Varney Lake
Varney Lake
Game
Game2022
Mothmen 1966
Developer LCB Game Studio
Mothmen 1966 is a 2022 video game developed by LCG Game Studio and published by Chorus Worldwide Games. The game is a visual novel title in which players follow the story of three survivors of an invasion of mothmen in a small town. LCG Game Studio developed the title in a short period as part of a series titled Pixel Pulps, inspired by pulp fiction. Upon release, the game received average reviews, with critics… From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
203 reactions from 2 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky) · newest Nov 1, 2026 · last updated Nov 4, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
88
LovedLoved
168 positive · 23 negative
95% range 83–92%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 168 | 23 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 5 | 0 | 7 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
211 of 234 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
88% recommend · 169 yes, 22 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 191 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Very Positive (301 of 330 positive).
Players praise the game's retro pixel art and atmospheric visuals. [1][2][3] Many find the story engaging and enjoy the pulp sci-fi horror tone. [1][4][5] Some reviewers note the short length and lack of replay value. [6][7][8]
Liked
Representative posts
- [11]
An incredible art style with an interesting concept, this game/vn features 2 very annoying things that make it almost not worth playing. 1. Being able to accidentally go to the main menu from the death screen and wiping out all your progress from your last save point. I understand implementing an auto-save feature might be a big ask, but like maybe just save whenever the player enters one of the possible death …
- [1]
Mothmen 1966 is an interactive tale with great pixel art & a cool story. Pros: + Pixel art is superb. Some crazy good dithering technique here. + Story is well written. Although tone of it relies heavily on aphorisms, general characterizations, pacing and that 80s half 'twilight zone' half 'weird sci-fi tale' vibe is brilliant. Never bores and constantly throws something surprising from start to finish. + Price is …
- [4]
A short but sweet sci-fi/horror romp that gets weirder (and more fun) as it goes on. Great writing and gorgeous retro visuals make it totally worth the price of admission. Just be careful not to get addicted to the impossible solitaire minigame.
- [5]
The first entry in the Pixel Pulps series of visual novellas by LCB Games. The story is great fun, a playful, yet also impactful, piece of pulp science fiction. The game revels in its comic book-like pulpiness! And yet, at the same time, the writing is superb, in a way that elevates it out of its specific genre and it becomes, simultaneously, a reflection upon that which it is celebrating and playing with, an …
- [2]
If you're an art enthusiast and a fan of unique games, this is for you! Amazing chilling lore and story, cool dithering-style for the larger illustrations, atmospheric soundtracks and fitting sound effects, and even got solitaire to kill your time. Absolutely worth your money and a few hours of your time to admire all this.
Summarised from 34 of the 203 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 13, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
88% of the 191 Steam reviewers we collected recommend Mothmen 1966. The complaint that keeps coming up: no autosave, progress can be lost. Deal-breaker or nitpick?
Critics, per Wikipedia
Mothmen 1966 received "mixed or average" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic. Eurogamer praised its "weird, playful and unexpected" narrative and a "nifty piece of interactive fiction", later revisiting the game as a "haunting", "heartfelt" and "clever" game and listing it as one of the best games of the year. Jody Macgregor of PC Gamer found the game's narrative and "outstanding" art to be a "real draw" for the game, although he criticized the trial and error gameplay and felt the lack of a chapter select menu limited its replayability.
From the “Reception” section of Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Critic context only — not part of the audience score.
