Welcome to The Attic, let’s play some horror games…

As I mentioned before in my recent Subnautica article, I just got a new laptop that has opened a whole new world for this gamer: Steam. I have been exploring what it has to offer a lot lately, and if you’ve never used the gaming app, you are missing out. Steam offers an endless variety of games for everyone, but lately I have been looking into what I love most: horror. The last two indie horror games I played will both be covered in this article, as both are similar in nature, short, and free-to-play.

First, I’ll start off with Fingerbones, which was recommended to me by a good friend and fellow horror gamer. It is a very short game, but as I said it is free, so you can’t expect too much here. What it lacks in length, it makes up for in creepiness. You start off with a message telling you that there is no menu or save system, and the game is meant to be played in about 30 minutes in one sitting. This is no problem for me, as I completed the game in 26 minutes. Plus, once you get started, you don’t want to stop. The very creepy atmosphere is what stood out to me most. You play a father that was with his daughter when some devastating event occurred in the outside world, and they sought refuge in the bunker below.

You must explore the room around you and read notes and interact with objects to advance the story and enter new rooms. The main objective is to unlock the bunker and check on your daughter. However, early on you get the sense that this man is unhinged, and I for one began to worry for her safety. One of the scariest things in a game is a little girl crying or screaming. and you hear that in this game. Is it coming from the bunker? Is it the spirit of the little girl? You must continue farther into the rooms below to find out. This mystery keeps you guessing until the very end. Are your suspicions correct? Check out Fingerbones on Steam for a fun little unnerving experience!

Next up is Serena. This game is very similar, but the biggest differences are that this one is driven by narration, and it leans more on psychological horror than scary atmospheric horror. You play a man alone in a cabin in the woods, with no memory of where your wife is or what has led up to this point. This game is very simple, you point and click to move around the cabin and interact with objects. You can’t really move anything except for picking up a couple of things or opening drawers. This is all about jogging your character’s memory. Every time you click on something he will speak about his memories attached to it, unraveling the mystery as you go along.

As you make your way around suddenly things change, they darken… and that’s when it gets good. You have to make the rounds a few times to complete the game, but it doesn’t take too long. This is a good thing, as Serena doesn’t have a save game feature either. Please take my experience as warning, and don’t hit the ESC key!! I tried to bring up a menu to save at one point, and it simply closed out the game and I had to restart (DOH!) I really wish this game had come with the same warning as Fingerbones.

What most people mention when they talk about Serena is the twist ending. Now I don’t like to give away spoilers in The Attic, so I won’t get into what it is or isn’t. All I will tell you is that about 1/3 of the way through the game, I was convinced I knew what it would be…. I was both right… and very wrong. I was really sucked into this game. The only issue I had was at certain points the voice actor got a bit… annoying. I hate to say it because most people love him… but to me he seemed whiny at points and I just wanted to turn the volume down. Luckily there are subtitles as well… However, the game’s story and ending is enough to make up for that, and I am happy to recommend Serena to anyone that loves a good little indie horror game.

That’s it for now! I hope to get through some more scary games soon and I’ll report back with other recommendations. Until then…

Stay scared,
Dark Princess