This horror survival game is all about the jump-scares. Made by Independent developer Shawn Hitchcock, this game is sure to bring on the nightmares. You play as a pizza delivery boy, on his way to deliver an order to a house. As you show up, nobody seems to be there. Immediately you get the sense that something’s not right. You enter the home and call out stating the food is here. No answer. Out of nowhere, the front door that you just entered through closes on its own. Great. As you stare at the door trying to figure out if you’re imagining things, you hear the loud clap of thunder. The lights briefly flicker, and in that time a young girl appears seemingly out of nowhere in between you and the door way, then just as quickly disappears. We’re already off to a bad start.
You must really want that delivery tip, because whatever you saw wasn’t enough to send you right back out the door. Turning back around to face the seemingly deserted house, you notice the front living room has a bunch of storage boxes scattered everywhere as if someone is in the process of moving. Take some time and walk around the house in search for the owners of this pizza order. Still, nobody. As you make your way through the house, doors begin opening and closing. Okay is someone there or not?
When entering the kitchen, you will notice a white board on one of the walls. There’s a message on it. It reads: “Let’s play at midnight” with a smiley face next to it. No idea who that message is for, but it’s almost midnight and there definitely should be someone here. Keep walking around as your level of anxiety steadily increases. Just as you start to understand that this might be a set up, your thoughts are interrupted by a loud chime ringing through the house. The clock just struck 12. Let the games begin.
This game is fairly simple. Each level is completed once the clock strikes the next hour, and the next level will begin. You are no longer a pizza delivery boy. You’re a survivalist trapped inside this haunted house, and you must live through the next 6 hours alone.
The second doll to face is Mr. Patters. Appearing at 1 AM, this clown doll is just as determined to kill you as the last. With his decaying crooked teeth and his overly vibrant outfit, he is definitely a scary sight to see.
The third doll to deal with is Chester. Wearing a suit and tie, this well dressed ventriloquist may look nice. But trust me, he’s not. The last boss, is Emily herself. With a nice name like that, you may not feel too intimidated. But you will soon find yourself in total panic as you try to beat the last challenge of this game.
So how is each level beaten? It may take a minute to figure out, but once you do, you will laugh at how many times you probably died in just the second hour. The whiteboard in the kitchen will explain all the rules to you. With this tricky game however, you must do the opposite of what you read on the board. Level one with Kiki, the board states not to look at her. In this twisted game of peek-a-boo, you must do the opposite.
Kiki will randomly appear, giggling to herself as she covers her face with her hands. You have a few seconds to spot her. Stare at her for enough time, and she will disappear. Fail at this, and her face will appear up close as she screams at you, her deep black eyes piercing through the screen and into your soul. The fact that this horrid doll is wearing all black does not in any way help your ability to spot her. Sometimes, she even gets creative and will turn off the lights to the room she’s standing in. Quickly scramble to turn the lights back on so you can beat her at her own game. Continue winning this life or death game of Peek-a-boo until the clock strikes the next hour, and the next level begins.
Mr. Patters loves to play some sort of red light green light game. The prize he gets for winning? Your life. When he appears, he makes his own noise signaling for you to not move. He will stand there with his clown arms stretched out towards you, daring you to flinch. Don’t. Even the slightest movement he will immediately attack you in the same fashion as Kiki. His disgusting decaying teeth inside his deranged grin will be the last thing you see before it’s lights out.
Chester is a little bit more challenging than the previous two. He loves to play the classic game of tag. He will randomly appear throughout the house and when he does, you may not always see him. Nonetheless, you will hear him grunting followed by his tiny quick footsteps getting closer and closer as he runs towards your location. Run away and evade him for long enough and he will disappear. Let him catch you, and you know what happens.
There is a catch to each level, however. With each new doll to face, the previous ones remain. This is where the real challenge comes in. You will find yourself searching for Kiki, then immediately freezing to beat Mr. Tatters, then quickly running for your life as Chester chases you. The game does a great job at randomly generating the characters, so there will be no specific order or location to follow when they spawn. It gets extremely tricky, and one false move will ensure that you never make it back out of the house.
If you are evasive and smart enough to survive this house of horrors until 4 AM, congratulations. Now, Emily wants to play. Lucky for you, all the other dolls retire for the night, and it’s just you and her. Unlucky for you, the game she wants to play is Hide and Seek. With her ghostly powers, she shuts off all of the lights in the house. Although not the best hider, you must search through the house and find her as she counts down to zero. Do not, under any circumstance turn any of the lights back on. That’s cheating, and in this game cheating equals death. The only aid you have is a flashlight. Use that to search through the pitch black house in search of this girl who I am sure can’t wait to reach zero and kill you.
I think what puts this game over the edge in terms of how scary it is, are the small details throughout. There are many horror games out there that do a great job at testing your ability to handle complete chaos during their action packed scenes. Some of these games however, feel a little dry in between these moments. Maybe you’re wandering around a city aimlessly. Maybe you’re searching through a haunted house. Whatever the setting, there seems to be long stretches of time where nothing too serious is going on. It gives you a moment to breathe and collect your thoughts. Not Outlast.
Even though this game is somewhat quick and the mechanics are very basic, in no way does it lack the fear inducing energy needed to classify it as a good quality game. Shawn Hitchcock was clever enough to sprinkle in elements here and there to truly make the game terrifying and uncomfortable. Throughout the game, you wander around the house trying to piece together what’s happening. Who is Emily? What are these dolls? Where are the parents?
Exploring the house will reward you with different clues as to what occurred here. A voice recorder in the bedroom will play a recording of Emily’s mom discussing how her daughter has been acting strange lately since the move. Find creepy drawings scattered throughout the house revealing the antagonist’s mental state. Turn the bedroom TV on and hear a news broadcast discussing the mysterious death of a local couple. Enter a room and see a girl crawling around behind some furniture in a twisted and possessed fashion. That sight alone will give you chills.
Overall Emily Wants To Play is a fantastic game. The jump-scares will get you every time, and the randomly generated spawn times and locations will leave you struggling to survive. If you’re looking for a terrifying night, then give this satisfying Indie game a try.