You know how it is. This month, it’s all about judging games on how SPOOKY they are. Let us see!
~ Game Over ~
Shadows Peak (PC) – A game about exploring an island to find your girlfriend, all the while being pursued by ghosts and a teddy bear possessed by the spirit of a fire demon. I also streamed it so you can watch that if you want to know more about the BIG TWIST(S). The scariest thing about it is that I can’t trace back where I even got this game… Spook Factor: 8.5
Vernon’s Legacy (PC) – Spooky house adventure-’em-up. Doesn’t have a lot going on, other than an endless supply of text logs to read through. I quit after an hour because I was stuck and bored. Spook Factor: 3
Sophie’s Curse (PC) – Another haunted house game, but this time there are lots of things happening. Mostly a spooky ghost girl out to murder you. The goal is to run around and keep the crank-powered lights active throughout the night to keep her away. It’s a lot of fun, nice and short, and very scary. I’ll be seeing Sophie’s face in my nightmares for weeks. Spook Factor: 10
A Girls Fabric Face (PC) – I spent about an hour being absolutely terrorized by this stupid thing. It’s a very short adventure game that excels at being creepy, by constantly building suspense without throwing any major scares at you. Then it all sort of dissipates at the end, when you realize that none of these models are actually animated so nothing is going to jumpscare you. Spook Factor: 9.5
Breathing Fear (PC) – A neat 2D puzzle-adventure. Like most of the other games listed here, it takes place in a creepy house where things go bump in the night. This one is about figuring out what order you’re supposed to do everything in so that everything can be completed, and so that you get to the end before your stress level gets too high and ages you to death. I thought it was pretty good! Spook Factor: 6.5
Furwind (Switch) – Guide a pixel-fox through a forest world of goblins and disembodied eyeballs to stop an evil spirit from taking over. A decent action platformer, blemished by slightly slippery controls/physics. Has a surprising number of spooky elements and the bosses are eldritch abominations, but I don’t think that it’s purposefully spooky. Spook Factor: 4
Dear Esther: Landmark Edition (PC) – It’s been a while since I’ve played a straight-up walking simulator, and this is the walkingest simulator there is. I’ll admit that I was a bit bored until I fell into a cave, when the environments finally got interesting, and the story bits started to make a little bit of sense. Spook Factor: 3
Gynophobia (PC) – A short indie game about a fellow who has a fear of both women and spiders. Follow him through a nightmare in which he may or may not learn to overcome both! It was a fun little game, but didn’t leave quite the same impression that Shadows Peak did (they’re both from the same developer). Spook Factor: 5.5
Rez Infinite VR (Oculus) – I didn’t really “get” Rez when I played the Xbox 360 port years ago, and I still didn’t really get it in VR. At least not until I got to the final stage, which was really amazing to fly through. The made-for-VR Area X was even more incredible, and now I desperately want an entire Rez sequel that’s designed from the ground up for VR. Spook Factor: 0
Mission: ISS (Oculus) – A sweet little experience that shows you what it’s like to live up on the International Space Station. Fling yourself around in microgravity, watch videos of real astronauts explaining how to poop in space, and fling yourself into space once you’re allowed outside. It’s SO COOL and makes me wish I could go up to the ISS for real. Spook Factor: 0
Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem (GC) – Does it really need a subtitle? Maybe it’s me getting old and crotchety, but I feel like it just makes the game sound pretentious. And it is pretentious. But you know what? It’s also held up surprisingly well over the years. The combat is a little clumsy, but overall it’s still a fun game. And the sanity effects? Still great and occasionally terrifying. Spook Factor: 8
Until Dawn (PS4) – Choose-your-own-adventure walking simulator, wrapped up in a B-horror theme. The characters are exaggerated, the dialogue is corny as heck, and one of the girls spends half the game running around in a towel that defies the laws of physics and never falls off. So yeah, it’s a personal favourite of mine. Spook Factor: 8
Year Walk (WiiU) – I try to play this adventure/puzzle game every October, because it’s really short and I enjoy it every time. It’s actually based on a Swedish New Year’s tradition, but for North American society, it fits in better with Halloween. Actual scares are minimal, but the atmosphere is chilling and the second half is grade-A creepypasta. Spook Factor: 8.5
Silent Hill (PS1) – Closed out the season with a livestream of my personal favourite horror-themed video game of all time. Yeah, maybe it’s a little (a lot) janky and hasn’t aged terribly well, but it’s still so effective at creating a rich world and atmosphere. And I’ve never played it with headphones before so that was a treat! Spook Factor: 9
Pixel Puzzle Collection (iOS) – I’ve been chipping away at this one for longer than I can remember. Finally, it is 200% complete! Obviously, not very spooky at all. Except the Castlevania puzzles, I guess. Spook Factor: 1
~ Progress Notes ~
Gauntlet: Dark Legacy (GC) – Cleared up through the Desert Realm. SF: 4
Bait! (Oculus) – Trying to catch all types of fish. SF: 0
Mario’s Super Picross (SNES) – All Mario stages, Wario 3 cleared. SF: 0
Affected: The Manor (Oculus) – Noped out after the tutorial. SF: 10
Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted (Oculus) – Deets here. SF: 10
SINoALICE (iOS) – Stuck on Act of Hatred Chapter 5. SF: 1