The Upturned is a game I had my eye on for at least a year before buying, even at its low price of $10. I had initially found out about it through its developer, ZeekerssRBLX, who made and published the hit indie horror multiplayer experience Lethal Company, a game about collecting scrap and garbage to sell and work for a sketchy company with friends for frightening and yet hilarious moments. I LOVED Lethal Company. I love playing with my brothers, dying and laughing in hilarious goofy ways that were also really scary. 

But even with a great first impression, I was still hesitant about purchasing The Upturned for myself, mostly because of how janky and unpolished it kind of looks from the trailer (which you can watch here). Eventually, I decided to finally give up 10 bucks for a game that was a lot better than I ever could have expected. 

The Story

For a game that’s pretty goofy and silly at face value, there is a surprising amount of story here that gets deeper and darker as you progress. The game follows a human soul in the afterlife who is trying to get to his hotel room via elevator which runs out of power every now and then, prompting the player to find a Power Plug on the floor the elevator stops on. The hotel owner and manager, Ik, helps him along the way with tips and information as well as funny bits of dialogue. There are very few characters in this game, but some of them are oddly lovable, as unique as they are. While I do wish we got more emphasis on a certain character, the game’s story is still pretty great. 

The Gameplay

Now this is actually the more interesting part of the game, as great as the story already is. The first thing you’ll notice in the game is how surprisingly fast and goofy the protagonist walks and jumps, you are also supplied with a flashlight with a short battery life that recharges when you don’t use it. The main gimmick of this game as a whole is the ability to grab and throw virtually any object in the game. Want to open a door? Just rip it off its hinges and pass through. Activate a lever? Throw a chair at it. Need to deal with enemies that are pursuing you? Throw a couple chairs, lamps, tables or whatever you can pick up on your way. This game requires you to throw a LOT of objects, but it never feels boring or repetitive. 

You will find yourself panicking, trying to run away from enemies, throwing random objects at whatever enemies you see, most of which are not scary or horrifying in design, but rather by their function. To explain further, here is a certain enemy that is quite big and muscular… wearing blue pajamas.

He doesn’t have a scary look, other than a basic angry face that I could draw in 10 seconds, but he runs. Fast. If he catches up to you, he spanks the player a few times before throwing him in a random direction, to give the player some time to run away with a dwindling 20% health. It is genuinely frightening and yet funny at the same time. Zeekerss did a wonderful job of blending horror and humor in his game in a way that, instead of conflicting with each other, only makes them complement each other in ways I didn’t think possible. 

There are also a few cutscenes that play almost instantly, almost always containing something funny and goofy. There is a point in which the player can walk in a bar, cowboy style, finding several enemies chatting at tables just for them to stop and stare at you awkwardly. Once you move toward any of them, the entire room goes completely bonkers and every enemy starts trying to hurt you as the door locks behind you until you defeat them all. Once again, combining humor, by referencing old western movies with the protagonist dramatically entering a bar with a brawl following, and horror with how genuinely terrifying it is due to how fast everything happens. This unique charm is what gives the game so much life and energy.

The game will throw several horrifying enemies at you, all differing greatly in design and function. There is some platforming and stacking involved. Sometimes, the player will be prompted to stack objects on other objects to progress, and will have to jump across gaps that are fairly forgiving or make use of his absurd, yet useful throwing ability. 

The level design is nothing short of unique and odd. At first, things seem pretty normal (for the most part) but the more you progress, the stranger and more ridiculous the levels become. Soon enough, you’ll find yourself in an entire factory, a mall arcade, and all kinds of random places. Every time the elevator doors open, you are greeted with something new and unusual. With 30 floors total, It was quite an experience seeing how different most of them were from one another. There was never a time when I felt bored playing this game.

 I did have a road bump on a certain floor in which you explore a trash chute to find the next power plug – I was stuck there for what seemed like quite a while – but that was honestly a skill issue as all I had to do was to find a certain hallway I hadn’t explored yet.

Finally, aiming in this game can be quite hard for some, especially with a controller, although there is a button that allows you to lock onto enemies and switches to aim easier. Unfortunately, it’s not particularly useful, as the game is in third person, so the crosshair isn’t super accurate as I ended up missing my target more times using the lock than I did without using it.

The Bonus Content

There are also a few bonus levels in the game you can unlock by beating the story and collecting all chocolate bars in some main floors. This allows for some great replayability, giving me a good excuse to go back through  some good moments in the game. The Bonus levels at first didn’t really stick with me, but the later ones got pretty fun and challenging. I can easily see why Zeekerss never included them in the Main Campaign, but they’re definitely worth a try, considering how unique they start becoming. 

Visuals

The Upturned was made by just one guy who had gotten experience from making games on Roblox when he was younger. As such, I can imagine he didn’t have such a huge budget, but he makes great use of what he has. The entire game has this cartoony yet uncanny charm to it. The objects look pretty average, but the pixelated filter the game has somehow makes everything seem more polished. 

Spiritual/Moral Aspects 

The protagonist isn’t a good nor bad person. He is just trying to get to his room, and kills only mythical creatures (or souls..?) who threaten his life. From a Catholic perspective, Zeekerss seems to interpret the Afterlife, as a sort of purgatory, especially after seeing the ending, which I interpreted as a depiction of entering into Heaven after suffering purification, but it isn’t super clear, leaving interpretation to the audience. 

Conclusion

The Upturned is a wacky, goofy, silly, horrifying, unique and unexpected experience. If you find yourself looking for a good single-player story-driven game with odd mechanics, level design, funny easter eggs, unique charm, and fair pricing, I think you’ll like this one. 

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