STASIS: BONE TOTEM
STASIS: BONE TOTEM
Game
Game2015
STASIS
Developer THE BROTHERHOOD
Stasis is a 2015 science fiction horror point-and-click adventure game developed by The Brotherhood. Viewed from an isometric perspective, the game requires interactions with computers, combining items and puzzle solving. The game was released on 31 August 2015 for Windows and OS X, and in June 2017 for Linux. The game centers around the main character John Maracheck who awakes from Stasis aboard an abandoned… From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
245 reactions from 3 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Mastodon) · newest Nov 5, 2026 · last updated Nov 6, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
78
LovedLoved
154 positive · 44 negative
95% range 71–83%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 154 | 44 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 10 | 3 | 29 |
| Mastodon * | 2 | 0 | 3 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
1,100 of 1,363 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
77% recommend · 150 yes, 44 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 194 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Very Positive (1,942 of 2,377 positive).
Players praise the game's atmosphere, story, and visuals, calling it a gripping sci-fi horror experience. [1][2][3] Some reviewers find the puzzles obtuse and the gameplay outdated, requiring a walkthrough. [4][5][6] A few players criticize the voice acting, dialogue, and narrative inconsistencies. [7][8]
Liked
Representative posts
- [7]
A sad game. On one hand it has great environments, John's VA, music, most of the sound effects and horror, but on the other hand... Everything is wrong. The dialogues, the WAY TOO abundant diaries, the voices of Te'ah and Malan, the cartoony villains, the nonsensical plot, some of the puzzles, the protagonist's animations, the VFX! All laughable. Even the ending is so bad it makes you feel like you did nothing. I …
- [1]
This was pretty fantastic. It definitely feels fairly old school in control scheme and some design aspects, but if like me, that doesn't bother you, I highly recommend this. I enjoyed the story personally. The atmosphere is fantastic, as well as the general sound design. Voice acting is hit and miss, but the protagonist is handled very well on that front. The game is pretty grim. Don't go into this expecting …
- [2]
A Short but Unforgettable Sci-Fi Horror Experience Stasis is one of the best horror games I’ve played in a long time. While it's on the shorter side, it delivers a gripping and intense experience from start to finish. The atmosphere is nearly perfect — the visuals, sound design, and especially the music create a deeply immersive environment that had me on edge the entire time. My heart was pounding more than once as …
- [4]
C+! Get it on a sale. Finally got around to finishing STASIS after trying once before and giving up in the first act due to, well, a number of things that plagued the full game. + Interesting enough story with a good amount of twists - Obtuse puzzles and no hint system, had to walkthrough a LOT of it just to enjoy the story - Eye-roll inducing dialogue and writing. - Not great V/O (Te'Ah especially..) but John …
- [5]
A mixed review for me. What I will say is its best part is the writing and the visuals. You get so much world-building and lore from the PDAs you read throughout the adventure that you feel very immersed, on top of that the gorgeous graphics with a distinct aesthetic that helps with the feeling of being in a destroyed space ship. I do think the puzzles are so hit and miss, it started off with simple but fun puzzles …
Summarised from 34 of the 235 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 10, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
Players who liked STASIS talk about atmosphere and sound design are fantastic and immersive; those who didn't talk about puzzles are often obtuse and require a walkthrough. Which matters more to you?
Critics, per Wikipedia
The game received generally positive reviews, with a score of 79 out of 100 on Metacritic. Rock Paper Shotgun was positive towards the game in their review, saying "Despite some characterisation wobbles and a somewhat perfunctory final mile, STASIS is the best adventure game I've played in years. It's also one of the most impressive horror games I've played lately." Destructoid awarded it 8.5 out of 10, saying "STASIS is a game that is not to be missed by anyone craving an eerie and sinister experience." IGN Africa awarded it 9 out of 10, saying "The Brotherhood's debut game is as brilliant as it is profoundly disturbing."
From the “Reception” section of Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Critic context only — not part of the audience score.
