Spooky’s House of 1000 Jump Scares is an indie game developed by Lag Studios that can be found on Steam. It is a free to play game but does have DLC for $9.99. The official synopsis is:
“Can you survive 1000 rooms of cute terror? Or will you break once the cuteness starts to fade off and you’re running for your life from the unspeakable hideous beings that shake and writhe in bowels of this house? They wait for you, they wait and hunger for meeting you.”
The game starts out innocently enough – the rooms take anywhere between 5 to 20 seconds to get through and the graphics maintain a cutesy feel; like this little guy:
The beginning of the game is mostly just cheap jump scares, with the “Specimen 1” monsters (see the above tree stump). These wooden boards randomly pop out every once in a while accompanied by a loud terrifying sound.
But with every 100 rooms, new levels of terror begin. Monsters of increasing strength begin to pursue you and some of the rooms have small puzzles to solve. The player quickly realizes that getting through 1000 rooms will not be as easy as it first seemed. The rooms become more detailed and more sinister, and in addition to new monsters, even the cutesy cardboard-like cutouts degrade into nightmare-fuel.
Gameplay is first-person style. Movement can at times be a little clunky, especially when you are trying to navigate twists and turns in the pathway while being pursued by a terrifying creature. It is not too complex to figure out how to play the game. Of course, there are still challenges as you encounter new creatures – occasionally leading to terrifying death scenes like this:
Sound is an important part of the game. Aside from being used to startle the player with the “Specimen 1” monsters, it is key in figuring out if a monster is pursuing you. Sure, you can look behind you, but I’d rather not see this:
The most clever aspect of the game is how the creators weave in references to other iconic horror games. While delving deeper into the house, you go through areas themed like “Silent Hill”, “Amnesia”, “Alice”, and even more. There are also references to non-horror video games, with mini arcade games randomly appearing in certain rooms. These allow the player to take a break from the tension while playing macabre versions of racing games, PacMan, and fighting games. Trying to figure out the references added another layer of fun to the game.
The only area where the game lacks is story – not that we need much to enjoy the gameplay. There is clearly an attempt at some sort of backstory. Throughout the rooms, a scattering of notes can be found, telling the story of another individual who was once trapped in the house. There are also large computers which give an overview of the various “specimens” (monsters), and references that Spooky may be in charge of some scientific research facility. These aspects, however are never fully explained.
Ultimately, the game was terrifying, spooky, and – not so surprisingly – chalk-full of jump scares. Play with the lights out and the sound up!
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