Video Games

[Creator Corner]

Safe and Sound — Short Film Kickstarter

Hello, I’m Ian Kammer, the director and co-writer of the short film Safe and Sound, a genre film in the tone of The Descent, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and Halloween, that follows a young woman at the center of a subterranean monster invasion in a suburban Southern California home. Growing up in the

[Reviews]

Layers of Fear 2 is a Haunted House Simulator

I love, love, LOVED the first Layers of Fear game. Like the first game, Layers of Fear 2 is essentially what people would refer to as a “walking simulator.” However, I feel like the developers have basically created their own sub-genre, a “haunted house simulator.” At least, that is the very best possible way to

[Video Games]

Let’s Play HauntHouse!

HauntHouse is a simple “Choose Your Own Adventure” game, with a few twists: Instead of choosing your own, it’ll be our own, meaning that as a group, we’ll vote on the next decision to make together via Twitter polls. Depending on many circumstances, each poll/decision will vary in the time allotted, with some up and

[Horror, But Not Horror]

Horror, But Not Horror: Red Dead Redemption II

Part I | Part II of spooky stuff found in Red Dead Redemption II Red Dead Redemption II is crammed so full of horror, I can’t imagine any horror site going by it without at least an honorable mention. From psychopaths, to serial killers, cults, mad scientists, man-eating beasts, plenty of blood and gore, and

[Reviews]

Reviewing The Council: Part Five

See all parts of review here. Part five marks both the final episode of the game and my final review. If you care about not having something spoiled for you, you really shouldn’t be reading a review about the thing before you’ve had a chance to experience that thing yourself in the first place, but

[Reviews]

Netflix + Black Mirror + Video Games = Bandersnatch

Sooo, that’s what the creators of Black Mirror have been up to. Released just today on Netflix, is a new interactive Black Mirror film, called Bandersnatch. It’s a decision-based game, where you can go down different avenues, and ultimately get different endings, based on the choices you make. This of course is nothing new; this

[Interviews]

Interview with Game Developer Sam Prebble

I stumbled upon this article about a kid who spent the span of 15 years working on a personal project, a modern mod (called Total Chaos) for a classic game, Doom II. It hit the sweet spot for the kind of obscure, creative stuff I often like to talk about on HL, so I wanted

[Interviews]

Interview with Game Developer Gareth Murfin

I like obscure things; I like finding obscure things and shining a spotlight on them. As a huge fan of Manhunt, I came across this oddity on Kickstarter, which was clearly heavily influenced by it: And so, I decided I needed to learn a bit more about it all to quench my curiosity. The following

[Contests and Giveaways]

Amnesia Collection Giveaway — Happy Halloween!

The winner is Pat Nolan! Congrats! Some years back, I had a very specific goal in mind, to find the scariest video game EVER MADE. One that didn’t let up, that was absolutely brutal and relentless. What I discovered was Amnesia. I was not disappointed; it required several panic attacks to make my way through.

[Reviews]

Reviewing The Council: Part Four

See all parts of review here. At this point, I’m not sure that I’ve ever played a game with as many possible choices as this game has, that can take you in completely different narrative directions. I didn’t expect that, nor did I expect that this game might have any replayability. Though, I think I