2D Horror Games

I've been playing and studying a whole bunch of horror games, both 2D and 3D as well as watching horror films in order to better inform my project and taking lots of notes as I go.

In this post I'm going to cover my thoughts on the 2D horror games I've played so far.  I should also note that I played all of these games alone in the dark in order to experience them how most of the developers state they were intended to be played.  I've also tried to focus more on the art direction and atmosphere of the game.

Year Walk (Simogo 2013)

Year Walk (2013) is a horror adventure game (for PC and iOS) based on an old Swedish tradition called Årsgång or "year walking" which was practiced before the 1800s.  On certain days of the year, usually Christmas or New Year, a year walker would lock themselves in a dark room without speaking to anyone or eating and at midnight would walk to the local church, circle it three or more times then blow in to the church's keyhole.  During this walk the year walker would supposedly be tested by several supernatural beings and if the year walker passed these tests they would be given a glimpse of their future.

In the game you play as a year walker who decides to go walking in order to see his future after his lover implies she has been proposed to by someone else.

Art Style
Year Walk has an illustrative, textured, paper cutout art style which is coupled with a cold, eerie colour palette of ghostly whites, supernatural purples, navies and blacks.  A few 3D elements are integrated for certain objects you can interact with, such as a creepy wooden doll the player can spin round and the door of a container you can open and close.  The textures for these objects stay very true to the art style and work surprisingly well in conjunction with the 2D assets - I felt they brought the environment to life without being too distracting. This abstract illustrative style also lends itself to its disjointed animation style as this style does not necessitate a more traditional, smooth frame by frame animation.

Throughout the game the screen is constantly flickering slightly lighter and darker with a vignette effect.  There is also a very subtle screen shake effect present.  This is an attempt to emulate old media and create an vintage, old film style overlay which I felt added to the eerie old storytelling theme of the game.  The distorted camera effects also mess with the players vision, perhaps adding to a feeling of uneasiness.

Perspective
The game is entirely in first person and is the only modern 2D horror game I've come across so far to utilise this perspective.  The player can move left and right on a single plane and North and South at certain points in the environment.  I found this perspective definitely added to the atmosphere and immersion of the game and emphasised the journey rather than the character - In this case the detachment between the player and the character which is sometimes caused by the use of first person definitely added to the experience of the game as the game is so centered around immersion and exploration.

I doubt this perspective would have worked without the chosen (somewhat) abstract art style due to the unrealistic movement of solely walking left or right whilst facing straight ahead.

GUI
The HUD (head up display) of the game has been kept fairly minimal -  The game is displayed in a cinematic letterbox format where the upper right corner consists of white, minimalist, flat design icons which can be hidden via a chevron in order for the player to focus solely on the environment.

When the player can move either North or South a flickering, transparent white triangular shape, reminiscent of a torch-light, will appear in either the upper or lower center of the letter box area.  This was done really well - the flickering emphasises the uneasy atmosphere of the game whilst the suggestion of a torch has connotations of exploration and being in the dark which in turn is associated with a horror atmosphere.

Though there is not much need for a tutorial, due to the relatively simple mechanics of the game, there is an icon that displays hints in the upper right corner and, when applicable, tutorial text would appear in a minimal, elegant serif typeface in the bottom right of the letterbox.  Any dialogue in the game appeared as white text (in the same elegant typeface) on a black background with a an old film overlay (in a silent movie esque style.)  I felt this nod to cinema was very fitting for such a narrative/adventure driven game and added to the atmosphere.

It is also worth noting the title reveal at the start of the game- The player must mouse over the black screen in order to reveal different segments of the Year Walk logo.  I really liked that it wasn't obvious at first what I was uncovering.  The idea of delving in to the unknown and the slow reveal of ghostly white shapes was very fitting for a horror game and immediately set the game up to convey an eerie atmosphere.

Gameplay and Audio
Central mechanics - Exploration; find the key; puzzles

The player must solve puzzles given to them by each of the supernatural beings and the location of these beings is suggested through audio cues (such as sound increasing in volume) and environmental clues (for example on tree carvings.)

There is no soundtrack to the game, however atmospheric wind background noise and sound effects for the player movement of footsteps crunching through snow are present throughout. I felt the minimal use of sound helped add to the surreal atmosphere.

The pacing of the game is relatively slow throughout (until the finale of the game) which compliments the dream-like atmosphere.  The slow pacing is balanced by the occasional jump scare.  Though there was very few jump scares (two?) because of these I was constantly waiting for something to jump out of me which did a great job of creating suspense.  Combined with the dark narrative, creepy art direction and shaky, unsettling old media overlays, Year Walk is definitely a scary experience with an unsettling atmosphere.

