Gameplay therefore boils down to identifying what kind of room you have landed in and determining the most efficient way to make it through. There is a sizable collection of pre-built rooms and every time the player finds a door, it selects another random one from the collection to put the player in. The game is designed around moving quickly from room to room, since there really are over a 1,000 to advance through. The jump-scare still works perfectly fine, yet afterwards you can’t help but laugh at yourself for being scared of something so innocent. Your first enemy encounters will usually involve the aforementioned cut-outs of ghosts and pumpkins, which goes accompanied with sound-effects that are way more dramatic than what is actually happening. Many have gone before you and, in true horror gaming style, you will find many notes left by previous adventurers and other unfortunate souls that reveal more of the plot.Īt first glance, the game’s visual style makes it look like a cartoon, thanks to the vibrant colors and cute mascot. She welcomes you to her mansion and challenges you to make it through all 1,000 (or so) rooms that it contains and discover what might possibly lie at the end of it all.

Many other parodies and joke-games struggle to deliver a product that serves as something more than a one-off gag, but Lag Studios definitely pulled it off here.Īt the start of the game, players are introduced to the mascot character “Spooky” who is literally a ghost. And it works.Ĭreated by the two-man team of independent developer Lag Studios, Spooky’s is a parody on the tropes and history of the horror genre that, despite of its comedic intentions, actually has an interesting take on gameplay that keeps it fun to play.

Today’s game, Spooky’s House of Jump-Scares, uses cardboard cut-outs of cartoon ghosts. Amnesia might do this with a Lovecraftian horror whereas Doom prefers hellish demons.

Ambient noises, flickering lighting, and a sense of unease keep you on the edge of your chair, when suddenly a monster pops out, goes “boo!”, and vanishes back into the dark. We have probably all found ourselves walking through the halls of eerie mansions, castles, or similarly dark places throughout our horror-gaming careers.

Play spooky's house of jumpscares