Butcher's Creek (2025)

You tell me there's a new Davis Szymanski game, I'm there. I don't know what it is about his stuff. Dusk is definitely the best one game play-wise, but his others are all so memorable. Iron Lung and Squirrel Stapler have excellent endings, and The Pony Factory is pretty scary, while also being pretty funny.

In Butcher's Creek, you play as the most fucked up guy in the world. A fan of snuff films who makes his way to Butcher's Creek, Pennsylvania to get in on the ground floor of that booming industry. Things go a little topsy turvy when he ends up getting thrown into the midst of the crazy murder cult and basically becoming a part of their business.

I see this game as a bit of a commentary on fans of horror media. Instead of traditional health items, you restore health by taking photos of murder scenes, or finding photos of murder scenes. You can also take photos of blood splatters caused by you killing guys. Our avatar revels in violence, and so do we as a game mechanic.

Game play wise, this reminds me a lot of Condemned which came out...Jesus Christ. Twenty years ago. Mostly you'll be fighting cultists in tight spaces with various improvised weapons like boards, pipes, shovels (one of the best weapons), and a super strong weapon you get in the final area. The whacks when you git a guy in the mouth with a hammer really let you know you're doing damage. It's very satisfying, but simplistic. Later on it gets a bit more complex with having bit pits, or other traps that you can kick enemies into.

The save system I also found interesting. You save by collecting snuff film tapes from around the various areas you go to, which you can spend at a TV to save. But you can also hold onto them to use them as keys in some kind of VHS powered doors, I guess. Or, holding a certain amount also gives you a health boost, cuz, once again, the MC is an absolute degenerate.

Time for the story, which is kind of a big deal. This is actually kind of a sequel to a few of Szymanski's other games The Pony Factory, and apparently also Squirrel Stapler. Not super sure about the connection to the second one, but that's what people say on the internet, and who would go on here just to lie? Again, I think this kind of serves as a critique of horror audiences, kind of like the movie Cabin in the Woods.

In all, I've never been disappointed with any of this man's games, and I'll be there for his next project.

I’ve not played too much of the Szymanski Brothers’ games, though I loved My Friendly Neighborhood and Exiled by John. David’s games are a whole different animal, and Butcher’s Creek just had enough to pull me in to see it through (unlike Pony Factory).

It’s in a dark backwoods murder cult environment, with gritty textures (not unlike Resident Evil 7). I am definitely a fan of this subgenre, and the whole snuff film production studio aspect kept me intrigued. But the main gameplay loop is - find random melee object, brutalize the cult members, take pictures of their blood splatter to heal (because you’re a freak too I guess), and find keys to keep moving forward.

It’s simple, but fun. It’s almost a survival horror (there’s even a couple puzzles and some backtracking). But I think at its heart it plays like a bizarre FPS melee boomer shooter or something. It has some strange writing, an overall demented tone, and I enjoyed it quite a bit.

Of course, I wish it was just a straight up survival horror game. A map, more backtracking, inventory management, and tons of more puzzles would’ve been great. But i respect the vision and I can see why people love his games so much. If you’re like me and couldn’t get into Pony Factory - give this one a shot.