When comparing Limbo vs Darkwood, the Slant community recommends Limbo for most people. In the question“What are the best games on Linux?” Limbo is ranked 5th while Darkwood is ranked 83rd. The most important reason people chose Limbo is:
Since there are no cutscenes or loading screens, Limbo makes you fully immerse yourself in the puzzles and atmosphere of the game.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Immerses the player fully
Since there are no cutscenes or loading screens, Limbo makes you fully immerse yourself in the puzzles and atmosphere of the game.
Pro Does not become frustrating even if you die a lot
Most players die a lot in Limbo. fortunately this does not translate to a frustrating experience while playing the game. If you die from a trap, the game immediately reloads and takes the character right before reaching that very same puzzle. This way you can try again immediately and find a solution.
Pro Quite addictive
Limbo manages to keep your attention all throughout the game by consistently presenting new, interesting things for you to solve. It starts out simple, but increasingly gets more intricate and grows into smart multi-part puzzles.
Pro Unique black and white aesthetic
Limbo uses (what was once) a very unique monochromatic color scheme to give an atmospheric feel.
Pro Good for people who don't want to waste too much time on a game
Being a relatively short game (five or six hours long), it's perfect for people who love interesting puzzle games that don't overstay their welcome.
Pro Astonishing sound design
The sound design is simply great. Even though there's virtually no soundtrack to speak of, the sound effects do a great job of creating the perfect atmosphere in which the players immerse themselves.
What's more is that if you pay close attention to the sound cues while solving a puzzle, you will find out that the sound effects are quite helpful in reaching your objective.
Pro Manages to communicate circumstance and casualty in a unique way
Being completely devoid of text, dialogue, and explanation Limbo manages to communicate circumstance and casualty to the player in a simple way not found in other games.
Having a game completely devoid of those three things is hard but Limbo manages to pull it off perfectly.
Pro Artistic puzzle
Limbo has very unique environment with highly creative puzzles that offer a great experience with monochrome, b/w and other dim colors.
Pro Beautiful top down graphics that illustrate a creepy and murky world
Darkwood is a top down game that has dark murky graphics with misty fog that fit the mood really well and awesome lighting effects from the players flashlight.
Pro The random generation of the game makes it all the more terrifying, as you never know what will come next
The game is really dark, has a lot of atmospheric tension, and is randomly generated to keep it from being to predictable. This way the player never knows what will happen next, which ups the element of surprise by quite a lot.
Pro Extremely replayable thanks to the random generation of the game
The maps are randomly-generated, adding extra replayability value since you never know what you will find with every new game.
Pro Optional permadeath makes for an easier time for those that want it
If you die and don't want to start from the beginning losing all of your progress you don't have to.
Pro Immersive sound effects suits the game and its creepy environments well
Sound in horror games can really make the difference on whether it’s scary or not and Darkwood's has really awesome sound.
Cons
Con Ending comes somewhat abruptly
There's little lead up to the ending so it comes a little too suddenly and unexpectedly.
Con May be too dark for children
The game, by design, has the main character dying quite a bit, often very gruesomely, and so may not be appropriate for younger players.
Con Somewhat short
Limbo can be finished in about 5-6 hours on average.
Con Has some pacing issues
The first half of the game is filled with interesting creatures that you as a player encounter on the journey. While in sharp contrast, the second half of the game takes place in a deserted industrial area devoid of any lifeforms and even though puzzles become more and more interesting as you approach the end of the game, this sharp contrast between the two halves of the game creates some serious pacing issues.
The pacing issues are even more evident as you reach the ending, which while good comes quite unexpectedly.
Con Keyboard controls not that good
Movement is locked to the arrow keys instead of wasd.
Con May start to feel extremely tedious
It's very hard to find valuable gear in this game. Most of the caches the player finds will be filled with items that can be crafted into useful gadgets, and even they are very rare.
Not having good gear means that you will be dying a lot, especially in the early stages of the game, since you will be venturing to find anything you need while being practically defenseless.
While pretty fun at first, scouring the map with little to no protection will start feeling pretty tedious soon enough.
Con Poor tutorials
The short tutorials in the game do not do a good job of explaining certain aspects of the game such as cooking or leveling.