Creepy Games

[Jason Tandro]

Halloween is over and I am nursing my wounds with a creepy indie games kick. I'm in the middle of playing Spooky's Jump Scare Mansion (on room 300) but I want to talk first about a game I said "I'll play it for a bit to see what it's about" and then spent an hour beating it and finding all four endings plus a bonus fifth ending:

Dreaming Mary. This game at first glance seems a simple child-friendly adventure game. It is not. Apart from some genuinely creepy visuals which you may not discover until your second or third time playing, the game tackles some very adult content in theming and metaphors. The more you play it, the more twisted you realize things are.

You can get to the end of your first playthrough in a matter of maybe 10 to 15 minutes. Subsequent playthroughs may be a bit slower or faster depending upon what you do. I really can't say much else without spoiling too much but I will tell you one massively important thing: play this game with the volume up and don't stop playing until you've seen all the endings.

Download here: https://rpgmaker.net/games/6232/


PS: The soundtrack is amazing.


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So now that my plug for Dreaming Mary is over do you know of any good indie / freeware horror games that I should try. Any thing you've heard of? Have you played Dreaming Mary before?

As for me, I plan to continue Spooky's Jump Scare Mansion but will also be tackling:

1916
I'm Scared
Lisa
Mad Father
Pizza Delivery Interactive Fiction - Played it a bit last night but died early on (or at least I hope it's early on, it's a beta so...)

and then from there making my way down the list from the Tats Top Videos on Freeware Horror Games.

Spoiler: The Vid In Question

 

[RedFFWolf]

I'm looking forward to watching that video - it's been on my "Watch Later" playlist for a while now. (And Lisa is actually one of the games I have on a (forgotten until now) list to try out).

I saw the first one a while ago, and followed up on one of the games. I'm not into cheap jump scares or particularly gorey scenery. Atmosphere and surreality is what I'd prefer for such games, the kind that is so engaging it has you glued to the screen (so when something creepy does happen it seems all the more intensified).

Anyway, that game I played was Yume Nikki. Here's a brief overview from the video I linked
It can seem tedious to a bystander, but if the atmosphere/soundtrack/scenery grabs your attention at any point, it's the game for you - and, believe me, you will not find every little trick the first time round. Sure, you can find the objects necessary to "complete" the game, but there are so many other hidden easter egg-like bonuses that only by checking online did I find them all.

Then, for something more unnerving while also remaining the most faithful to the original Yume Nikki, play the fan-game, ".flow" (definitely a touch more of horror in that one).

They can move and unsettle you at times quite easily, these games - particularly when you consider the locations are telling a story about the characters you control. The latter especially, .flow, has a constant sense of foreboding. First time playing these games can be rather creepy if you get into the right mindset, and be quite a unique experience (heck, the book I'm writing has altered direction a bit thanks to these games). They're the kind of games though that haven't the same impact of intensity upon replay (though hopefully not the case for others), so enjoy the first time around 'cause it's a heck of an experience.

 

[Cthulhu]

There's a part in Bioshock Infinite that's like nope nope nope nope . For me it's probably on par with (or just a bit less beacause desensitized) than Ravenholm in HL2.