Reactions
60 of 245 · most liked firstNgl, someone should put that new catgirl through a gauntlet of every single vaguely hypnotic game element we are aware of. I'm talking Hollow Knight infection, Silksong haunting, Botw's Stasis rune, Nine Sol's Golden hoop, Floro Sprouts, Pecharunt's Mochi, the works.
neutral · AI labelView post →Despite all my efforts to get better at rhythm games, I still had to resort to every assist option the game offered to get to the end of Vivid/Stasis. Still totally worth it though. It is preposterous that this game is free. A massive rhythm game that's also a visual novel, ARG, Yume Nikki and more
positive · AI labelView post →Once again shouting out Vivid/Stasis, which left early access the other day and went up in price to... Free. Half Uchikoshi-inspired genre-hopping visual novel. Half 4-button rhythm game (80+ tracks with 3-4 charts each!) with a dash of cypher-cracking brain-buster ARG. Somehow this is just free.
positive · AI labelView post →Speaking of cool FREE games on Steam, Vivid/Stasis has been eating up way too much of my time lately despite me being terrible at rhythm games. A massive (~200 songs, 3-4 charts each) expertly produced rhythm game that's also a visual novel, an ARG puzzle game, a Yume Nikki and some other bits.
positive · AI labelView post →The final(???) update just dropped for Vivid/Stasis, adding an epilogue chapter after the main story A reminder that this game is: 1. Free 2. One of the biggest rhythm games out there 3. A visual novel 4. A cipher-cracking ARG 5. A Yume Nikki-like exploration game 6. A fishing game 7. MORE, SOMEHOW
neutral · AI labelView post →More people need to try Vivid/Stasis. Not only is it a great rhythm game, but also a genre-hopping visual novel, a cypher-cracking ARG adventure, a Yume Nikki like exploration thing and more. And FREE. If you just want a rhythm game, that's a menu option too. store.steampowered.com/app/2093940/...
positive · AI labelView post →We did this in Unavowed and it worked so well we used it again. Although we originally stole it from the game Stasis (with permission from the dev).
neutral · AI labelView post →Hiya! I'm Riagan, a silly little transfem game dev who's currently a university student!! I currently only have one short, but fun game on my itch.io, called Stasis Shot, a simple puzzle platformer where you can set and delay your bullets to solve puzzles! riaganroyalty.itch.io/stasis-shot
neutral · AI labelView post →Yeah, this looks unmistakably like a Stasis game, just in real-time and first-person. And honestly, the fact that they've got a real-time game looking like their pre-rendered art is impressive!
neutral · AI labelView post →I'll continue this thread later but for now, another free gem that was finished this year: Vivid/Stasis is an ENORMOUS, professionally produced rhythm game with hundreds of tracks, maybe a thousand charts and is also a cypher-cracking ARG and trans lesbian visual novel and half a dozen other things
positive · AI labelView post →₊˚｡ﾟʚɞ•━━┈꒰ა ⊱✦⊰ ໒꒱┈•━━ ʚɞ ₊˚｡ﾟ Stasis is a sci-fi isometric adventure game set in the future aboard a spacecraft. The protagonist, John Maracheck, is an ordinary school teacher who wakes up amid utter chaos, despair, and desolation, with the utmost goal of saving his wife and daughter from the haunting and wretched spaceship of Groomlake. Story and A Bit of Spoilers John awakens from his stasis alone aboard Groomlake, a medical research ship run by Cayne Corporation which is worth…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Shoulda figured that a new major Vivid/Stasis update meant more ARG shenanigans too. Hell of a game for free.
positive · AI labelView post →Vivid/Stasis is a game, it keeps happening
neutral · AI labelView post →Today is Saturday and yep I made an another fanart of an underrated Indie Game called Vivid Stasis it features the main character Saturday Tasogare #vividstasis #fanart #indiegame
neutral · AI labelView post →Stasis studio The Brotherhood announces narrative survival horror game Animal Use Protocol for PC www.gematsu.com/2024/10/stas...
neutral · AI labelView post →COMMISSION FOR KOBARUTOCHAN STASIS SUX, FUCK DIS GAME
negative · AI labelView post →'Stasis' is coming to Xbox One/Series, PS4/5 and Nintendo Switch. Already on PC. www.gematsu.com/2025/06/stas...
