‘Stories Untold’ Smartly Remixes the Text Adventure to Scare You

There are certain times when a person is primed to be scared, and it's not usually at 8:00 in the morning, with sun pouring into the room, and a full cup of coffee in your hand. And yet, despite all this, with my own environment doing everything to make me feel safe, Stories Untold got under my skin. A collection of four short stories, presented by way of text adventure and a handful of highly detailed, creepily-lit rooms, Stories Untold is unlike any horror game I've played before.

Ignore the game's misguided attempt at riffing on Strange Things, as seen in this trailer; there's good reason to pay attention to this game without that junk.

Above: the Stories Untold trailer. If you're like me, reading is not a place where you find yourself getting particularly scared. There have been some exceptions—I had trouble sleeping after reading the original Amityville Horror novel—but frankly, I've grown up overstimulated. My expectations for horror have been shaped by my experiences with film, television, and games. It doesn't mean I'm unable to enjoy a good piece of textual horror, as evidenced by the countless Stephen King and Clive Barker books adorning my shelves, but they never cause me to flip on the lights.

Stories Untold tries to bridge the gap, taking advantage of the discovery process that makes text adventures compelling, while playing with the context.

In Stories Untold, players sit down in front of a computer to participate in a seemingly basic choose-your-own adventure story. Your agency is limited—having access to little more than "look at," "open," "move to," etc.—but it's fine; Stories Untold is more interested in having things move quickly, as players shuffle from one event to the next, wondering how strange it'll get along the way.

While I'm loathe to talk too much about what actually happens in Stories Untold, the first episode has players at a desk that'll look familiar to anyone who grew up in the 80s or 90s, with a crappy lamp and an old computer. At first, it appears this is all for aesthetic purposes, a sexier way to experience a text adventure in 2017. But as things get weird, let's say, Stories Untold does something much smarter, making the environment around the text adventure a way of laying atmosphere on thick. The lights flicker, the synthy music swells and calms, the clicky keyboard thunders its way through your every interaction. It's subtle, effective, and goes in some surprising directions that I wouldn't dare spoil.

And while subsequent episodes also involve text adventures, there are clever subversions. It becomes a joy to find out what they'll do with it next.

I've only played two (of four) episodes, partially because I'm bummed it'll be over soon, largely because the episodes don't last very long. (It took me 20-30 minutes for each, but your mileage may vary.) Don't take that the wrong way.

Most horror stories fail to stick the landing, stretching themselves thin. It's been my feeling that horror is best served short, sweet, and to the point—endings usually suck. Here's a good example. The brilliant video short Lights Out, which sticks around for less than three minutes before it has you screaming, became a 81-minute feature film last year. It's a fine, mostly forgettable summer horror flick that burned through its the core scare quickly. There just wasn't enough there.

That short is so good. (Apologies to anyone who just shit their pants at work.)

If you need further convincing about Stories Untold, know it's only $8.49 on Steam, and Danielle and Joel recently streamed it. It's helpful to be scared in a group.

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