Horror is for more than just horror games (Devlog)

Hello there gamers,

And happy belated Halloween! It’s spooky season and I want to talk about something I love love love. Spooky games!

I’m talking about:

  • What makes a spooky game vs. a horror game
  • How I make Muffles’ Life Sentence a spooky RPG
  • Some of my favorite spooky inspirations

Prepare for a scare!

AAAGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Something spooky this way comes…

Off the bat I want to establish the chasm of difference between a game with spooky/horrific elements or themes or aesthetics vs. a true horror game. These lists are not prerequisites for these kinds of games or anything, they’re just what come to mind when I compare them. 

Spooky game:

  • Pulls from horrific source material to establish the darker side of your world
  • Provides moody/creepy settings (dark forests, creepy mansions, caves, etc.)
  • References horror tropes and visuals

Horror game:

  • Using imagery or sound effects to momentarily shock the player is a key draw of the experience
  • The player’s motivation and/or story plot have tension and uncertainty inherently baked in
  • Uses less-forgiving game mechanics that make you feel powerless (survival resource mgmt, stealth, etc.)
  • The role of enemies is less to be obstacles to rewards or fulfilling a combat power fantasy and more to punish the player and have them question survival
  • Uses the unknown as fear vs. just opportunity

It’s clear from these lists that I think of these types of games pretty differently. If we think of it like art, then spooky games are the dead trees and long shadows you add to a nature scene. Horror games are the works of Giger, Zdzisław, and Junji Ito.

Muffles is not a horror game… buuuut…

I love incorporating darker elements into the world and story of Muffles’ Life Sentence, many of which have been there from the start. Set in prison, inmate surgery, your mouth is stitched shut- all that good creepy stuff.

But I wanted to be sure this never strayed into becoming a horror RPG. I love games like Pathologic, Fear and Hunger, and System Shock, which made it easy to know I wasn’t looking to make the game feel like any of them. 

I also knew I didn’t want Muffles, an RPG Maker game, to fall in the footsteps of the many wonderful RPG Maker horror games I grew up loving. The Crooked Man, Witch’s House, Ib, Mad Father- these were some of my first delves into horror PERIOD and so many used the unique limitations of the engine to craft incredible linear horror stories.

So then what did I use for reference, and why bother with spooky/horror in general if you aren’t making a full-blown horror game?

Horror is for more than just horror games

I love games and media that don’t use the horror game formula, but have elements just under the surface that add stakes and depth to everything. Undertale, OFF, and Bloodborne are a few of my favorite all time games and have a darkness to them that can be hard to shake off (hah). They explore madness, corruption of morals, bizarre experimentations, genocide, and more.

I think every RPG needs to include some elements of horror. Role-playing needs a real-feeling unreal world. Bad things happening to good people is core component humanity- but that doesn’t mean it has to be glum and dour (note to self- create some characters named Glum and Dour). 

Tragedy, death, and destruction of precious things can be fuuuuun and thematic! Like an evil hare whose death animation is to perform an Irish jig on your back, shattering your spine. 

Evidence of atrocities can be vague and mysterious! Like the all-to-familiar video game corruption stuff that’s really just purple and black goop or a color palette swap for enemies we see in a bajillion games.

But Bossy… are YOU ever going to make a REAL horror game?

Yes. At some point. Probably. 

In other news

I hope everyone had just the best Halloween. Here, the fall vibes are incredible. There’s a soft pitter of rain and the leaves are red and where they belong- on the ground.

I’m going to start in earnest on Episode 5 on Monday- the last episode!!! It’s exciting to know so much and yet so little about what’s in store for me, Muffles, and for all of you reading who will play. 

Until next time,

-Bossy

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