Broken Needle: Love, Loyalty, and Mutilation

Broken Needle is one of those games that doesn’t waste your time, but it definitely leaves you speechless throughout the game.

Right off the bat, even getting where you need to go is frustrating in an intentional way. Finding the backstreet with the hooker is a pain in the ass. It’s not obvious at all, and you end up interacting with every door, wondering if you missed something. When I finally figured it out, I was more mad at myself than the game. Still, that confusion adds to the unease; it sets the tone early.

The controls are as simple as it gets: WASD and the space bar. No tutorial needed, a toddler can do it. The simplicity works in the game’s favor because all your attention stays on what’s happening rather than how to play.

The story is disturbing, but also surprisingly easy to understand. There’s no deep lore to dig through or hidden meanings you have to decode. You know exactly what’s going on, and that’s what makes it uncomfortable. The game is very short, maybe 15 minutes at most—but it feels like there could be more later, even if there isn’t.

And yes, this game is deeply unnerving. It’s uncomfortable from start to finish. You’re kidnapping people to harvest body parts for your daughter. Limbs, a torso, whatever she wants. I mean, you’re getting limbs for your daughter… how else are you gonna do it? The game doesn’t try to justify your actions or soften them. It just lets the horror sit there.

Structurally, the game is extremely straightforward. You move back and forth between an interrogation room and the events happening outside. That back and forth design is a really cool touch and helps pace the experience and adds to the current events of the game.

There are essentially three parts to the game:

Get the torso

Get the arms

Get the legs

Each time, you bring back a body part, your daughter is happy, until she wants more. You’re interrogated, released, and sent right back out again. There isn’t much more to it, and honestly, there doesn’t need to be. The game speaks for itself.

So, did I enjoy it? Yes.

Was it disturbing? Absolutely.

Was it unique? Without a doubt.

This is a one, and, done game. There’s no replay value in terms of different endings, you’re always going to get the same outcome. But that’s fine. It’s meant to be experienced once, absorbed, and then sat with.

The art style deserves a lot of praise. The pixelated visuals are fantastic and fit the tone perfectly. Everything looks gritty and unsettling without being overly detailed, which somehow makes it even creepier.

One of the scariest aspects of Broken Needle is how real it feels, not in the sense that someone is going to start killing people for their limbs, but in how devotion is portrayed. Someone being so devoted to another person that they’ll do anything for them? That part is very real. If someone truly wanted you to hurt or kill someone, there are people who would do it without hesitation.

Another thing that really elevates the experience is the soundtrack. Each scene has its own music, and it’s all done with real instruments. On top of that, the visuals and images were handmade for each scene as well. That extra effort gives the game an added “umph” that makes everything feel more personal and more disturbing.

In the end, Broken Needle is short, horrifying, uncomfortable, and effective. It doesn’t overstay its welcome, and it doesn’t try to be more than it is. You play it, it messes with you, and then it’s over, but it lingers in your head long after the screen goes dark.

Broken Needle is available on itch.io.