Reactions
60 of 203 · most liked firstAn incredible art style with an interesting concept, this game/vn features 2 very annoying things that make it almost not worth playing. 1. Being able to accidentally go to the main menu from the death screen and wiping out all your progress from your last save point. I understand implementing an auto-save feature might be a big ask, but like maybe just save whenever the player enters one of the possible death scenarios first? Having to fast forward through dialogue to get back to where I…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →🦋🛸 MOTHMEN 1966 is the perfect game for Halloween! #pixelart
positive · AI labelView post →In 4 hours, I'll be playing paranormal mystery game/visual novel, Mothmen 1966! Expect lots of different voices from me while we go through this story! See ya soon, over on twitch! 4PM PST / 7PM EST / 12AM BST (Sept. 2) twitch.tv/alphenavt
neutral · AI labelView post →Mothmen 1966 is an interactive tale with great pixel art & a cool story. Pros: + Pixel art is superb. Some crazy good dithering technique here. + Story is well written. Although tone of it relies heavily on aphorisms, general characterizations, pacing and that 80s half 'twilight zone' half 'weird sci-fi tale' vibe is brilliant. Never bores and constantly throws something surprising from start to finish. + Price is spot on for the content. (Took me 2 hours to finish, just mind that i savored…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →@polykillpodcast.bsky.social #JustBeatIt Mothmen 1966 (PS4) looks like something that runs on an Atari, but tells an interesting story with great art and horrible sound (which fits the game). Definitely recommended if you like retro stuff and a kind of spooky story. Plat#138
positive · AI labelView post →Wow, so this is Pixel Pulp, eh? It's something between a comic and an interactive puzzle. It's a very short experience, but very well drawn. This can easily be played in a single sitting over a period of about an hour or two. In the time it'd take to watch a cheesy Netflix film you can experience MOTHMEN 1966. The story is absolutely bonkers. I mean, the plot all over the place. There are no answers here, only questions, all the way through. Playing the game is almost like watching an…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Mothman is every girl's dream man. Tall, dark, handso-uhh... quiet. Yeah. A dream.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Sadly disappointing. The writing is good and the art is incredible which makes it sad that there's not very much meat to this visual novel. No branching paths, no alternate endings, and all your choices result in just a couple of lines of different dialogue or death. The game is short enough that I managed to get all of the achievements within the 2 hour refund window without really rushing. I'd recommend to grab this game on sale or look into other more substantial VNs for the same price.…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →No autosave feature, lost all my progress upon taking a break. Very loud and annoying 'text sound' that cannot be adjusted separately from other sounds. Avoid.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Fast Cars! Men in black! Grandmas! 100% pure pixelated monster fun.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's from LCB Game Studio, who you might know by their Pixel Pulp titles like Mothmen 1966, Bahnsen Knights, and Varney Lake. They all have distinct art styles and deep, thought-provoking stories.
neutral · AI labelView post →Despite high hopes, I did not enjoy this game... Truthfully, I wanted to refund my purchase of this - but it took me too long to play so I was unable to do so. The good: The art is spectacular. The bad: The story of this game was all over the place, none of the characters are particularly likable, and I found myself (at multiple points of the story) begging them to shut up. Mothman is also portrayed as an antagonist - in ways which don't necessarily jive well with his mythos. The ugly:…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is a negative review with a couple of caveats: the concept and style are great, there are some terrific visuals, and I hope to see a lot more from this studio. Positives aside, the execution of ideas is sloppy. Clunky puzzles, questionable audio, and a rushed ending that almost upends the entire story. I didn't hate it, but I feel like they can do so much better.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →@polykillpodcast.bsky.social #JustBeatIt Varney Lake (PS4) is the direct sequel to Mothmen 1966 which I played before this and adopts the same art style and game structure. It is bogged down by some annoying mini games/puzzles, but the story is interesting and I enjoyed my time with it. Plat#139
neutral · AI labelView post →Finished playing through Mothmen 1966 today for the monthly adventure game discussion discord I'm in and yeah, good stuff! There's two more by the same devs and I just really like that there's someone regularly making short pulpy horror VNs store.steampowered.com/app/1755030/...
positive · AI labelView post →Mothmen 1966 ($3.59) - the limited color palette of an old CGA game turns to sickly greens and fluorescent blues are here to present you a short adventure about the Leonid meteor shower in 1966... and the conspiracies and haunting beasts surrounding it. store.steampowered.com/app/1755030/...
neutral · AI labelView post →I really didn't find this too good at all. Story-wise it was kind of boiler plate and there were some brilliant illustrations during the playtime. However the choices are binary with one of the two being fatal, but immediately reloading you to a checkpoint, meaning that the choices are a facade and the story is genuinely linear. There's a occasional mini-games but they're groan-inducing activities like stacking shelves or throwing stones at a coyote. Linearity wouldn't matter if the story was…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Mothmen, pulp fiction, and DOS text game throwback. What's not to love?
