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Shake Shake Shake

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Released: May 28, 2025 Available on: PS5/Steam Genre: Psychological Horror

Developer: Sunscorched Studios Publisher: Sunscorched Studios

Review key provided by developers

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I did the best thing I could have done. The only thing I knew about Ratshaker going in was that you shake a rat and it’s funny. I did know there was horror laying underneath that shake a rat surface, especially since one of their key artwork shows a creepy face, but I didn’t dive that far into it as I knew I would want to play it. I didn’t want to spoil myself and it certainly helps that I don’t watch Let’s Plays that much anymore. So, after the anticipated wait for the PS5 release, how was Ratshaker?

I really think it’s best to go into Ratshaker knowing as little as possible, so I’m going to stay loyal to that for my review. In Ratshaker, you play as an unnamed man who just bought a brand new product. The Ratshaker! Have a pest problem? Are those pests causing you some stress? Get the Ratshaker! The fun way to deal with those pests and you’ll have some fun too! It’s not only effective in solving your problems without the mess, but satisfying *wink and smiles with a sparkle*.

You start in an empty field full of tall yellow grass with your rat. All you do is shake your rat, as well as squeeze it a little bit, but then you see buildings appear in the distance. Then, the rat talks. It knows. It knows what you did. And you will confront what you did. Oh, you don’t know what you did? Oh, you know. You can’t undo what you’ve done no matter how much you shake the rat. But the rat will guide you so you do remember. As you enter the house where everything happened. As the house slowly twists. The rat will be there with you for your whole journey.

It knows what you did. And soon, you’ll remember too. You can’t escape from the truth, no matter how much you want to forget.

Ratshaker is pretty simple gameplay wise. It’s basically a walking sim game as you’ll be walking around the house, looking around, and absorbing everything as you piece together what happened. But if you paid attention to the game’s title and trailer, you know there’s one mechanic that sets this game apart. The rat. Throughout the whole game you’re gripping a rat, not a realistic one don’t worry, but a cartoon-y one. You can shake the rat, which will cause the rat to scream (…most of the time) and will fill up your Ratshaker Meter. You can also squeeze the rat, and you can even see the effects of the oxygen deprivation on the rat’s face. After the intro, it will deplete the Ratshaker Meter.

You’re not just shaking and squeezing the rat for fun. Well, okay, it is a little bit fun especially since the Playstation release introduced motion control so you can shake the rat by shaking your controller, but it does play a part in the gameplay. There are various things you’ll be able to interact with as you’re going through the game, which the crosshair will change to signal that to you, but you can’t just interact with objects like normal. Instead, you squeeze your rat to fill up the mini meter, while also depleting your Ratshaker Meter, before a door opens or you turn on a TV or pick something up. Towards the end of the game, the game does add a mechanic where you shake the rat to keep your light source on and to open up a passage.

So yeah. Walk through the house, interact with objects, find what you need to find, and all while you shake, squeeze, and listen to the rat.

Ratshaker has two endings and a couple death endings. If you happen to die, luckily you are just set back to the beginning of that section.

I thought I’d talk about my thoughts on the story and gameplay together, both as this is a short game and both do go hand in hand. I liked Ratshaker’s story and gameplay. The story is mainly told through the environment and visuals and it is pretty haunting as you’re piecing together the pieces. The story here is haunting and I really liked picking up on all the symbolism, the several layers the symbolism has, and theorizing on what happened. I can’t help but connect the dots between what we see and hear in this fantasy and what probably happened in real life. The gameplay is simple here, like you’ll see in other walking sims, but it works. There were times that I got turned around or was unsure if I was doing what I needed to do, but I enjoyed it. Shaking the rat is kind of fun (though the intro is a bit annoying if you’re replaying the game the same day) and it was interesting exploring the house. This does use the PT looping hallway thing, but it’s not that bad as the changes are more pronounced and it does play into showing you the main character’s mental state. Also you don’t have to do anything funky, just figuring out what you need to interact with and not interacting with the objects that kills you. I did also feel the walking speed was at a good speed. There are also some jumpscares and oh man. Some of them got me. I even foresaw a jumpscare and it still got me. Oh, and I really loved the inclusion of motion controls. I didn’t really like shaking the rat using the thumbstick, but I loved shaking the rat by shaking my controller (I shook the hell out of my controller).