Conclusion
Year Walk does a fantastic job of conveying an unsettling atmosphere through its supernatural themed narrative; colour palette; an illustrative art style tailored to the gameplay and perspective; old media overlays; slow dream-like pacing; the use of first person perspective to emphasise exploration elements and the use of minimal sound and jump scares to build suspense.
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Lone Survivor Director's Cut (Superflat Games 2011)

Lone Survivor (2012) is a survival horror game created by Superflat Games and designed by Jasper Byrne for the PC and PlayStation 3. It is set in an apocalyptic future after the outbreak of an infection which has turned the majority of the population in to mutants known as “thin men."  The player plays as “the lone survivor” with the sole goal of surviving in their apartment block.

   

Art Style
The game utilises a pixel art style which would likely appeal to nostalgic gamers however I personally found it unappealing and felt it looked too much like some sort of cheesy mosaic effect you would find photo editing software.

The game has some brilliant creature design.  Though I found the design of the thin men mutants simple and a bit boring, the contrast between the thin men and the twisted humanoid boss monsters was very effective.  Their massive size and highly deformed bodies came across as very threatening and unsettling.    

Gameplay footage of the final boss fight with "mother" (skip to 49 seconds in.)

Overlays and visual effects such as a vignette and an animated scratchy overlay accompanied by a flickering light are also used to convey atmosphere.  A parallax scrolling smokey/mist overlay is also used.  These all work to distort the players vision, making it more difficult to see enemies and the environment, adding to the difficulty of the game.  

These overlays also work really well in conjunction with the pixel art as the obscure environment assets can look really gruesome for example when pipes look like intestines in the red light.
 

Perspective
Lone Survivor uses a third person perspective successfully.  I found physically seeing the enemies chase you and knowing exactly how close they are to catching you added to the horror of the game. The use of third person also aided the gameplay mechanic of hiding in certain parts of the walls in order to avoid enemies.

GUI

An aspect of the game which took away from some immersible qualities was ironically the mechanic that allowed for the removal of any on screen HUD that would potentially distract the player.

The HUD in Lone Survivor is non-existent. Instead it is replaced with random dialogue from the character who will inform you when he is hungry or tired etc. I found not having any sort of visual indicator for these needs frustrating as I never really knew how much time I would have in a day to explore the apartment block. Moreover, having the character inform me of such things kind of felt like having some sort of PS3 Tamagotchi rip off at times and I found myself thinking “what do you want now?!” whenever that dialogue box popped up. On the other hand having no HUD to clutter the screen does add to the immersion of the game, though I feel having the some sort of button (perhaps as part of the pause screen) reveal a small indicator in the corner for these motives would have made a world of difference.

The pause screen is very minimal- it simply pauses the game as a still with a play icon overlaid on top until it is un-paused. Pressing triangle will bring up the players inventory at the centre top of the screen where you can scroll through categories such as notes, food and misc. items. There's also the ability to quick select some of these items, such as pressing circle to trigger the torch and R1 to access your gun.

These are explained through a tutorial at the beginning of the game disguised as a dream sequence which is fitting as saving the game revolves around the act of the player sleeping.

Gameplay and Audio
Central mechanics - Hiding; depleting resources/mental state; combat; find the key/clues

Gameplay revolves around traditional survival horror gameplay mechanics and in order to save the game the player must sleep in the bed.  The technique of using "normal" objects to save progress is used in many survival horror games such as the use of the typewriter in Resident Evil (Capcom 1996) and the notepad of Silent Hill (Konami 1999) and serves the purpose of normalising the act of saving using an everyday object instead of using a potentially disruptive menu screen.  This will theoretically maximise the player's time in the game world and create a more immersive experience. 

The player can also warp to certain areas using the mirror. I personally found this a bit, well, random, however not being able to warp to and from far away areas would have been frustrating and the surreal nature of this can be rationalised by the game's theme of deteriorating mental health and hallucinations.   The character will also use the mirror to comment on his appearance and consequently the current state of his mental health, so mirrors also served this convenient purpose.

The sound of the game was particularly well done, no doubt due to the creator's original background in music.  I read an interesting interview with him which informed me the sound for the thin men mutants in the game was created using the sound of a hoover as he personally found it to be a very unsettling and distracting sound (Byrne, as quoted in Smith, 2012).  The sound of the boss monsters of the game are particularly horrific - loud screeching noises - and I thought they worked really well as, like the hoover noise of the thin men mutants, these sounds weren't particularly realistic but were very fitting due to the unrealistic 2D art style and horrific, piercing, unsettling nature of the sounds.  These sounds worked fantastically and certainly added to the horror of the game.

Sound also aided in an interesting use of contrast - Certain scenes in the game were very laid back to contrast with the gritty nature of the rest of the game.  For example in one scene an apartment of survivors are dancing and pretending not to care about the current apocalyptic events.  In this scene light-hearted jazz music plays. When we next see these survivors they have been brutally killed.  I thought the use of contrast here was excellent in emphasising the brutal and dangerous environment and added to the unsettling atmosphere very effectively.

