areas, it does create something quite special and intense for horror games. It most certainly won’t be for everyone, as many players are affected by different types of horror themes and genres. Cheap jump scares are few and far between, and your brain is left to run rampant and fill in the blanks. Psychological horror might not be that scary for a large portion of players, and this is something that the game leans heavily into. But if you do prefer the psychological aspect, this might just be the perfect game to pick up and dive right into.

For those seeking atmospheric horror focused on exploration and suspense, Routine offers a clear, cohesive, and visually striking proposition. It's a short, engaging experience with a strong identity—even if it falls short of its full potential.

Scary monsters, beautiful locations, and a story that's sadly lost in space.

Routine delivers a notable experience through its superb retro-futuristic atmosphere and engaging puzzles, maintaining tension with exceptional art and sound design. However, basic enemy AI and sometimes unintuitive design choices detract from the overall fun, frequently interrupting its best moments and revealing a lack of polish.

ROUTINE is an immersive, tense first-person horror game that excels at atmosphere, environmental storytelling, and stealth-based tension. Its minimalist systems and basic gameplay loop may feel limiting, and the story never fully engages or surprises, but those willing to embrace the game’s focused design will find a highly rewarding experience. It perfectly conveys the sense of being utterly alone on a derelict lunar base, and despite its flaws, it’s a compelling journey for fans of atmospheric horror.

With a truly spectacular retrofuturistic aesthetic, Routine delivers an immersive sci-fi horror that is incredibly tactile to play, impressively creating tension amongst the silence, but a disappointing ending, frustrating design choices and gameplay repetition stops it from reaching the stars.

ROUTINE is a frightful time on the lunar surface. While the narrative doesn’t entirely hit due to a lack of memorable characters, the sense of immersion and beautiful visuals carry the scares. ROUTINE is a game for horror aficionados who don’t mind basic gameplay and the occasional puzzle, even if some clues might be hidden slightly too well.

Routine surprised me — a horror veteran — in all the right ways. Its worldbuilding feels real, the environments are rich and interesting, and its systems and controls really do immerse you. Add in the plentiful backtracking, unkillable foes, and light-touch signposting, though, and I think Routine will be one of 2025's more divisive horror games. But even with its handful of frustrations, this is still one of the most terrifying things I've played in years.

A successful horror game with atmospheric sound and world design. Unfortunately, the enemy AI and story can't quite keep up.

Routine blends an ’80s-style science-fiction atmosphere with tense, visually striking exploration. Despite its outdated mechanics and low-pressure encounters, its well-crafted puzzles and lunar setting provide strong immersion. The game doesn’t reinvent the genre, but it delivers a solid experience for fans of atmospheric horror.

It's an incredibly atmospheric journey, where every room feels important to your progress, slowly but surely bringing you closer and closer to madness, but perhaps also to the truth. Routine may not write a new chapter in the history of horror, but it retells the old ones in a stylish way.

Routine seems stuck in the past, and the long-awaited project has once again failed to meet expectations. The work of Lunar Software rather resembles a bizarre sequel to Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park: Trespasser, where the heroine would practically dislocate her arms trying to pick up a rock or a pistol.