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Games

Game Boy Games Were Never this Creepy

‘Exit’ imagines the first person horror genre on the original GameBoy.

I've been really into spooky, low-poly first person horror in this column lately, and believe me, it's a trend I'd like to continue. As with Pacific last week, Exit—a submission from last year's GBJam and Pixel Horror Jam—knows that subtlety is key. It's an exercise in restraint and dedication to a simple, faux Game Boy aesthetic.

You have only a flashlight, and you stumble your way through creepy rooms, each with puzzles to figure out. Maybe you need to turn some wheels. Maybe you need to do a little rudimentary code-breaking. Maybe there is a presence in here with you, a hostile intelligence. "Why the hell am I here?" I started to wonder, creeping through the rooms. "Who am I?" And finally "who the hell put me here?" It's unsettling and effective, this unexplained puzzle box, these little, chunky globs of light.

The Gameboy conceit works beautifully as well. I can almost picture myself playing this in 1991, under the covers. I'm almost certainly not supposed to be playing it, but those same questions pop up. "Who gave me this game?" "What does it mean?" "Oh god, I'm dead now."

You can play Exit on its itch.io page here.