Steam offers unconditional refunds for Journey of the Light amid accusations of deception

It dubs itself as one of the hardest puzzle games on Steam, but it’s starting to look as if indie title Journey of the Light is nothing more than an elaborate scam.

The game’s description says that it has eight chapters, including the bonus one, but one disgruntled buyer has discovered a number of clues suggesting that in fact there is only one. We can’t know for sure, of course, because no-one (in the entire world) other than the game’s creator has unlocked the achievements for anything beyond chapter one.

Developer Lord Kres has been fairly active in dropping hints to the community about how they may go about progressing further into the game, but it has proved of little help so far.

It also seems as if the files relating to later chapters in the game actually contain the same data as is found in the first.

This leads me to conclude that is the extent of the content created for this game, which is sold as a ‘hard’ game with 7 or 8 chapters, but instead there is one unsolvable level,” it is proposed.

Add to this the fact that Steam Trading Cards can only be unlocked after two hours’ play – taking it beyond Steam’s normal refund threshold – and it all starts to smell a bit fishy.

I just heard that someone had tempered with game files and noticed that there is only one level. That is not how it is supposed to be,” the developer has said, later adding: Although it seems that it doesnt even matter what i say, here is still my announcement: I have now rolled back the game and i will be testing the levels. Im not going to defense myself, since that will not help. I made an mistake with builds, and i am truly sorry about that. Nothing more i can do about this.

I tried to be friendly and kind for you all. I do understand that you feel betrayed, and you are angry. I have tried to fix it, but all the damage has been already done. I am not a scammer. All i wanted is to create a new kind of gaming experience for all of you.”

Suffice to say the many gamers taking to the game’s discussion pages are thoroughly unconvinced. As, it seems, is Steam.

We have enabled refunds for all owners of Journey of the Light, regardless of playtime or purchase date,” it has now said. If you wish to receive a refund for this title, please click the link below and follow the instructions on the Support Site.”