Don’t Run Out of Soda

In the first-person survival horror game ‘Don’t Run Out of Soda’, players find themselves trapped and hunted by a relentless cook seeking to make them his meal. Set in an eerie, suspenseful environment, the game challenges players to navigate, solve puzzles like lockpicking, and manage resources such as stamina and soda supplies to escape before being caught. With a simple direct control interface and Unity-powered gameplay, players have only five chances to survive this tense encounter.

Don’t Run Out of Soda: Review

Introduction

In the crowded landscape of indie survival horror, few titles manage to distill terror into such a deceptively simple premise as Don’t Run Out of Soda. Released by developer OKONNAYA RAMA on October 8, 2021, this first-person survival game drops players into a claustrophobic nightmare: escape a grotesque “humble cook” in an abandoned parking lot by managing soda-fueled stamina, avoiding noise, and hunting for fuses. Its legacy lies not in technical grandeur but in its purity of vision—a tense, resource-starved dance with death where every sip of soda could mean salvation or ruin. Despite its niche appeal, Don’t Run Out of Soda exemplifies how atmospheric dread and inventive mechanics can create a memorable horror experience, even on a micro-budget.

Development History & Context

OKONNAYA RAMA, a small independent studio, crafted Don’t Run Out of Soda using the accessible Unity engine, a choice that enabled rapid development but constrained its visual fidelity. The game’s design reflects a deliberate focus on core loop refinement over expansive worlds, a common strategy for indie teams operating with limited resources. Released during the peak of the Steam indie boom in 2021, the game arrived alongside titles like Phasmophobia and The Dark Pictures Anthology, yet carved its own niche through unapologetic simplicity. Its $4.99 price point positioned it as an impulse buy, while the Unity engine ensured compatibility with modest hardware (requiring only OpenGL 3.0 and 4GB RAM). The developer’s vision, as articulated in the Steam description, was to create a “humble” yet oppressive experience—a blend of resource management and psychological tension that subverts the genre’s tropes by centering its horror on a mundane antagonist: a cook obsessed with soda and human flesh.

Narrative & Thematic Deep Dive

The narrative unfolds through environmental storytelling and fragmented lore rather than dialogue or cutscenes. Players awaken in an abandoned parking lot, stalked by a portly cook who murmurs about “human meat” and guzzles soda from vending machines. His grotesque normalcy—framed as “humble” in the game’s marketing—creates dissonance; this is no monster, but a cheerful, relentless butcher. The plot is a linear race: find four fuses to unlock an exit while the cook’s timer ticks down. Notes added in the v1.1 patch (November 2021) expand the lore cryptically, hinting at past victims and the cook’s obsession with soda as both sustenance and motivation. Thematically, the game explores the banality of evil—its horror derives not from supernatural forces, but from the terrifyingly ordinary nature of the antagonist. The parking lot, a symbol of modern alienation, becomes a purgatory where survival hinges on exploiting the cook’s gluttony against him.

Gameplay Mechanics & Systems

Don’t Run Out of Soda’s brilliance lies in its three-pronged soda system:
1. Stamina Soda: Restores energy for running, crouching, and climbing.
2. Stealth Soda: Allows noiseless actions like lockpicking or opening doors.
3. Speed Soda: Accelerates actions like fuse placement—crucial for the endgame.
This creates a high-stakes resource puzzle: players must balance soda consumption against the cook’s escalating aggression. The inventory system was initially criticized for its tight limits (addressed in v1.1 with expanded slots), forcing players to choose between survival tools and critical fuses. Stealth is paramount; the cook patrols via sound cues, turning mundane actions—footsteps, dropped items—into life-or-death decisions. The v1.1 patch also reworked the car lockpicking mini-game, emphasizing precision over trial-and-error. Character progression is absent; mastery comes from memorizing the parking lot’s layout and soda spawn points. While the core loop is tight, repetition can set in after multiple attempts—the game’s “five tries” premise becomes a double-edged sword, heightening tension but risking monotony.

World-Building, Art & Sound

The parking lot’s dreary realism is the game’s strongest asset. Cracked asphalt, rusted vending machines, and flickering fluorescent lights evoke a decaying limbo, amplified by the Unity engine’s modest but effective lighting. The cook’s design is intentionally grotesque yet unremarkable—his potbelly and stained apron make him feel like a walking horror trope made flesh. Sound design is non-negotiable; the cook’s heavy breathing, soda gulps, and the clink of dropped items build relentless tension. The lack of a musical score amplifies isolation, relying on environmental audio to signal danger. While the art lacks polish, its restraint serves the atmosphere: the more mundane the setting, the more the cook’s presence feels invasive.

Reception & Legacy

At launch, Don’t Run Out of Soda earned a mixed 58% positive score on Steam (based on 12 reviews), with praise for its tension and criticism for its repetition and bugs. The v1.1 patch—adding lore notes, rebalancing soda, and fixing UI issues—marked a turning point, solidifying its cult status among survival horror purists. User tags like “Atmospheric,” “Psychological Horror,” and “Inventory Management” reflect its niche appeal. Commercially, it remains a modest success, with 13 owners recorded via completionist.me and frequent mentions in “so bad it’s good” horror discussions. Its legacy lies in its influence on micro-budget horror games, proving that innovative mechanics can outweigh technical limitations. Titles like Soda Crisis (2022) and Cream Soda Club (2023) emerged as spiritual successors, though none captured the original’s grim elegance.

Conclusion

Don’t Run Out of Soda is a flawed masterpiece of micro-budget horror—a gut-punch of a game that turns soda and silence into instruments of survival. Its genius lies in stripping survival horror to its essence: resource scarcity, environmental dread, and an antagonist who feels terrifyingly real. While technical limitations and repetition prevent it from reaching greatness, its v1.1 patches and laser-focused design make it a must-play for fans of tense, atmospheric experiences. In the annals of indie horror, it occupies a unique space—a testament to how restraint and creativity can outshine spectacle. For those willing to embrace its grim simplicity, Don’t Run Out of Soda delivers a harrowing, unforgettable escape.