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you're an art enthusiast and a fan of unique games, this is for you! Amazing chilling lore and story, cool dithering-style for the larger illustrations, atmospheric soundtracks and fitting sound effects, and even got solitaire to kill your time. Absolutely worth your money and a few hours of your time to admire all this.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A short but sweet sci-fi/horror romp that gets weirder (and more fun) as it goes on. Great writing and gorgeous retro visuals make it totally worth the price of admission. Just be careful not to get addicted to the impossible solitaire minigame.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →WARNING:A dog died in this game OMG, can I start this off by saying I'm flabbergasted by layers of framework that were implemented into the game down to the texture, lighting, shading, model, colour grading, and many more. I must have over 50 screenshots for this game .....I checked I have exactly 100 screenshots. Mothmen 1996 or LCB Game Studio in general has style and nails it throughout. Now that's out of the way, time to get to the nitty-gritty. Mothmen 1996 is mostly a linear Gameboy VNs…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →While the aesthetics of Mothman 1966 are charming at first, I found myself disappointed having kept an eye on this game since its original announcement. It's extremely short, to the point that even $9 seems a tad much, and the puzzles were tedious at best. The story is fine until a specific point near the end, where it takes a completely out-of-nowhere turn that made me say out loud, "wait, what the ♥♥♥♥ just happened?" The ending is extremely unsatisfying, and is more a point where the story…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →There is no shortage of revivalism in today's gaming scene. In fact, the desire to attract players by referencing the classics has only intensified in recent years as opposed to the pursuit of originality. Mothmen 1966 may very well be an admitted exercise in nostalgia, tapping into the great tradition of visual novels and graphical adventures from the mid-eighties, the age of the ephemeral reign of the EGA display standard in personal computing. Instead of directing its efforts towards the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game's basically an 80 minute long visual novel, with some minor interactive elements, which is hardly a bad thing. If the story is good, I'm all about games with limited interactivity. It's a throwback both to pulp sci fi novels, and ZX Spectrum games. The ZX Spectrum graphics are really a treat. I'm a sucker for when games bring out that color palette. It's good at building tension and ambiance. The characters get to toe the line of being sympathetic and dysfunctional that makes horror…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →As always this Dev makes such BEAUTIFUL and sinister pixel art and really drives home the ambience of their games!!! I would recommend this but after playing some of this dev's newer games first this one left me feeling like i wanted more than it gave. Grizzlyman is way more polished than this one, but i still found it charming and enjoyable overall. So just take with a grain of salt if you're playing this one after Grizzlyman. If you want to play more from this dev you definately will enjoy…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great pixel art. The audio is good in moments but some of the sound choices are absolutely grating because of how long they go on (you can hear some of it first thing in the trailers). But the game crashed on me an hour in and there is no auto save or continuation from last completed chapter. Maybe I’ll try again in a year or two.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Short and stylish visual horror novel with light puzzles. Cool experience that could have been fleshed out just a bit more but still ended up being satisfying, enjoyable trip. Here are the main takeaways: - To get the most obvious out of the way – the graphics here are brilliant. The artists that managed to put together this incredible picture out of pixels, making it simultaneously retro-inspired and visually pleasing to the modern player are beyond talented and deserve all the accolades.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Story is ok but the lack of impactful decisions throughout the stories makes it relatively boring.