Looking around, you see nothing. Digging further in you realize this was not the first message. A cry for help and a strange repeating message also come from this mystery character whose identity you cannot decrypt. When you finally decide on your stop, you step off almost reluctantly into the unknown where the surreal and familiar blend in a shattering collision. A torrent of memories threaten to wash you away with the abandoned remnants of civilization as you barely hold them back with the dam of your mind.

Although the game is short and many loose ends are left to the imagination, it presents a compelling narrative that masters the juxtaposition between the realms of fantasy and realism. Symbolic elements of Japanese culture pervade through the story as well, from the decorative paper lanterns hanging in the streets to the torii (a construction to mark the entrance to a sacred place). Even more impressive is that the graphics for the game were created entirely by high school students in a two-day workshop in Nantes, France. Say what you will about the art style, but it's certainly better than mine as an adult!

The style reminds me of one my all-time favorite and slightly less innocent point and click games, The Grey Rainbow, and I would have loved to see more plot, interaction, and development in Yûrei Station. Nonetheless, between the eerie, foreboding music and the small smattering of cryptic puzzles and description throughout the game, it holds its own with a sufficient level of closure. There are horror games that rely heavily on cheap jump scares, and then there are ones with an ephemeral storyline like Yûrei Station, that will leave you thinking long after you reach the subtitle "The End."

Yûrei Station is controlled entirely with the mouse. As you move it over places where you can interact, it indicates potential interaction by changing to a cog or an arrow.

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