Lastly, I did learn after playing that Ratshaker actually got an update that extended the basement. I did look to see how it was originally and honestly, I liked the extended version the most. The original basement does seem too short for all the build up and I can’t imagine the game without the extended basement. I’m not too sure about an aspect of the ending, but I did like how it extended it and how it confirms one of the theories that I saw floating around.

Spoilers

Also I love how they changed the animation for when the rat turns into a glowstick. It just happens in the original game and in this updated version you literally crack it like a glowstick and like the achievement name that pops when it happens.

The only negative that I really have is that sometimes it’s too dark to see where you’re going and there can be points where you don’t know what you need to do to progress or don’t know if you are progressing (as this does utilizes that PT looping hallway that changes feature). The secret ending can also be a bit underwhelming considering you have to replay the whole game to get it (which to be fair the game isn’t long but you might not want to replay it).

The visuals here are great. I really like the look of the rat and how it’s cartoon-y. This may sound weird, but I also like how it has a bit of dangle physics so it feels like it’s actually something your character is holding. It really does set itself apart from the realistic arms of the main character (which I also weirdly like how they look) and the environment. Oh and man I love how serene the intro visuals are. I also did like how everything just looks normal, then slowly you see the house change and twist, and then how you can see how the main character is trying to cope with what he did by how he blurs the more…grotesque aspects. Until, well, he’s faced with what he can’t deny anymore at the very end*. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I think the design of the house was well done, as well as the slow change that you see happening, and does well with visual storytelling.

I also thought about looking up the meaning of the color yellow, which is the color of the grass in the intro, and some of the meanings of yellow actually does fit with the situation. As well as the color of the doors.

This actually doesn’t have any music until the credits (which it’s nice credits music and a nice sequence), which was a great idea. The only thing you’ll hear for the most part is the ambience which really helps set the mood for this game. I also feel like it also helps narrative-wise as the character is there to confront what he did. No matter how much he wants to deny it.

I have to mention the wonderful voice acting. The rat’s voice is just perfect. It kinda just has that effect on you where every time he speaks you do kind of feel your sins weighing down on you. He also gives that “I’m so disappointed in you” vibe. Hopefully, players didn’t do what the main character did, but the voice actor just has a way of making you feel guilty. This will sound so weird, but the screams were well done (toeing the line perfectly as you’re always aware of the rat screaming, but it’s not annoying) and I really like how there is a chance of it changing**. There are also other voices you’ll hear and there do great as well. Like the voice you hear whispering to you during the intro is so creepy. Even more so cause you probably won’t notice it at first and when you do, you can’t ignore it anymore. You might even stop shaking the rat to see if you could hear what he’s saying and it’s so creepy. This was literally my reaction, both in my head and on the outside. (https://media1.tenor.com/m/AEs9MRahds8AAAAC/whet-what.gif)

Spoilers

*Which I already saw but I didn’t know the context to, and man the context does make it creepier. It also had the effect where I couldn’t look away, unlike other creepy images that I could. I’m sure that was on purpose and for me, it definitely worked.

**The times the rat goes from screaming to manical laughter is so creepy. I love it.

Also while I love the voice acting for the rat, I also really love the singing that you’ll hear from blood painted woman. It’s so soft, but so haunting. I do wonder who she represents, but I do feel like she represents his mother (or maybe just any mother figure) as he’s trying to get some semblance of comfort but he knows no one will comfort him for what he did. Hence the way of how she appears almost like he’s trying to make that comfort, motherly figure that’ll tell him everything is okay, but it doesn’t entirely work as she’s built from the very thing he’s trying to run away from. I even noticed while going into my screenshots that it looks like she’s reaching out to comfort you in certain angles, while in other angles it looks like she’s reaching out to maliciously grab you. Very interesting added detail that got me to overanalyze it haha.

Verdict

Ratshaker is a short game, but I wouldn’t want it any different. It used its time well, the story is perfect for its short runtime and feels like it wouldn’t work (or at least work as well) if it was longer, and the game is priced pretty good. If you have about an hour to burn and you’re in the mood for a surreal horror game, you can’t go wrong with Ratshaker. Just try to go in without knowing anything but that shaking a rat is a mechanic.