Homebody is an old school survival game by the Game Grumps studio

Horror is a wide-ranging genre, from gory slasher films to bizarre and intelligent campfire tales. home bodypublished by Rogue Games and developed by. Dream Daddy: Daddy Dating Simulator Studio Game Grumps tends towards the latter. I take on the role of Emily, a young woman with agoraphobia. Agoraphobia is a feeling of isolation and a choking fear of leaving a safe place and experiencing awkward, embarrassing, or unpleasant experiences.

A quirky writer lives in a remote house full of friends that has been rented for years when suddenly there is a power outage. After making a few jokes about the horror movie vibe, I check the power box and it’s strangely empty. There are only two cords for her, one leading to the attic and one to her basement. These are also areas of the house that are off limits by the absent homeowner. The moment I gave up and searched the basement, I was stabbed to death by a mysterious masked figure.

But the clock has turned and I am home again. I try to bring this experience up through the dialog tree when chatting with friends, but no matter how careful I am, it doesn’t make sense. It just gets filtered into mundane small talk. home body A primal fear for your own life is mixed with a less intense (but more empathetic) fear of awkward conversations, strained friendships, and people being mad at you.

home body It’s happily inspired by PlayStation-era survival horror games with fixed camera angles and polygonal graphics. Emily isn’t gifted with combat, so my best options for dealing with the killer are simply hiding in the closet or running away.Cutscenes and flashbacks are interrupted home body, which depicts Emily’s social anxiety. She’s been isolated here for her year, which causes her anger at her friends.

To make matters worse, the gentleman who owns the house my friend rented is eccentric. There are keys and keypads everywhere. I found a letter equivalent to a mailbox on my desk. Open it to find a color code, with which you can calibrate the machine in the basement to unlock another door.

These puzzle chains solve challenges such as: home bodyfind clues and solve mysteries while enduring the pressure of avoiding a masked killer. When I die, the clock reverts to the beginning of the night. But I do keep memories, and they are sorted and cataloged in my memory log, which is useful. As you progress, the time loop begins to break. Other characters also show signs of realizing the terrible fate they are about to endure. The killer shows up in the middle of the night and breaks the routine.

Image: Game Grumps/Rogue Games

A masked killer and a creepy house are just reasons to explore the tension between agoraphobic Emily and her friends. like that, home body It’s not about the direct fear of being stabbed, but about the slow decline and loneliness brought on by her agoraphobia. The game capitalizes on your anxiety when reuniting with people who might be mad at you, or worse, whose feelings might be justified. While Emily struggles to survive her killer, she must also face the test of honest relationships with her friends who hurt her.

The writing is interesting, but the mechanics can be awkward at times. Due to the fixed cameras and erratic controls, I would often hang around the door and unintentionally he would go back and forth between the two rooms. Also, the settings only have one master volume bar, which makes it difficult to use if the sound effects are a little too loud. Half of Emily’s friend group feels a little unnecessary, like they’re just there to round out the cast. A few friends end up playing a big part in Emily’s past, and her catharsis comes from exploring those relationships. Others in the house are only there to add comment on important relationships before being murdered to heighten tensions. So it feels like there’s a little too much padding between the setting and the benefits of this particular story.

These small but deep-rooted issues don’t block deals, but they do ease tensions. home body It didn’t terrify me terribly, but I still felt the urge to uncover its secrets, and it only took me a few hours to complete. This is the kind of game I’ll be digesting for quite some time, as the plot leaves key points open to interpretation. This isn’t the same kind of horror as jump scares or gruesome death, but it’s still unnerving.

home body was released on June 1st on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X. This game was reviewed on PC using a download code provided by Rogue Games. Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These do not affect editorial content, but Vox Media may earn a commission on products purchased via affiliate links.discoverable Additional information on Polygon’s Ethics Policy can be found here.