Politicians and marketers from all over the world agree: fear is a great way to get people to do what you want. Spreading lies and making the public afraid of something that is always looming on the horizon – that’s how you know you have their attention. We do exactly that in this The Fabulous Fear Machine review, using lies, stories and conspiracies to get the public to do what we want.

The latest game from Fictiorama Studios, previously responsible for the Do Not Feed the Monkeys series, is a strategy game with some management vibes. There are various personal stories that we’ll be discovering while playing some of the scenarios. But really, the campaigns are all about controlling territories. Spreading fear and conspiracies is how you get the public under your control, so, if you were looking for a game that finally made your aunt’s Facebook posts a horrific reality to deal with, Fabulous Fear Machine has got you covered.

We use agents to go around and discover cities and places. So we can not only produce fuel – the basic resource we’ll need to do things in the game – but also get them to harvest specific resources (such as hearts and eyes) that we need to power up. Once we have a city under our radar, we plant a seed and let fears start to work their magic. The selection of legends is quite interesting, as they can be actual conspiracy theories such as chemtrails, but there are also horror stories such as alien kidnappings and ghosts of people who died in the war.

Once a legend has been planted, they can be levelled up so we can see their effects on the population. The more a fear levels up, the more effect it will have by spreading our fear on the territory. But, we won’t be alone in trying to conquer these countries. There are opponents who try to do the same as us. For the most part, they seem to be “the good guys”, thus we can’t let them win.

By using your agents to spy on our opponents and discover embarrassing secrets and scandals, we undermine their authority. Opponents will have a set of health points that can be whittled down by using what our agents discover. But again, that will normally need both fuel and specific resources that we harvest. Thus, planning how we use the cities under our control and the places we discover will be key. Wasting time letting our agents be idle, is usually a great way towards losing a scenario.

The best thing about The Fabulous Fear Machine is obviously the presentation. The game appropriately looks like a pulp comic book magazine from the 50s. Imagine Tales from the Crypt giving a whole new look, along with appropriate sound effects and creepy vibes. There are several references to actual modern politics as well, which makes it feel like you’re playing a sort of real-life version of those old classic comics. The stories also have that very same “bad guys will know what karma is” way of writing stories. It’s releasing at the right time of year, becuase Fear Machine makes a perfect companion for Halloween as well.

Overall, while the pacing is usually fine, it must be said that there is a fair bit of waiting around. While strategically using resources and making use of your cities is key, harvesting and exploring takes time. While your agents are working, for the most part, you’ll just be waiting around. It is possible to skip time ahead, but that still means having to wait while nothing really happens. The game is real-time and not turn-based, so while that decision is fine with me, all that waiting, in the long run, can make the gameplay a bit of a slog for some.

Still, overall, The Fabulous Fear Machine is a wonderful little project. Based on terror and horror, this is one great way to bring back the “Creepshow” vibe in a modern strategy game. Without making it all about guts and gore. With an exquisite art style, engaging gameplay and blending narrative with strategy, Fictiorama has confirmed its status as one of the more interesting studios in Europe.

Our Fabulous Fear Machine review was made possible with a key provided by TakeThePotion PR. Fabulous Fear Machine is available on Steam.