A masterclass in short and simple yet incredibly effective horror, Dollmare is a game contained fully within the plunging shadows of a creepy doll factory where you are a quality assessor. The horror elements of the game don’t rely on chases or jump scares, but instead executes an incredible sense of creep, unease, mystery and dread.
The gameplay is simple. You have to confirm the quality of the dolls that come through your production line by performing a number of checks. These begin fairly easily. You ensure the dolls have the correct number of limbs and eyes, that their clothes aren’t damaged or dirty, and that when you tilt them backwards they say something endearing. Acceptable dolls continue along the conveyer belt, while failing dolls must be disposed of via a chute.
The checks increase in difficulty as you acclimatise to the role. You have to check for hidden foreign objects with an X-ray machine and sinister graffiti with a UV light. You are also tasked with repairing dolls with missing limbs in a separate room lined with shelves of dismembered doll parts.
These actions are broadly not difficult. The simplicity of Dollmare is what allows the creepiness to truly thrive, the routine acting as an absorbing foundation for the dread to flourish. At its most basic level, the game is already fairly creepy. The deep shadows of the factory give the whole setting an incredibly eerie feel, with the dolls’ chubby cheeks and bright eyes adding a sense of the uncanny valley to even your most successful efforts.
The corrupted dolls are creepier still. Their eyes and limbs jerk in inhuman ways. They encourage you to play with knives and practice flying off the roof. They have dead rats in their chest cavities and pentagrams painted on their backs. This is compounded by dolls that appear out of nowhere and demand to be played with, and notes you find around the factory from a former worker warning you about the fate that awaits you if you don’t escape. Escape, however, seems impossible under the watchful eye of your boss, who will make it clear immediately if you have made the slightest mistake, yet is determined to keep you here.
You don’t see any of the world outside the factory and you don’t get a choice as to whether or not to show up again for your shift the next morning. The only explanation the game offers for why you keep coming in is a brief explanation at the beginning, saying you need the money. You don’t have rent or bills to pay in-game. The only thing you can do with the money is buy trinkets (and, if you’re lucky, one significant item) to decorate your desk.
While it feels like this might undermine the tension, it manages to work regardless of the incomplete financial mechanic. Showing up day after day to a job that generates a growing sense of unease for money you fritter away on frivolous toys isn’t at all an unrelatable experience. The lack of opportunities to make your own choice, if anything, only adds to the feeling that you are trapped in this hellish place.
Despite being a fairly short game, Dollmare has a huge amount of atmosphere that makes it feel very worth its low price tag. And if you’re not satisfied once you’ve completed the story, it offers an endless mode where you can lose yourself in handling creepy dolls to your heart’s content.
