The Vacuum

The Vacuum is a compact independent game built around a surreal concept and an unusual visual style. Players explore a strange environment and interact with objects and situations while gradually discovering how the game's world works. Its experimental nature means that the experience is driven more by curiosity and atmosphere than by conventional genre mechanics. Rather than presenting a huge campaign, the game focuses on its central idea and encourages players to investigate what lies around the next corner. The Vacuum is a good example of the creativity found in small independent games, where developers can take a strange concept and build an entire experience around it. The title may sound mundane, but that is part of the fun: in videogames, even a household appliance can apparently become the starting point for an adventure.

“In The Vacuum, you play Leo Wallace, a young student headed home for the summer on a 24th-century space freighter when the journey is interrupted by two explosions tearing through the passenger quarters. Stranded in deep space with the crew missing and no help available, you must determine what caused the accident and how to fix it.” - David Proctor

Review by Freeware Database:

“The Vacuum is a sci-fi adventure game which tells the story of a couple traveling home inside a cargo ship when a pair of explosions set off a chain of events that will forever change both of their lives. The final outcome is influenced by key decisions made by you during the course of your investigation, though most of the endings contain only minor variations in comparison.“