Conclusion

 Lone Survivor does a great job of conveying an unsettling and desolate atmosphere through the use of overlays which add to both the visual aesthetic and gameplay; evoking the players imagination through creepy, misleading, environment design; the use of contrast through sound and visuals to push the game's horror elements; effective creature design and fantastic sound design.

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Limbo (Playdead, 2010)

Limbo (2010) is a puzzle platformer game for XBLA and PC by Playdead, where you play as a little boy trapped in limbo.

Art Style

Limbo boasts a black and white, silhouetted art style almost reminiscent of shadow puppets. It uses high contrast lighting and a flickering bloom and vingette effect to create a surreal dream-like or perhaps more appropriately, nightmare like, atmosphere.  

Perspective
Limbo uses a third person perspective which is typical of the platformer genre.

GUI

As Limbo is such a stylish game in my opinion any sort of HUD would definitely have spoiled the experience. However as everything in the game will insta-kill the player Limbo does not necessitate any sort of status bars. Players can pause the game with the standard ESC or Start which will take them to a simple but effective menu screen overlaid on top of a blurred screencap of wherever the player is in game. Titles consist of a solid sans serif font which are greyed out unless selected. If selected the titles are a glowing white with a very subtle but effective flickering effect.

There is no tutorial in Limbo however control instructions can be accessed through the pause screen.

Gameplay and Audio

Central mechanics - Learn through failure; physics based puzzles; environmental hazards – everything is trying to kill you.

There is no soundtrack apart from very subtle forest background noises - the occasional sound of running water, insects/animals, wind - and, like Year Walk, I found the omission of a soundtrack really added to the intensity of the atmosphere.

I personally don't think Limbo is a scary game, though it definitely benefits from a very grim atmosphere with gruesome horror-esqe deaths and some particularly creepy moments. A great example of this is the infamous Limbo spider. This giant, nightmarish silhouetted spider taps in to the common fear of spiders that many people have. Near the beginning of the game the player is trapped in the spiders web with the spider slowly approaching. The player is given limited movement, leading to the belief there is some way to wriggle free however they will be ultimately caught by the spider. The moments leading up to the capture are increasingly frantic as the players attempts to escape because of being given just enough control in order to be fooled in to thinking they can.   

Conclusion

Though not necessarily a horror game, Limbo conveys a very grim and surreal nightmarish atmosphere through the "deafening silence" created by the lack of a soundtrack; instant-kill enemies; a simple but eerie silhouetted art style; the use of overlays to create a surreal bloom effect; slow, dream-like pacing; gruesome death scenes and deceptive use of agency and control (specifically in the context of the spider enemy.)
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Home (Benjamin Rivers, 2012)

Home (2012) is a horror adventure game for PC and iOS (I played the iOS version) centred around a murder mystery.  You play as a man who wakes up with no memory and must search for his wife.

Art Style
The game uses a pixel art style which I personally found was not very unique or appealing and lacked any sort of charm,  The colour palette is very dull, lots of khakis, browns and greys, and while you could argue that a dull palette is suited to horror games I feel it contributed to most of the environments in this game looking very samey (especially with the use of obvious modular assets) which became quite frustrating after a while.

The majority of game is played using the character's torchlight allowing for the use of limited lighting (mainly a circle encapsulating the character revealing the nearby background) which encourages the player to fill in their surrounding area with their imagination. This was somewhat effective.  

Perspective
The game uses a third person perspective which didn't really add or take away from anything, though I found it worked well with the controls of the game (which involved holding your thumb down in either the left or right hand side of the screen to walk in those respective directions) as this was very responsive.

GUI

In Home there is no way to die and few controls (directions and double tapping to interact with objects.) This allowed for the game to be free of HUD. However much of the story is told through dialogue boxes which pop every so often. This storytelling was central to the game however I personally found them tedious to read after a while.  

The tutorial consists of a short sequence of still images and text at the begin of the game to explain the control scheme.

Gameplay and Audio
Central mechanics - Exploration; interacting with objects; multiple endings.

I feel the mechanic of 'the player writing the story' (dialogue boxes would pop up as if the character was talking to you which would ask what the character thought he remembered i.e. how the story was going to turn out) didn't really work as there was clearly a very definite ending for the way the game should go and because I didn't pick those options none of the questions in the game's narrative were really answered for me.
It was also painfully obvious that all the sounds for the game were taken from freesound.org and after a while the same footsteps and door opening sounds (basically the only sounds in the game) that I have heard a thousand times before became very irritating.

There was also no soundtrack to the game which and, while this has worked successfully to convey an unsettling atmosphere in other games I have played, only added to the lackluster experience I was already having.

