Perfectly timed for Halloween, the Sometimes You published horror romp Self-Delusion has launched on the digital services for just over a tenner.
We’ve spent some time with it, and it’s certainly an oddity. This isn’t so much a horror adventure or a narrative driven affair, but rather a peculiar survival game based on Slavic folklore. Imagine hide and seek, only you’re the one hiding while monsters are seeking.
It begins with a trek through the woods to return home to a cosy woodland shack, filled with homemade wooden furniture and other rustic trinkets. Only, things aren’t quite as you remember, with your mind plagued by warped memories. Also early on, you’re transported to a school – not any school, but one established to teach the behaviour patterns of Slavic monsters. Every time a new enemy type is introduced, you’re sent back to be ‘skooled’ on how to avoid them. It is, essentially, a glorified tutorial turned into an alternative location, with the other being the shack.
After being transported back home, it’s a case of staying alive for one game hour (roughly 8-10 minutes) by staying out of harm’s way – and one chance is all you get. You’ll need to find matches to light candles that keep a spherical, rolling, monster at bay, in addition to turning off noise creating objects to help a skeletal being with glowing eyes remain calm. Although it’s possible to hide in boxes and wardrobes to wait out the timer, you’re also encouraged to venture out to ‘feed’ small toys to the oven in the kitchen to satisfy their hunger. This is presumably part of Slavic folklore too.
It quickly emerges to be a simple case of hiding from monsters, locating randomly placed matches and toys, and occasionally dashing to the oven to feed it – and as the shack is small, you’ll soon learn where the candles and hiding areas are. Every time you return home though, a new adversary is waiting, and this is where the challenge lies.
Although far from terrifying, it does have the capacity to scare, with one small monster waiting to be stepped on – causing it to shriek and fly into the screen. At the same time, the stakes feel quite low, as it’s possible to simply try again with no losses or consequences. It has a few comical elements too, which lighten the tone.
While we’ve only spent an hour or so with it, it definitely feels like something of an oddity – and not necessarily in a bad way. It’s certainly one of the more unique horror games available this Halloween, and if you are looking for something a little different and can tolerate light repetition, it might be worth investigating further.