Bite Night made me happy from its opening moment, when upon clicking “Play” it rolled seamlessly into an 80s horror movie-style Steadicam sweep that circled halfway around the gas station before entering the building through the back door. Complete with theme-appropriate music, this little touch really set the mood for the game and I think a lot of indie developers can noticeably improve their games by incorporating simple creative touches like this.

Oh, right, the plot. The player takes on the role of an overnight gas station clerk. Throughout the course of the night, you’ll refuel vehicles, restock shelves, clean up, and follow the boss’s instructions about not letting the strange homeless man in the parking lot into the store. Some of this will be a bit more involved than it sounds. As you can see in the opening trailer, you’ll eventually cross paths with a strange vampire and begin a begrudging, short-lived friendship. It’s a fun idea for a retro indie game, but does it work?

Hell yeah it does! I was pleasantly surprised at how well-made this roughly thirty-five minute game is, and was entertained throughout. There are a few cornball, good-natured jumpscares, and a some creepy atmosphere to help make the scene a bit more immersive. Most importantly, all of the humor landed, and while I genuinely laughed aloud half a dozen times, even the more understated elements managed to draw a smile. There wasn’t a single gag that fell flat for me, and that’s pretty high praise for something like this that dives head-first into unconventional humor in a horror setting.

While the version I played felt a little lean on sound effects (the clerk’s footsteps make no noise, and the ambient sounds in the night were sparse), this was easy to overlook given how polished all of the other elements were. The clerk’s range of vision is pretty shallow, and they are unable to even see from one end of the store to the other, and this creates a theme-appropriate level of tension as you need to get close to a particular location before you can see if anything strange is going on. Little aesthetic choices like this make the game feel very good, and it’s definitely among the more memorable retro graphics titles I’ve tried out.

Final Thoughts

Bite Night is awesome, well worth the $3.49 the game costs in the United States. One part horror, two parts humor, it succeeds on both fronts and is an absolute joy to play for the short time that it lasts. I don’t think I’ve enjoyed a retro game this much since Pony Island, and I’m eager to see what MyGrandfather Games does next.

Verdict: 9.0

Strengths

Hilarious, clever humor
Great design choices make the most of the low poly graphics
Good enough to play more than once
Awesome ending

Weaknesses

Short playtime
Sound effect could use a bit more polish/expansion

You can purchase Bite Night on Steam (and you should).

You may also like: Bloodwash, Pony Island, Fears to Fathom

Game Review: Bite Night (2024)

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