Conclusion
Home does not convey an unsettling atmosphere though I should note that this may have been my experience due to the  platform I played it on (iPhone.)  Though the use of a dark environment which obstructed the player's view was effective in creating a horror-esque environment I found that the excessive use of repetitive sound effects taken from freesound.org irritating; the art style was uninspired and lacked charm and I personally feel if the gameplay involved another dimension - perhaps the occasional triggered event jump scare in order to create suspense throughout the rest of the game experience - Home would have conveyed a greater horror atmosphere and been more appealing as a horror game.
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Neverending Nightmares (Infinitap Games, 2014)

Neverending Nightmares (2014) is a psychological horror game for PC and Ouya where you take the role of Thomas, a man who is constantly waking up from one nightmare to another.  Interestingly, the games lead designer, Matt Gilgenbach, states he drew inspiration from his own personal experience of suffering from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and depression and used this experience to help him design the sense of "bleakness and hopelessness" the game conveys (Gilgenback, as quoted in Vanord 2014).

Art Style
The art style for the game was inspired by the pen and ink illustrator Edward Gorey which is very reminiscent of old Victorian Illustrations.  I've always personally found there's something inherently creepy and uncanny about memorabilia and stories from the Victorian era, (Victorian dolls, haunted houses for example) and one of my favourite artists, Don Kenn, uses this Victorian illustration style in such a creepy manor that I thought the art style of Neverending Nightmares worked really well in contributing to a horror atmosphere.  Any objects in the game that you could interact with have a little bit of colour to them, such as a brown door handle, which was subtle but effective.

This art style also works well to create obscure environment assets which allow the player to fill in the blanks with their imagination, such as in the above screenshot where the creepy owl between the trees looks like a man about to jump out at the player.

his also works really well as a dark overlay, with two sets of lots of little horizontal lines on separate planes slowly passing eachother from their respective sides of the screen.  I thought this was really effective in obscuring the environment and several times would get paranoid thinking I saw movement underneath the lines when really it was just the animation of a candle or some other asset in the background.  I also really like the subtle use of imagery throughout such as the suggestion of upside down crosses and skulls in the wallpaper designs.

Dynamic lighting was also used throughout the game which allowed the character to cast multiple, distorted, flickering shadows which I felt really contributed to an unsettling atmosphere.

However, the game is very heavy on gore - lots of bright red blood splatters, dead bodies and animals and extremely gory cutscenes - which are used excessively throughout the game. I felt that, due to the cartoony nature of the characters and unrealistic bright red portrayal of the blood, this was highly ineffective and almost humorous which took me out of the experience a little.  I understand the use of the bright red blood was to create a contrast against the black and white environment, however I can't help but feel if the gore had been a more realistic colour it would have worked a lot better.

Perspective
The game uses a third person perspective and can move in all directions but will be cut off in the up direction where the wall assets begin.  Being able to move in all directions (in spite of limitations) made it feel like I had more freedom in comparison to only being able to move left or right and also worked well with the gameplay mechanic of avoiding enemies which I don't think would have worked in first person perspective.

GUI
There is no HUD in the game which works well as all deaths are insta-deaths where you will simply wake up at the start of whatever nightmare you are on in the game, and I feel this lack of HUD really added to the immersion of the game.

However the primary typeface used for the game is a very cheesy "Chiller" sort of font, and I couldn't help but cringe whenever I saw the menu screen or dialogue boxes. This font is largely considered very childish (think kid's Halloween party invitations), which really didn't work in the context of a serious horror game.

Gameplay and Audio
Central mechanics - Avoid enemies; simple puzzles; alternate endings

The main concept of the game is that you are constantly waking up from nightmare to nightmare, thus the main goal of each level, or rather, "nightmare", is to continue through the environment (occasionally solving simple "find the object" type puzzles) until you trigger the next nightmare (the finale of each nightmare is usually either an unavoidable gory death via an enemy/the character's sudden suicide or a gruesome cutscene of the character committing some sort of disturbing act of self harm.)  Walking around with no real goal other than to trigger the next event was occasionally boring.

There are three different endings to the game which are influenced by very subtle gameplay decisions (such as choosing a slightly different pathway in a forest.)

The environment of each nightmare becomes progressively more destroyed and disturbing, reflecting the increasingly distressed mindset of the character.

There are no controls other than movement and one button to interact with objects though the player can sprint when panicked.  However this will trigger the character to make whining and out of breath sounds which, though potentially could convey a sense of panic, I found distracting and unnecessary. I personally really didn't like the use of voice acting in the game - I felt the use of realistic voices seemed odd when used with such cartoony characters and terrible lip syncing and created a sort of uncanny valley effect.

