Iron Lung Clones Are Becoming Their Own Genre

There have been so many Iron Lung fan games lately that they're creating a new genre of indie horror. I decided to check out a couple of them.
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Rusty Barrel: kenforest.itch.io/rusty-barrel
Cold Abyss: studio-notes.itch.io/cold-abyss
Thalassophobia: wafflegasm.itch.io/thalassoph...
Unknown Life Detected: james-harford.itch.io/unknown...
Corpse Ocean: akuma-kira.itch.io/corpseocean
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00:00 Making Waves
00:40 Lunglikes
01:18 Rusty Barrel
03:40 Cold Abyss
06:03 Thalassophobia
06:47 Unknown Life Detected
07:31 Corpse Ocean
10:26 Full Fathom
11:36 Final Thoughts
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[@EphiTV]

Come join us on Discord: discord.gg/s4en6wAcC9 The server is brand new, so things will be pretty low-key for a while. There's actually a handful of other lunglikes I didn't include in this video to keep it from getting too long. Might be worth another look later?

[@pi79lambda]

back in 2010 lego launched a atlantis themed set, in the lego web site they put a shot interactive movie/ videogame, in the 2nd section there was the first iteration of a lunglike xD

[@EphiTV]

I'll have to look this up 👀

[@HarrisonSolie]

two other notable lunglikes not mentioned here would be: -"Iron Breath", which is a mobile lunglike on the Apple app store. -"Iron Lung Demo", which is a remake of Iron Lung in Geometry Dash

[@EphiTV]

Interesting, hadn't heard of those. I came across a few others, including a VR version and a couple paid games, but I figured this video was long enough for now.

[@Armm8991]

You are my favorite Lungtuber

[@EphiTV]

I think this could catch on

[@SepiaSapien]

Lung like is a great term tbh

[@Matt-md5yt]

Crazy how big a game like this has gotten.

[@pinguinwarfareofficial]

I LIKED THE WORD lunglikes as soon as you said it

[@alecpalmer1538]

God, the Subnautica OST is such a fucking bop.

[@000Gua000]

Sinking Iron is another one you can add to the list of lunglikes.

[@whoreallycares9157]

it feels like this with many games starting as soon as metroid and castlevania. crazy how we define games.

[@EphiTV]

People love buying stuff they're familiar with.

[@azrhyga]

That are a really great games :0 It looks like Iron Lunge is starting to make their own genre like Dark Souls, and that is a really great thing

[@sblower9410]

Wait, perhaps this is a weird question, since we are talking about "inspiration" not writing or game mechanics in this video, but are we sure we shouldn't reserve the term: "Lung-like" to refer to short, scripted games that ends on a single well-deserved jump scare instead of a game about spooky submarine driving? I mean, well written games are rare. Even very scripted ones miss on storytelling more often than not. So, I feel like we should use Iron Lung to talk more about how to write a game story than about setting or game mechanics. The setting is cool, but that isn't truly what makes the game so memorable.

[@EphiTV]

Interesting question. I think most of these sub-genres are defined by design & aesthetics (see soulslikes, roguelikes). The story structure of Iron Lung is well-executed, but I've played a bunch of indie horror that follows the formula of building up to a jump-scare ending. Iron Lung will definitely inspire a lot of non-submarine games as well, but it might be harder to recommend them to fans of the genre.

[@sblower9410]

@@EphiTV I must concede that you are right about how recommendations work. I sometimes forget how common it is for other people to pick things they like for reasons other than story structure. I'm the weird one, not the people who are looking for more games to play.

[@esoopthederp7672]

If this was the case then squirrel stapler would also be a lung-like and that’s unacceptable:p

[@colindanger3396]

The Subnautica music is perfect lol

[@nudemanonbike]

Cold Abyss looks a lot like Soma. Which, if you haven't played it, you should play Soma, it's my favorite frictional game

[@EphiTV]

Yeah, I love SOMA. Enjoyed The Bunker a lot recently too. Talked about my thoughts on their catalog in that video. I wouldn't be surprised if Cold Abyss was inspired by SOMA.

[@kkrg413]

I think "ironlike" could be the term little phonetic similarity between "lung" and "like" sound cool, and although "iron" part is not really recognizable, by making it sound alike, you can easily understand what's it about

[@NerdStuffing]

I'm gonna defend cold abyss. Its atmosphere is so good that I don't care about the lack of good horror end.

[@JNJNRobin1337]

if i could make a lunglike. it would have a window, but it will seal and be replaced with a camera (limited resolution? higher resolution with pictures] if either damage to window or high enough pressure happens. dumb idea: roguelunglite

[@EphiTV]

I think a roguelike mashup with enough dynamic elements could work pretty well with the genre.

[@mossgoodlass8439]

Amazing video as always but i cant help but notice you look sort of like Anton Chigurh with that haircut 😄.

[@Helmotz.]

I'd call them "ironlikes" gud video

[@Americanbadashh]

Submarine Horror

[@erapapa9002]

are you the "iron lung guy" now?

[@EphiTV]

I think that's Markiplier.

[@alexafton3008]

Iron lung is so good that it made markplier just so he could be there in it's movie.

[@EphiTV]

Markiplier's face actually used to come up if you searched "David Szymanski" on Google.

[@TheGrinningViking]

They did a live action called "Tighten" I think. 🥖

[@Rubbly]

whAle vAporwAve 🤩

[@andreworders7305]

9:52 that definitely shouldn’t fit

[@samwill7259]

Squids. The horror of squids.

[@Happy-to3tf]

Much love from brazil 🇧🇷, jk, anyway the long shots of you talking at the camera need a little editing love to keep the viewer engaged. Well written essay but its a bit dull

[@Happy-to3tf]

I mean literally, i have adhd and i want to watch this but i am struggling to stay engaged

[@hccdgvvfccdgn993]

Great haircut 😊

[@a_lethe_ion]

full fathom.. yeah bc subnautica needs to be even scarier????

[@thecluckster3908]

:D

[@mylittledarkworldjohn4289]

0:14 I think he quote tweeted it with No, i did not and you can't proof it otherwise or something else funny

[@kamipod630]

I shall be cement number 1

[@mixmaster112]

cool vidja

[@flake9176]

first (

[@michaelclark6941]

But they are all slow and boring -.-