We’ve covered a bunch of horror games that have come up through indie site itch.io in recent years, and pretty much every time we do, it’s something refreshingly different to the usual horror offerings in modern gaming. It might be something experimental, it might be an ingenious take on a beloved genre icon, or it might just bring back the look and mechanics of one.
A particular game caught my eye when it released on itch.io this week. SpookWare, by papercookies (Adam Pype), the developer of the creepy cult hit No Players Online and one of the many participants in the PS1 Horror Showcase. It features a selection of 10 micro-games, all horror-based, that all last for ten seconds each. If that premise sounds familiar, then that’s because it’s inspired by Nintendo’s joyously silly WarioWare series.
As with WarioWare, the execution is simple, easy to understand, but harder to master. Using the directional buttons on your keyboard, you must press them in a certain order and/or at a certain speed. What transpires onscreen when you do this is what makes it a hoot for horror fans.
The micro-games are based on all manner of horror things, such as playful send-ups of certain horror cliches and tropes. Among the highlights are getting a car engine to start before the killer arrives, closing a shutter before a zombie crawls underneath it, spelling out words on an Ouija board, and finding Nosferatu by torchlight. It’s all done in a deliberately goofy manner, and given its influences, it works. If you can beat 20 rounds, you unlock the final level, but that’s easier said than done.
I went into SpookWare expecting to just quickly try it out, but spent a full hour having ‘one more go’. I wouldn’t mind an expanded version of this at some point, but for now, I’m just glad it exists at all.
Oh, and the soundtrack by Viktor Kraus is delightful.
You can download SpookWare here. There’s no set amount to buy the game for, rather it is ‘Name Your Own Price’.