The soundtrack consists of a creepy piano reminiscent of a broken music box like tune which really fitted the Victorian/creepy doll theme in the game.  This played during the menu screen, setting the tone for the game very effectively, and throughout very few points of the game (such as when danger is near) and I found this sparing use of the soundtrack very effective as this meant the game also benefited from the "defining silence" effect.

Throughout the game there are eerie triggered events which, though weren't as sudden as traditional "jump scares" were very startling and unsettling.  For example, a creepy shadow passing across a window, a dead body from under a sheet rising up as you leave that room and one especially creepy moment where the character wakes up from a nightmare and is immediately dragged under the bed by a dark demon hand.  I felt these moments were used very effectively without being too cheesy or cliche.

The dark line overlays were also used very effectively as part of the gameplay. For example in one section of the game the darkness slowly begins to follow you creating a great feeling of uneasiness; in another you have to walk through an increasingly dark environment to find an axe; in another the darkness suddenly envelopes the entire screen and for a brief period of time the player is forced to slowly make their way through it knowing something is about to kill them in order to progress to the next nightmare.  I found these moments particularly unsettling.

Conclusion
Neverending nightmares conveys an unsettling atmosphere through the use of overlays which add to both the visual aesthetic and gameplay; dynamic lighting; instant-kill enemies; evoking the players imagination through creepy, misleading, environment design and creepy triggered events with sparingly used jump scares.

However the primary typeface was innapropriate for a horror game and the use of realistic dialogue against cartoony and an unrealistic lip syncing created an uncanny valley effect.
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Knock Knock (Ice-Pick Lodge, 2013)

Knock Knock (2013) is an atmospheric horror game for PC and iOS.  The player takes the role of "the lodger" who must survive the ghostly, demonic presence in his house in the middle of the woods until morning.

Art Style

Knock Knock uses both 2D and 3D art assets. The house in which the game takes places is 3D with a front facing view, allowing the player to see multiple rooms at once (with stylised textures on the walls and floors.) Characters and objects appear obviously 2D not dissimilar to a cut out paper puppet like style. However I found this mix of 2D and 3D unappealing, particularly in the outside areas of the game where the silhouetted forest environment appears particularly cut out.

 I did however appreciate the painterly brush strokes with black line art style of the 2D art and the game's colour palette – which utlises murky mauves, greens, turquoises with other muted yet high chroma colours and blacks – as this felt suitably horror-like without being too dull and “samey.”

Knock Knock Kickstarter environment concept

The lighting was also excellent, with the main character casting large, frantic shadows under a flickering light and unlit rooms producing just enough light to make out creepy ghostly shapes out the corner of the player's eye.

Perspective
Knock Knock uses a third person perspective which, in the same way as I found in Lone Survivor, worked really well with the design of the enemies - occasionally you will find yourself trapped in a room with no escape and a creepy straight-jacket clad enemy slowly shuffling towards you which I found particularly nerve-wracking.

GUI
The game's tutorial consists of a couple words with visual prompts (such as an hourglass animation used to encourage the player to wait.)  These prompts are sometimes elaborated on through the character's dialogue to the player.

While in the house the HUD screen consists of a simple clock in the upper left hand corner to show the player how much time they have left to endure in the house.  This asset was clearly designed with the game's art style in mind, wasn't distracting at all and thus I thought it worked really well.

Gameplay and Audio
Central mechanics - hiding; avoid enemies; turn on the lights - the player is only safe in the light but light bulbs do not last long; fix the house to fix your psychological state.

At the beginning of the game static monsters would suddenly appear for just a split second before quickly fading away - this was great in creating suspense and I found myself constantly wondering when they would appear again as dangerous, functional enemies.  When I saw these enemies in the trailer I didn't think they would be very frightening in game as they were so slow with a cartoony art style however in the context of the game they worked really well - especially with their intense, slow pace (see Perspective above).

There is no soundtrack in the game however it is very heavy on sfx and dialogue.  Occasionally the character will turn to face the screen and talk gibberish to the player which I found really distracting and unnecessary.  I felt the subtitles alone would have been sufficient.  The ghosts/demons in the game will also occasionally suddenly speak in a creepy, distorted manor which was really spooky and unsettling when playing the game alone in the dark.

Jump scares such as doors suddenly slamming and thunder and lighting were also prominent throughout the game.



Conclusion
Knock Knock conveys an unsettling atmosphere and is a genuinely scary gaming experience due to it's use of dynamic lighting; unsettling audio; horror colour palette; instant kill enemies; creepy triggered events and sparingly used jump scares and the gameplay risk of being corned by an eerily slow enemy.
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Clock Tower (Human Entertainment, 1995)

Clock Tower (1995) is a point and click adventure game originally released for the Super Famicon in Japan (however is available to play online.)  Inspired by the Dario Argento film "Phenomena" (1985) you play as Jennifer Simpson who is trapped in a giant mansion and must find her friends and escape before a murderous stalker called Scissorman catches her.  

