Off the AppStore: Meat your fear in Carnivore!

• Enter a haunting world of animals and the food chain
• Be an innocent sheep exploring dark dreams and realities for your friend
• Face your fear or watch yourself become the fear

Welcome to Off The AppStore, a weekly feature with a twist. Namely, that while these - as with all the games we cover here - are games that you can play on your phone, they're ones that operate outside of the realms of the big two ways to play: The Google Play Store and the Apple AppStore.

That means that there might be a bit of work required in downloading alternative AppStores or APKs, or that the games can simply be played in your phone's browser. We'll make sure to detail that for each game, though. Anyway, read on to find a new game or experience to play Off The AppStore.

The thing about wanting to talk about slower-paced narrative adventures is that I have to be very careful about what I share. A lot of what makes a story enjoyable is the mystery and the ability to experience every moment for the first time yourself, without being influenced by word of mouth or other people's reactions. This can be very difficult in this age, when people feel the need to share every single thought just because they can. Well, I am working together (albeit indirectly) with the indie creator Cat Trigger as they share their stylised horror story, simply called Carnivore!

The story takes place in a world where animals are more or less anthropomorphic, with all species able to interact and work together in various ways. It follows the main character, an innocent, timid sheep just trying to make her way in the world. She works in a restaurant where she's frequently mistreated, and her only friend is a large bull. The bull defends her and spends much of his free time with her, and she wouldn't have it any other way. That is, until the bull suddenly disappears. The sheep suddenly finds herself in a nightmare as she tries to find her friend.

The sheep is defenceless (for the most part) and needs to balance exploration with careful decision-making. It's all about finding the safest path forward and looking for anything that could be helpful as she explores. The scenes will alternate between the present and the past, with implications that some things are real while others may be vivid hallucinations. Above all else, the sheep must do everything that she can to stay alive. Because you'll have no chance to find your friend if you're dead… so you must be careful when you're out there and when you're defenceless, but be wary of being consumed by madness.

Carnivore! May look like a 2D cartoon narrative adventure, but it has many dark moments and a horror that lurks in the dark and the distance. It takes its time building things up and gives you chances to explore and get your bearings, so you have a sense of what's going on. However, there will be moments where you will be on edge and may feel lost, and that's when the fear will get you. If this adventure ends up stealing your sleep, well, you can always count sheep.

Carnivore! Is available to download and play from its itch.io page!