Ethel
Jen's Review
The Demon Baby Did Me Dirty
I went into Ethel expecting a creepy little horror game. What I got was a story that actually pulled me in, puzzles that made me feel clever without wrecking my brain, and scares that had me questioning my life choices.
The atmosphere is unsettling in the best way, and just when you think you’re safe—bam. Jumpscare. I was already jumpy, but then the game decided to toss in a demon baby. Absolutely foul. I did not sign up for that.
To make things worse, I’d recently taken a baseball to the face. So every time I tried to scream, my swollen face looked like Frankenstein.
Still, the combination of good story, creepy vibes, and perfectly timed scares made this game a blast to play.
My condolences to the ears of my viewers.
If you want a horror game that’s fun, freaky, and just the right level of unhinged, this one delivers.
Quick Summary: Demon baby: 1. My dignity: 0.
Kayla's Review
Let me just start by saying this: I did not expect to like Ethel as much as I did but here we are.
Ethel is a PC horror title on Steam that honestly caught me off guard in a good way. When you go into a lower-priced indie horror game, you kind of brace yourself a little. You hope it’s good. You hope it’s scary. But you also prepare for rough edges. Ethel surprised me.
What really got me wasn’t just the atmosphere, it was the story. And if you play a lot of indie horror, you know that strong storytelling isn’t always guaranteed especially in smaller titles. The narrative is layered, unsettling, and genuinely intriguing. It doesn’t just throw you into a creepy house and say, “Good luck.” It slowly feeds you pieces of what happened, making you want to explore. You’re not just walking around to survive. You’re walking around because you need answers, which made the puzzles throughout the game actually enjoyable.
The overall design of the game is solid. The house doesn’t feel like a generic horror map. It genuinely feels old. Lived in. Heavy with history. Like something happened there and the walls know it. The environment tells a story on its own, and that’s something I always appreciate. Every hallway, every room, every detail adds to the tension instead of just filling space.
Mechanically? Smooth. Movement felt clean. Interactions weren’t clunky. I never felt like I was fighting the controls... which is sometimes HUGE in horror. Nothing kills immersion faster than struggling to open a door while something demonic is comin' at you sideways.
The jump scares were VERY well timed. And more importantly? They weren’t spammed. When a game relies too heavily on constant cheap scares, you get desensitized before the game is even over. But Ethel spaces them out perfectly. So when they hit… they hit. And I’m not even going to talk about that little devil baby...that thing about made me break my mic. So kudos to the devs for her little devil creation.
We played Ethel live on stream, interacting with chat the whole time which means distractions, side conversations, and the occasional big brain team meeting. Even with that, I finished the game in about 3.5 hours. That felt like a really solid length. It didn’t drag and it didn’t feel rushed. If you’re playing solo without chat chaos, you could probably finish a bit faster.
Overall? Ethel is a genuinely solid indie horror experience. It’s story-rich, atmospheric, well-paced, and thoughtfully designed. It surprised me and I love when a game does that. It also immediately made me want to dive into its sequel, Claire, because I wanted to learn more of the story. Which, honestly, might be the biggest compliment I can give it.
If you’re into narrative-driven horror with strong atmosphere, several puzzles and well-timed scares, Ethel is absolutely worth your time.