Art Style

Clock Tower uses very detailed pixel art with lots of rich colours (purples, reds, blues) balanced with gritty browns, greys and khakis.  The graphics are very detailed considering the game was made in the 16-bit era, especially when viewing objects and during cutscenes.

Perspective
The game uses a third person perspective which works well when being chased (for the same reasons as Knock Knock and Lone Survivor) as it was really intense seeing Scissorman (and other enemies later in the game) approach Jennifer.

GUI
The only consistent HUD in the game is Jennifer's "panic meter" which essentially acts as a health meter.  It consists of a portrait of Jennifer in the bottom left corner of the screen (the dialogue box area) and the colour of the portrait's background reflects the state of Jennifer's mental health.  For instance when startled by some sort of trigger event (such as a cat jumping out of a box) it will turn blue and when caught by Scissorman it will turn red.  When the portrait turns red Jennifer will enter "panic mode" which allows the player to mash the panic button in order to knock Scissorman over and have a chance to escape.

Gameplay and Audio
Central mechanics - hiding; exploration; puzzles; multiple endings; learn by dying

Panic mode works really well as there's something about frantic button mashing that compliments the state of panic the character is in and thus adds to an unsettling atmosphere.

There is a learn by dying mechanic (for example find out where Scissorman will show up so you can create hiding spots to run to near that location) which can be frustrating due to how slowly the character moves.  However the sudden, surprising deaths can be scary.

Creepy cutscenes are also used throughout the game and are triggered through interacting with certain objects, such as looking at a bathroom tap and triggering a cutscene showing maggots coming out of it when the character washes her hands.

Audio is also used well in the game.  I really like the audio used during the title reveal - a booming sound as each letter of "Clock Tower" begins to appear on screen - and the eerie, dramatic, cinematic music which plays during the narrative sequence before gameplay starts and when being chased by Scissorman.  

Conclusion
Clock Tower successfully conveys an unsettling atmosphere through the mechanic of psychological monitoring; creepy cutscenes; suitable audio to set the game's tone; a horror colour palette and a twisted gameplay take on hide and seek.
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Don't Starve Mod - The Screecher (Klei Entertainment 2013)

The Screecher is a horror conversion mod for the action-adventure rogue-like game Don't Starve, created by the developers themselves, Klei Entertainment.  To mod converts the game in to a short horror game where you take on the persona of William "Bill" Moran who must escape a camping site whilst being stalked by the eponymous monster.

Art Style
The Screecher has an illustrative art style featuring creepy, thick scribbled line art and exaggerated proportions that remind me somewhat of the art of Tim Burton. The majority of lighting in the game is via torch or camp fire, leaving the majority of the scenes overwhelmingly dark which was very effective in making me constantly in fear of where the monster would next pop up and creating a sense of isolation.  It was also very satisfying controlling the torch with the mouse as it allowed me to very quickly and smoothly turn away as soon as I glimpsed the monster.  At the end of the game there is a sequence where the entire area is lit in an ominous red overlay, which was fantastic for creating a sense of suspense and foreboding danger.

It is also worth mentioning the extremely well done animation of the main character, which really gave a sense of life to what would otherwise be a very static game.

Perspective
The game uses an angled top-down perspective blending an interesting mix of the front facing view-point of perspective anchored to a character at the bottom centre of the screen.  I really enjoyed playing as a character with such an aesthetically pleasing walk cycle animation and found not being able to see their face made them feel more relatable.  I also found seeing where my character was in relation to the monster very effective as created a greater sense of danger - as though the monster was going to come right for my character.

GUI
At the beginning of the game, white text on a black background appears stating the location and date the game is set in.  I thought this was an effective way to get across story and explain why the character simply couldn't just phone someone for help (unlikely to have a mobile phone in 1986) without having to go in to detail.  Any in game dialogue is displayed spatially over the heads of the characters.

Early in the game you are informed via a text pop-up to press TAB to toggle a map, so no HUD is necessary, allowing for a minimal GUI in order to increase immersion.

Gameplay and Audio
Central mechanics - Don't look at the monster; depleting resources

Gameplay is similiar to Parsec Productions' Slender: The Eight Pages (2012) in that it features a monster that you must immediately look away from when it appears to you.  You can also collect a total of 9 notes throughout the game however they can be easily found in the first play through meaning the game has little replay value.