neutral · AI labelView post →A drawing of Eri, my favorite character from the game Vivid/Stasis, I’m still early in the game because I play it from time to time but I absolutely adore it, the fact that it’s free is almost insulting. #art #fanart #pixelart #digitalart #vivid/stasis #vividstasis
positive · AI labelView post →Vivid/Stasis is a MASSIVE rhythm game that's also a visual novel, a cipher-cracking ARG, oneiric exploration game, and even has creature-collecting and fishing minigames. Just absurdly ambitious, and doesn't cost a penny. Recently got an epilogue update. store.steampowered.com/app/2093940/...
positive · AI labelView post →This was pretty fantastic. It definitely feels fairly old school in control scheme and some design aspects, but if like me, that doesn't bother you, I highly recommend this. I enjoyed the story personally. The atmosphere is fantastic, as well as the general sound design. Voice acting is hit and miss, but the protagonist is handled very well on that front. The game is pretty grim. Don't go into this expecting happiness for pretty much anyone. It also covers some pretty harsh subject matter at…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I finally got around to playing Stasis, an isometric point-and-click adventure game that caught my interest the moment I saw the screenshots and tried the free prequel, Cayne, back in 2017 (according to my Steam logs). After sitting in my backlog for years due to other priorities, both in life and gaming, I eventually dived in this year on my Steam Deck. Like most point-and-click adventure games, it proved ideal for handheld play, with the interface working flawlessly and no awkward remapping…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →That's right, I post diaper pics to lure you into a Stasis game 😈
neutral · AI labelView post →A sad game. On one hand it has great environments, John's VA, music, most of the sound effects and horror, but on the other hand... Everything is wrong. The dialogues, the WAY TOO abundant diaries, the voices of Te'ah and Malan, the cartoony villains, the nonsensical plot, some of the puzzles, the protagonist's animations, the VFX! All laughable. Even the ending is so bad it makes you feel like you did nothing. I can't get myself to like this game, and I tried
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Old school style point and click game. Very good story, visuals and audio is awesome. Some critical bugs. But this is similar to Sanitarium - buy it at any cost. Worth it!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I don't have patience for obscure puzzle games with the "try everything with everything until something works" design philosophy.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I cannot get past the garbage game design. Spent 15 minutes wandering around the Product Storage only to find out that the lights in the bottom left IS TO A HALLWAY! I figured to use the towel I got for a glass shard, but nope, that's not logical apparently, the game instead allows me to grab the glass bare-handed and then complains about getting cut. Figuring what steps to do where...just, I'm through. Every step to figure out where to go feels like I need a walkthrough with its unintuitive…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A Short but Unforgettable Sci-Fi Horror Experience Stasis is one of the best horror games I’ve played in a long time. While it's on the shorter side, it delivers a gripping and intense experience from start to finish. The atmosphere is nearly perfect — the visuals, sound design, and especially the music create a deeply immersive environment that had me on edge the entire time. My heart was pounding more than once as I made my way through its eerie corridors and chilling story. The narrative…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Only if you're masochist who somehow takes pleasure in pixel-hunting and randomly clicking on things after having left common sense at home... It stinks of all the "classic adventure game" anti-patterns. Example from the guide I've been using (would have dropped it early on without a guide as backup): "Use the empty pistol on the body part to get refined organic material" (character proceeds to ground/chop the body part using the pistol as if it were a kitchen cutting tool). I could name…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I first played Stasis through in April 2022, and I recently came back to it because I remembered just how much I liked it. The storytelling is gripping, and the atmosphere pulls you right into its dark, eerie world. The isometric perspective may be a bit awkward at times, but it adds a unique feel that works perfectly with the sci-fi horror theme. I highly recommend this game to any sci-fi horror fans—it’s compelling, unsettling, and an experience worth having.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's rare for a game to have exactly one redeeming feature, and for STASIS it's the environmental design. Everything else is really not great, and it's inconsistent as well. There's this terrible-looking blood splatter FX that's used a lot and all it does is to just make the game look.. Cheap. Voice acting isn't great, and the story is just... I dunno, it's whatever. The main character is the only good voice actor, and even then the direction in the latter quarter of the game feels so off. If…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Obtuse, no tutorial. Descriptions are not given for objects or events. But the worst is that cat is inexplicably killed seconds after meeting it, with no chance to save it or even pet it, after it has survived on its own for quite some time.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game has ONE more chance to wow me: indie horror point and click STASIS 🐸 twitch.tv/valkyrieshepard #vtuber #envtuber #indiehorror #twitch #twitchstreamer
