Ultra-Indie Daily Dose: Pillar Of Rust Is An Even More Silent Silent Hill
Hello, you glorious gluttons for all things indie horror! Are you just starving for the newest of the new, the most unknownest of the unknown? If so, you’ve come to the right place. Welcome to the Ultra-Indie Daily Dose! In this series, we’re going to pick a new game every day from an indie horror creator you’ve probably never heard of. No million-dollar budgets or factory productions. This is the space for the little guy with not but a developer toolkit and a dream. So if you’re down to roll the dice on something different, then stick around and check it out!
Today’s Daily Dose is a bit of a departure from the regular indie horror game. But nonetheless, it’s a powerful emotional experience. Pillar of Rust is a title by itch.io dev Valerie Dusk. You play as a woman who is ascending a massive tower, struggling with the post-breakup feeling of despair. This may not seem as dire as say, the death of a loved one, but losing a relationship comes with grieving the future one thought they had, and that is an experience that can make or break a person.
Pillar of Rust explores difficult themes of depression and suicidal ideation, manifesting as the architecture within the Pillar. The gameplay has you simply climbing the tower, walking through the long rusty corridors, and through occasionally impossible spaces. The architecture is made even more interesting by the use of a third-person camera, which swings around to different angles as you walk. All the while, the protagonist’s thoughts are appearing on the screen. It’s kind of like exploring the Otherworld in a Silent Hill game, but without monsters to worry about.
Pillar of Rust is available for free on itch.io here. And be sure to follow Valerie Dusk on Twitter by clicking here.