The pacing of the game is excellent.  Near the begin of the game you will encounter a crying woman, who will flee as soon as you try to talk to her,  Shortly after you will find a distressed man however talking to him will trigger a jump scare where a bloody face which will fill your screen accompanied by a loud, shocking screaming sound - the player is less likely to expect this after the first un-stressful encounter with a similar character.  Throughout this part of the game there is also the occasional screeching noise, suggesting the presence of the monster to the player and thus creating suspense.  This tension builds up to the first meeting of the monster and another subtle jump scare - the player spots him feasting on a victim then be met with another full screen image- this time of The Screecher's face and a screeching noise - before the monster disappears.  The monster will continue to stalk the player until the player reaches the final destination of the helipad and consequently the climatic event of the game.

The torch will also rapidly run out of battery and the player is constantly in search of new ones.  The way the battery objects are spaced out is very well thought out as I found I would always find some "just in time" which resulted in a satisfying sense of relief.

The game's audio is very atmospheric, with the majority of gameplay audio consisting of forest sounds, panting, and footsteps and when the monster is near a sharp, dramatic noise can be heard.

Conclusion
The Screecher successfully creates an unsettling atmosphere by building tension and suspense through pacing; an aesthetically appealing, creepy art direction suited to the horror genre; an angled top down perspective that benifits from the immersion and spatial awareness of first-person perspective with the sense of danger created in third-person perspective; subtle jump scares and subtle but effective audio design.
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Uncanny Valley Demo (Cowardly Creations 2014)

Uncanny Valley is a survival horror game due to be released next year (2015) where you play as a security guard exploring his new workplace.

Art Style

Uncanny Valley uses a pixel art style which doesn't seem to really add anything to the game as opposed to Lone Survivor which uses its' art style to obscure the players surroundings.  I personally feel pixel art is a bit overdone.

Perspective

The game uses a third-person perspective which works really well in the context of being able to gauge the player characters proximity to enemies and conveying a sense of danger and tension as a result.  A good example of this is at the very beginning of the game where you are suddenly being pursued by some sort of dark humanoid monster which you are frighteningly aware of to the point where he suddenly begins to chase you which created a genuinely scary gameplay sequence.

GUI

The inventory system is non-diegetic (overlaid on top of the gameplay plane) and appears in the bottom left corner of the screen which I felt was a bit too intrusive on gameplay.  Items that can be interacted with are highlighted in white which is subtle but informative enough for the player.

There is also quite a lot of dialogue in the game and I found the dialogue boxes to be very long-winded and boring.

Gameplay and Audio

Central mechanics - limited inventory slots; exploration; find the key

Some gameplay sequences are unnecessarily long, for example at one point the player is caught by the enemies and the screen goes black, some obscure noises play and it takes a tedious amount of time for the next scene to appear.  However the majority of the demo had excellent pacing.  The game starts off with a "bang" with the stalking scene and keeps the game interesting by flashing to different scenes.  Loud and uncomfortable sounds (alarms and VCR tapes) help to create tension and scripted gameplay sequences such as being grabbed by presumed inactive android, nearly being caught but the enemy deactivating just before it reaches you, all add to the unsettling atmosphere.

Audio is well executed as soundtrack is largely silent which makes piercing sounds such as the messy, uncomfortable jarring noises of enemies and alarm systems fittingly piercing and shocking.

Conclusion
The Uncanny Valley demo creates an unsettling atmosphere through subtle sound design witch uncomfortable sound effects; however the art direction is particularly boring.

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What have I learned from these games?

- Games where the player has no way to defend themselves were the most unsettling and scary.  The use of an instant-death mechanic emphasises this.
- Being chased by monsters is terrifying.

- "Psychological monitoring" is an interesting and fitting replacement for the standard health bar system.

- Overlays (darkness, scratchy, old film style, smoke, vingettes, etc) can add to an unsettling atmosphere.

- Overlays can be used to obscure the players vision which can add to the game experience by making it more difficult to see potential enemies.

- Dynamic lighting really brings the environment to life.

- The art style can be used to create obscure environment assets to allow the player to fill in the blanks with their imagination.  For this reason it could be interesting to design my enemies similiar to the environment.

- Jump scares must be used sparsely in order to keep the player on edge and guessing where the next one will be.
- Creepy trigger event animations can be very effective in bringing the environment to life and add to an unsettling atmosphere.

- The perspective used for the game depends on the gameplay.  For example games where there is a mechanic where the player must avoid or be chased by an enemy tend to work best in third person.

- Horror colour palettes tend to be gritty full of dark greys and browns but balanced with splashes of richer colours.

- The use of a minimalist HUD adds to the immersive qualities of the game.

- Realistic audio (such as voice acting) usually creates a sort of uncanny valley effect when used with stylised art.

- Minimal use of sound can create a surreal atmosphere.  Omitting the soundtrack can create a "defeaning silence" whilst including atmospheric sfx can make the environment more believable.
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I'd also quite like to check out Ao Oni (2008), 5 Days a Stranger (2003), Corpse Party (2011) and I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream (1995) if I find the time however they are currently not a priority as these games are largely narrative driven which is an element of the horror genre I'm distancing myself from as I'd rather focus on gameplay than an extensive narrative in my game.