neutral · AI labelView post →Vivid/Stasis is definitely a game that’s written
neutral · AI labelView post →Great atmosphere and graphic design bogged down by bad level design and needlessly convoluted puzzles. If my opinion changes after finishing the game, I will update this review. I hope the prequel, Cayne, and the very positively-reviewed sequel Bone Totem improve on this games weak points. Update 1: atmosphere and musical score continue to amaze me. Some of the puzzles/progression seem a bit more intuitive, however, others are just as (if not more) convoluted as before.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'm leaving a reluctant negative review. I don't think I have played any point and click adventure games prior to this and I suspect my negativity is based partly on that fact. I enjoyed the atmosphere and plot to a decent degree even if there is nothing super intriguing about them. However, I found my immersion seriously hampered by puzzles that felt quite arbitrary and frustrating at times. I won't go into detail as many other reviewers already have but just a little bit more signposting…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →C+! Get it on a sale. Finally got around to finishing STASIS after trying once before and giving up in the first act due to, well, a number of things that plagued the full game. + Interesting enough story with a good amount of twists - Obtuse puzzles and no hint system, had to walkthrough a LOT of it just to enjoy the story - Eye-roll inducing dialogue and writing. - Not great V/O (Te'Ah especially..) but John lifted a pretty heavy load by himself so well done him. - Everything was.. blurry?…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I wanted to like this game, but ultimately it's a buggy clunky puzzle game with a nice atmosphere, but ultimately the story payoff isn't worth the hassle.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A puzzle-based point & click with a grim sci-fi setting. The atmosphere and design is very good, and the story is decent (many similarities to Dead Space - it was a likely inspiration). For the cost and time, I would recommend this product for any fans of horror and the point & click genre. I played Bone Totem before this, and loved it. It's unfortunate that I didn't play this back around the time it was released, as I'm sure I would appreciate it more. Bone Totem is a big step up in my…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game looks good, and the VAs were alright, but the overall game design, and especially writing, were extremely poor. After Act 1 things just kind of fall apart. The puzzles are not telegraphed well, and I encountered constant visual/sound glitches. I would be willing to forgive that for a good story, but this was not one. I'd argue it was actively bad, especially as 90% of it is delivered through tedious PDAs lying around the map. Not good for a game that is primarily going to be driven by…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's a rythmn game that uses your mouse and keyboard at the same time, right now there's only a gameplay demo with 5 songs But the full version will have a story, RPG-like character building, and a lot more, it's also the sequel to Vivid/Stasis
neutral · AI labelView post →A cross of "Alien", "Sanitarium" and "I Have no Mouth, and I Must Scream" this is a game I followed during the Kickstarter but eventually forgot about. I really enjoyed it, very nice industrial art even though feels a bit too... dark and "samey" but overall it's a nice looking isometric game. Story is very depressing and claustrophobic, but nicely written, but sound mix isn't very consistent. Overall a good game, plays well on the Deck but text is microscopic.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Wonderful, wonderfully looking, moody survival horror game with again great sights andsounds. Really draws you in and the atmosphere is truly paranoia inducing. I love it lol. It's mhm. Cheffie's kiss.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Hate to give this a negative review since I actually *do recommend* this game to any sci-fi body-horror fan. That being said, however, Stasis feels a bit too amateurish to recommend it without any reservations (which is natural as it's the studio's first project, afaik). While the visuals, locations, and story look and feel interesting most of the time — albeit a bit too on the nose with its "hurr-durr, callous, soulless, human-experimenting corporations are evil and bad, hurr-durr" — the…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →TL; DR Suffering builds character. Suffering builds character. Suffering builds character. Note this game should come with a warning about the mature content… John and his family have this cozy off-planet vacation all planned out, but space travel takes a while, so first they will need to take a short nap… What is the worst family vacation you have ever been on? That bad huh, well, unfortunately for John, him and his family are having an even tougher time. He wakes up, disoriented in an…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →No settings options, graphics are blurry and murky. Story is boring. UI is semi-usefull/-less. Gameplay is slow and includes pixel searching and moonlogic. The game has gross aesthetics, that are not for me. My rating 5/10, not recommended.