This game was awesome, keep up the good work! I played through it on my youtube channel but I couldn't find the last secret. ;_; https://youtu.be/rErKUJnUhss

Review
The Ritual is a simple horror game, focusing in on one aspect of the horror experience: being chased in a confined area with something that wants to kill you. At first brush it seems to borrow a lot from Slender by having you collect notes and run away from an unknown malicious entity, but there are a few aspects of The Ritual that set it apart straight away. First, there is no oppressive darkness. In Slender and all of its fan made games, the key element is to make the player character wandering around in the darkness with a weak flashlight. This works to create a feeling of isolation and oppression in the player, increasing their anxiety as they never know when they might turn around to find the monster. The Ritual, however, throws this away for a brightly lit area viewed from overhead in a pixelated aesthetic. Immediately the tension cannot come from feeling like there is some unknown, but instead has to come from the monster wandering around and potentially discovering the player while the player figures out exactly what they are trying to accomplish. I feel that this is done very well, specifically by the animation of the monster. Second, the notes are more for flavor than completion. The tools for escape are unrelated to the notes.

When the monster approaches the player, it will begin by floating in from off screen. The speed at which the beast is moving is somewhat slow until they catch sight of the player and hunch over to begin sprinting. The change in posture makes the cloaked monster feel even less human as its spine bends in ways that do not make sense, and it begins to run on what appeared to be its arms. At this point the monster moves at a greatly increased speed directly at the player, giving the player little time to plan their escape through the cramped woodland.

This is where most of the tension comes into play - the player only has a limited amount of stamina. In most cases, I find that stamina bars detract from games, but it does fairly well here. When you run out of stamina, it does not start refilling right away. Additionally, completely running out of stamina means that you move at a much slower pace, increasing the chances that you will be found and eaten. There are 2 reasons I feel that this stamina bar does not offend as much as others. 1) It is clearly visible at the top of the screen. 2) You have more than enough stamina to sprint away from the monster if you have not backed yourself into a corner. I never felt like I was cheated because I had run out of stamina, and that is important.

The game is very short, but the amount of content feels right for the length. If the game was going to be longer, rather than simply creating more notes or more items to pick up, I would like to see multiple stages of intensity. Giving the monster multiple forms that require different mechanics or movement patterns to escape would be a great Difference in Kind to keep the player engaged while increasing the number of things that need to be done. Overall a great game, and I hope to see more from this developer!