References
Vanord, K.  2013.  Neverending nightmares: how ocd inspired a psychological horror breakthrough. [online].  Available from:
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/neverending-nightmares-how-ocd-inspired-a-psychological-horror-breakthrough/1100-6414083/  [Accessed 19 October 2014]

Smith, A.  2012.  Building fear:  lone survivor interview part one.  [online].  Available from:

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/04/23/building-fear-lone-survivor-interview-part-one/ [Accessed 19 October 2014]

Games
5 Days a Stranger.  2003.  [computer game].  PC.  Ben Croshaw.

Ao Oni.  2008.  [computer game].  PC. noprops.

Clock Tower.  1995.  [computer game].  Super Famicom.  Human Entertainment.

Corpse Party.  2011.  [computer game].  Sony PlayStation Portable. Team GrisGris.

Don't Starve.  2013.  [computer game].  PC, Sony PlayStation 4, Sony Playstation Vita.  Klei Entertainment.

Home.  2012.  [computer game].  iOS, PC.  Benjamin Rivers.

I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream.  1995.  [computer game].  PC.  The Dreamers
Guild.

Knock Knock.  2013.  [computer game].  PC.  Ice-Pick Lodge.

Limbo.  2010.  [computer game].  iOS, Microsoft Xbox 360, PC, Sony PlayStation 3, Sony PlayStation Vita.

Lone Survivor.  2012.  [computer game].  PC, Sony PlayStation 3, Sony PlayStation Vita, Nintendo Wii U.  Superflat Games.

Neverending Nightmares.  2014.  [computer game].  Ouya, PC.  Infinitap Games.

Year Walk.  2013.  [computer game].  PC, iOS.  Simogo.

Videos
Abe Banerman.  2012.  Lone survivor - mother battle.  [online].  YouTube.  Available from:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4y24EsiaVg [Accessed 19 October 2014]

curvestudios.  2013.  Lone survivor the director's cut launch trailer.  [online].  YouTube. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBSVk4-SRT0 [Accessed 19 October 2014]

Irontaco.  2013.  Don't Starve - Screecher (Klei's mod).  [online].  YouTube.  Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIpdQ5bLB_E#t=744 [Accessed 19 October 2014]

LestrageTGQ.  2012.  Home - June 2012 launch trailer.  [online].  YouTube.  Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGR3ggaWnS4  [Accessed 19 October 2014]

Matt Gilgenbach.  2014. Neverending nightmares trailer.  [online].  YouTube.  Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLqHUSefBjw [Accessed 19 October 2014]

TouchGameplay.  2014.  Official knock knock launch trailer.  [online].  YouTube.  Available from:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ms4s7X8iHoU kk  [Accessed 19 October 2014]

TouchGameplay.  2013.  Official limbo game teaser trailer.  [online].  YouTube.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kyk0Xoku8Ms [Accessed 19 October 2014]

TouchGameplay.  2013.  Year walk - universal - hd gameplay trailer. [online].  YouTube.  Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8l1Wag19eg [Accessed 19 October 2014]

Uncanny Valley.  2014.  Uncanny Valley - first trailer.  [online].  YouTube. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZj7odG_iNg [Accessed 19 October 2014]

Images
Benjamin Rivers.  2012.  [online].  Available from: http://steamcommunity.com/app/215670/screenshots/ [Accessed 19 October 2014]

Cowardly Creations. 2014.  [online].  Available from: http://www.indiedb.com/games/uncanny-valley/images/research-room-new1#imagebox [Accessed 19 October 2014]

Human Entertainment.  1995.  [online].  Available from: http://www.gamefaqs.com/snes/563032-clock-tower/images [Accessed 19 October 2014]

Ice-Pick Lodge.  2012. [online].  Available from: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1535515364/knock-knock [Accessed 19 October 2014]

Ice-Pick Lodge.  2012. [online].  Available  from: http://steamcommunity.com/app/250380/screenshots/ [Accessed 19 October 2014]

Klei Entertainment and Todd Hunter. 2012.  Available from:  http://toddhunterreport.wordpress.com/2013/10/24/the-screecher-dont-starve-mod-mini-review/  [Accessed 19 October 2014]

Klei Entertainment.  2012.  Available from:  http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=198958026 [Accessed 19 October 2014]

Playdead.  2010.  [online].  Available from: http://steamcommunity.com/app/48000/screenshots/  [Accessed 19 October 2014]

Simogo.  2013.  [online].  Available from: http://steamcommunity.com/app/269050/screenshots/ [Accessed 19 October 2014]

Superflat Games.  2012.  [online].  Available from:  http://steamcommunity.com/app/209830/screenshots/ [Accessed 19 October 2014]