Creaks

Creaks is a 2D puzzle-platform game. The player controls a person who crawls through a hole in his bedroom wall and discovers a subterranean world home to various monsters called Creaks, which are inspired by a phenomenon called pareidolia: when the monsters encounter light, they turn into ordinary household objects that they otherwise resemble. The player has to avoid these monsters and solve puzzles in order to advance through the game. Puzzles generally revolve around the use of buttons, switches, lights, and mechanical devices to bypass enemies, which turn into furniture when exposed to light, and reach the next area. Solving puzzles requires logical thinking and an understanding of the movements and behaviors of the various monsters.

Besides the main storyline, the game contains various paintings inspired by 18th and 19th century aesthetics. These pictures serve as collectibles, and many also contain minigames or interactive elements that metaphorically work as windows to another world.

Creaks begins in the bedroom of the unnamed player character, who is seen sitting at his desk when the light flickers and dies, and the wallpaper peels away to reveal a secret tunnel behind his wall. The protagonist ventures through the newly discovered tunnel and, after climbing down a ladder, finds himself in a massive mansion-like structure contained within an enormous cavern. He encounters aggressive monsters that become harmless inanimate objects when seen under the light. He also discovers that there is a giant feline monster slowly destroying the mansion by climbing on it.

While exploring the underground world, the protagonist also meets several friendly bird-like people; an elderly bird person searching for a codex in order to defeat the giant monster, a younger bird person who tries to fight it with weapons and traps, a scientist bird person who attempts to tame it, and a small mechanic with a pipe for a head who repairs the destruction caused.

Radim Jurda and Jan Chlup came up with the idea for Creaks while at university, during which time they created various prototypes using Flash as their graduation work. They eventually met Jakub Dvorský, who started helping them with the project with his advice. Their project caught Dvorský's attention and Jurda with Chlup were allowed to join Amanita Design, forming a small team within the studio to develop the game. Originally, the game was to be titled "Pareidolia".

It was then changed to "Blik", and then again to the final title "Creaks", because a game named "Blik" already existed. The game was officially revealed on 9 October 2018 with a short teaser trailer uploaded to Amanita Design's YouTube channel. The budget of the game surpassed 20 Million CZK (US$1 Million).

The game has received very positive reviews following its release. 5 points out of 10. He stated that "Creaks renovates a well-worn genre, delivering one of the most satisfying indie puzzle-platformers in some time. Between its stunning visual and audio design, absorbing world, and perfectly-balanced puzzles, it's hard to find serious fault with any part of this game's construction."

Noelle Adams of Critical Hit gave the game 8 points out of 10. She called it a "wonderfully weird puzzle platformer." She primarily praised the visuals, atmosphere and gameplay. She also praised the game's soundtrack.