Knock Harder

Review

It is safe to say that every one of us, at some stage in our lives, has experienced a dream that felt so real that it woke us up in the middle of the night, sweating profusely, and without knowing where we were.  Slowly you figure out that you’re in your bed, and that the whole experience was nothing more than a bad dream. This certainly happened to me when I was very young. I can’t remember what the setting was, but I vividly recall being shot in the stomach, and waking up with my hands on the wound, accompanied by a sharp pain, which subsided as I gradually realised that it was all a dream. I would hate to have to relive that dream every night.  But that’s exactly what will happen to you in Knock Harder.  You will experience the same nightmare every night, with subtle differences, and you’ll have to decide whether you believe yourself to be in a dream or in reality.  You can either kill yourself before the end of the dream in order to live another day, or decide that what you are experiencing is for real, and DON’T SHOOT YOURSELF! What a dilemma! A predicament that our friend Kir must face every few minutes in Knock Harder!

Knock Harder is a casual/action game developed and self-published by Snail-Ninja Studio on the 28^th of April 2020 on the Steam platform.

The world as we know it has been hijacked by parasites that resembles large spiders.  These parasites launch themselves onto human faces, and when they are firmly locked onto their heads, can control people’s minds. Only a few have managed to survive, while most have either become carriers for the parasites, or simply couldn’t figure out if it was a dream or reality and therefore shot themselves in the process.

Kir, Victor and Jackie managed to survive this ordeal until they entered one terrifying house.  Kir, the toughest of the three, becomes a recipient of one of these parasites, and the dream starts.

The game consists of three levels of difficulty:  Easy, Normal and Hard. You must win in each of the difficulty levels in order to unlock the next one. So, in this game, you’ll start at the easy level. You’ll only have access to a certain part of the house, and you’ll have only 2 minutes and 30 seconds to figure out if your current experience is a dream or reality. To decide, you’ll have to find clues by searching the furniture, reading notes or articles, checking the walls and pictures or finding something odd while searching the rooms. On top of that, you have to make sure that you eliminate parasite carriers (people with the parasite on their faces) by shooting at them. You’ll find ammunition in some of the furniture or on the carriers that you eliminate.

But let me tell you, the challenge of deciding whether you’re experiencing a dream or reality is a big one.  Sometimes it’s going to be evident that you are in a dream, and instead of going around from room to room, you’ll shoot yourself right there and then, and respawn at the start of your next dream; a bit like Groundhog Day. But you’ll need to have your wits about you, as it just might turn out to be reality, and if you shoot yourself, you’ll die and it will be game over! I must say that on several occasions, I was dead-set sure it was reality, and on other occasions, I couldn’t believe it was a dream. So, if it is reality, let the countdown continue, and you’ll wake up and win the game;  if it’s a dream, you’ll know what to do.

As you unlock the next difficulty, you’ll also unlock new rooms, and you’ll have more time to explore the house. That will also mean that you’ll experience more confusion about whether or not it’s a dream! In total, there are over 200 hundred hints that you’ll encounter playing this game. It’s entertaining.

I really like the graphics and the soundtrack. And as you play and unlock new levels, you’ll find new weapons and items to pick up and use. Overall, a great concept. I wish that there was more than just one house to play through.