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I enjoyed Untold Stories and other low graphics games… Mothmen 66 was an interesting concept. As soon as I saw the game, I wanted it, and I’m thankful the devs granted my request to play. It took a while to get to the story, though, and unfortunately by then I was annoyed at the characters. This game is a good framework for a better game. Bring different characters together for an event, terrific! But we didn’t care about them. We didn’t know who they were, their interactions didn’t make a…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →As others have already said, it's a bit short, but high quality. I hope to see more like this soon! I played it under Linux using proton 7.0, and didn't hit any compatibility issues.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Despite what may feel like physical limitations during the 80s and 90s, the Choose Your Own Adventure genre flourished despite the technological advances of the current day. Whether through low-bit graphical DOS titles or the tried and true “flip to page 38 to see what that decision did to your boys” method, it’s hard to put down a CYOA with a delectable plot and the urge to see what path to take. With my ever present love for the retro-indie and my initial inquiry for “why Mothmen?” and “why…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Short. Several loose ends. Shallow. Frustrating puzzle controls. Grating audio. Pure aesthetic. How this rated so highly is beyond me.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Whatever Lee saw in the woods, let me be next.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Sights & Sounds The spirit of the 80s Early DOS gaming was kinda wild, visually speaking. You'd have a programmer who may or may not understand anything about art build a world in a black void with a whole 16 colors to work with With Mothmen 1966, LCB hearkens back to the era of Oregon Trail, Gorillas, and Math Blaster while showing you artwork that looks better than any of those games could have They even restrict the palette further than the 4 bit limitation, using only green, cyan, red…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I just want to leave a mixed review. Because to the end, the game pushes the riddles too hard. And it just lets you save at the wrong times. As others here said, the game catches my eye with its art style. But the negative overweighted slightly.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I don't know if it was the writing, the pulp fiction, the 8 bit art or the 80s computer music and sound effects, but I liked it a lot. I'm going to check the other LCB Game Studio titles.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Well, that was quite the story. The visuals are very clear pixel art and the way the change from one dialog to the other adds up to the storytelling. The soundtrack is good but I would have preferred something less SNES-esque. All in all, it was a nice experience. Now, if you don't mind, I will keep playing Impossible Poker until I beat it.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is a perfect, atmospheric, fun pixel adventure with choose your own-adventure mechanics, some cool puzzles, and a story that is worth the ride. Seriously, the “Pulp” in the game description is no lie, go in with no expectations and enjoy the ride. You get to play as three different - very distinct - characters and interact with each other to uncover a X-Files-like mystery. The visuals are gorgeous, I love the neon greens and the old school comic style. The game also knows how to use the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A neat little short story that manages to somehow out-weird its namesake as it goes on. The story is engaging enough and the art is pretty good too, $13AUD is a somewhat steep asking price but not the worst if you're a fan of these kind of bite-size horror shorts (and you can always wait for a sale). Looking forward to Varney Lake when it comes out
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Art is cool, unfortunately the writing was a bit too silly for my liking, the gameplay is pretty barebones and no auto-save was the dealbreaker for me.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Not a bad game, but more like Midmen [Eng and Pt-Br review] It's okay. The game started off really well. I liked how it introduces its characters; I was truly invested in each one's story. The visuals are very good, as is the OST, perfect for those who want a real sense of nostalgia, coupled with the pulp horror theme—it's perfect! The game also features a few puzzles here and there, nothing too complicated, but it helps break up the monotony of a novel for those unfamiliar with it, and it also…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The best way to describe playing Mothmen 1966 is, it's like one of those eerie lucid dreams that is strangely enough, reassuring to compel you to keep going, then you wake up and you're left with, what I call, "the eerie cozy".