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Pros: Gross body horror, cool art design, runs on anything--including a toaster Mac. Played this over a weekend at my parents'. Cons: 1. Technical issues: sounds/music not playing or mistimed, hitting the number 1(?) in the opening sequence catapulted me to middle of game then softlocked, excessive loading screens (though most are hidden). 2. Story is meh. Aside from the gross/unique body horror and art direction, the actual writing is just "ok". Nothing super compelling or creative…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A mixed review for me. What I will say is its best part is the writing and the visuals. You get so much world-building and lore from the PDAs you read throughout the adventure that you feel very immersed, on top of that the gorgeous graphics with a distinct aesthetic that helps with the feeling of being in a destroyed space ship. I do think the puzzles are so hit and miss, it started off with simple but fun puzzles but it slowly devolved to confusing and obtuse ones after the halfway point. It…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's clear why this style of game has been largely abandoned, with only a few small developers still making point-and-click adventure games. This game would be better as a simpler game. Maybe a walking simulator with some reading, some dialog, and some more logical puzzles? The pixel-hunting nature of finding items, the obtuse nature of using items or combining items to use them later, the "where do I go now" nature of exploration. It's all very outdated and not really fun. Thankfully, the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Christopher Bischoff has spoken about being heavily inspired by films such as Alien (1979), Event Horizon (1997), and The Thing (1982). The 1998 game Sanitarium also played a part, and I have little doubt that the original Fallout contributed at least some ideas to Christopher’s vision. You have the dystopian corporation, the cyberpunk-like fusion of electronics and flesh, and human beings reduced to little more than tools for people attempting to play god. STASIS finds ways to take aspects…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Taking into account that my last point-and-click game was Memento Mori from the 2008 and I avoided this genre for over a decade - the revisiting one of those games was HARD. Strange puzzles, vague usage of items, their descriptions... I tried this game over a half year ago because couldn't solve the "tram" riddle, and only playing with my girlfriend, constantly helping each other, searching for clues and pixel hunting items made possible for me to reach the finish. But to be fair - it was…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Fantastic dark, gritty, gory space point and click adventure. Reminds me of Planescape Torment in the best way.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →🔴 LIVE now: playing Ludum Dare 60 games and taking requests! In the queue: GEARBOUND by @ethernalstudio.bsky.social l and Terminal Stasis by @advurt.bsky.social y.social, plus more 🎮 Drop your LD60 game in chat 👇 youtube.com/live/Qrz84qV... #LDJam #LudumDare60
neutral · AI labelView post →I think Stasis pods may actually be the most useless item in a survival horror game. I can’t remember ever needing to use one.
negative · AI labelView post →Mill isn't pleasant, but at least if your opponent is playing Mill, you can still play the game in some capacity. Stasis is just a whole lot of both of you sitting there doing nothing until you eventually die.
neutral · AI labelView post →Big streaming week ahead! Mon: Trying Dark Cloud's last boss again (come watch me suffer 😅). Tue: Impartial — a short 2D narrative game about conflict resolution. Thu: Blades of Mirage, then Spooptober BEGINS with Stasis! Fri: Gears of War 2 w/ Frills, then Stasis cont.
neutral · AI labelView post →Boss stage segues are taken directly from their sega arcade game PVs - its a very common trope, and Vivid/Stasis actually takes a ton of inspiration both narratively and mechanically from lowiro's previous game, Arcaea. Everything In Falsus does is directly inspired by Sega's own Ongeki 「オンゲキ」
neutral · AI labelView post →Well I think I'm almost at a big turning point in #Ultros, as I destroy the last Stasis pod. I'm realising I've been tricked into playing a secret gardening game, and I'm curious to see if the ending will be spreading the living network across the whole ship or some other step.
neutral · AI labelView post →A game which does not let you skip slow as balls dialogue and does not allow for in-game-volume settings is an automatic failure. What in the hell?
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →One of the best I've experienced in the genre. What it lacks in challenge, it more than makes up for in story and atmosphere.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →- The story is absolute garbage. Plot twists for the sake of the plot twists. Plot holes are countless. - No logic behind many puzzles (old quests vibe, I guess). - Pixel hunting will haunt you everywhere. - No way to skip dialogues, especially the ones you are going to hear over and over again, while figuring out the solution in TIMED puzzles where there is a possibility of main character death. - If you are still going to play this game - better stick to some walkthrough, save your time.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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