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The first entry in the Pixel Pulps series of visual novellas by LCB Games. The story is great fun, a playful, yet also impactful, piece of pulp science fiction. The game revels in its comic book-like pulpiness! And yet, at the same time, the writing is superb, in a way that elevates it out of its specific genre and it becomes, simultaneously, a reflection upon that which it is celebrating and playing with, an artistic feat that can only be accomplished by people who love what they’re doing.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Short, so worth only getting if on sale. I enjoyed my time with it, 3/5
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Good writing, breathtaking art style, imaginative ambient sounds and efficient soundtrack. I'll definitely play all the other Pixel Pulps. Played this in the dark on a Sunday evening. It's dark and snowy outside and tonight I'll be thinking of the Mothmen!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A 2 hours visual novel with a few short puzzles sprinkled in-between. If you fail, you can instantly retry, so the experience wasn't frustrating at all. The art is delightful & the mystery is quite interesting! The writing itself is decent, but nothing amazing, it's a pulp after all. I liked most of the characters besides - spoiler: Lee If you're looking for a short experience for a weekend or an evening with some spooky 1960s vibes, I definitely recommend it! Check out the other games from…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Oh I love me some Cryptids and the Mothman myth is easily in my top 5. It's a really nice, spooky, pulp fiction game with a lot of retro flair which can be played through in less than 2 hours. It's fun and I highly recommend watching the credits until the end ;)
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Just completed this and ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥, what a game! And that ending lol. The whole thing is just a truly chill experience, bringing to mind a Tales of The Crypt style comic I used to read here in the UK as a kid called Scream! The setting, the story, the music and fun little mini games, the pixel art aesthetics (I grew up with a Commodore 64 so I love it)... I honestly can't recommend this enough. And although I don't think it's officially verified for Steam Deck, it plays perfectly on it. Been…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's a very strange game. I don't think it will be to the taste of many but I found the mystery compelling and surreal. I do think there's some elements of the interactivity that could be improved. Fiddling with menus can get tedious at times but otherwise it's a very interesting experience. I think that's the way to describe it. It's an experience. You either find it compelling or you don't. It's short enough to not overstay its welcome.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This kind of game isn't for everyone, but if you like short visual novel experiences with an interesting art style and theme, I'd definitely recommend it. It captures the essence of both the pulp fiction and 80s style computer graphics that inspired it. That being said, the story obviously isn't going to blow your mind, but it's a fun, creepy, and sometimes humorous ride. It also contains an interesting take on solitaire that I really enjoyed. So much that I spent time trying to get the related…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Completely in love with the art for this game. A great suspenseful story with a few puzzles sprinkled in. I can't tell you how many times I tried to beat that card game only to get down to 10 cards! 10/10 Can't wait to see more games by these devs<3
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A retro-themed visual novel with a few puzzles/minigames scattered throughout. The characters were well written, and I thought the story had a pretty interesting spin on the whole Mothman legend. I really liked the overall art style as well. Some of the sounds are a little sharp/grating, but I have overly sensitive hearing anyway, so it may not be that bad for most everyone else. Didn't notice any bugs or other performance hiccups. Recommending for casual players and fans of visual novels.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I really adore the art and the color palette for this game. It really sets the mood and vibes. The story feels so short though, I hope there's a sequel sometime in the future! I blinked and it was over--just when I was getting immersed haha! I was hoping for another ending, but even without one I can see myself replaying it sometime down the line just to revisit the characters. It's an enjoyable novel and worth the money! 😊⭐
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Came for the art style, loved the weird story and the mini-games!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →You would not be celebrating Halloween correctly if you did not play this game on Halloween night. Kids spend Halloween trick or treating, MEN buy themselves a truckload of candy for themselves and eat it while playing horror games all night in the dark while propping the chair against the front door and listening to Michael Jackson. OOGA BOOGA.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Basically a short visual novel with some puzzles, it's held up by an interesting theme and a good atmosphere. The charm of it's lo-fi, old style graphics, music and interface can't be ignored either. I've made a guide to 100% it for fellow achievement hunters: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2880952130
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Really like the concept and design of this game. Classic Apple IIe type horror with PC speaker-styled sound effects, a great story (awesome writing), and a number of unlocks. Though there have been some complaints about an auto-save feature (which the devs claim they want to implement) it's really not an issue because you can quick pass earlier stuff to get your unlocks or back to where you want to be. Looking forward to more from this company. Full review will be on my official site in about a…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It was a real cool game
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A fun throwback visual novel with okay puzzles but a really fun and engaging story. It's worth trying if you've got an hour or so to kill. 7.5/10
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'm not a visual novel player, but Mothmen really catch my eye since day one. And i'm trully happy after finished the game. The history was really good, the art, mechanics, I really loved the game. My only complaing is that i'm not a big fan of "you fail, try again". Not sure how that can be changed, but a few times I thought that it might be good to the story continue without that player. Besides this tiny thing, this made me travel back in time.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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