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One of the many indie horror games that have arrived on Steam in recent months is The Survey. At first glance it may look like a carbon copy of so many others, but once I got into it, this game struck me as one of the most original I’ve played in quite some time, with a story that will linger with you.

As the game opens, I awake in bed to hear the pitter-patter of rain outside. I stand up, and examine my surroundings. The only light is coming from the open closet next to me, and it casts just enough light into the room to make out a very typical modern bedroom. Nothing special here. I wander out into the hallway after picking up a flashlight, and I begin flicking lights on as I go. (Am I the only one that turns every possible light on in a horror game?) There isn’t much to interact with, and so I head downstairs to look around the lower level of this house. The kitchen is dark, but the faucet is running on full blast. Odd. I turn it off and decide to head towards the cozy sight of the living room.

The fireplace is lit, and while it remains the focal point I also spot a couch, chair, coffee table, and a small statue in the corner. Just like the rest of this house, it is ordinary and comfortable. At this point I decide to bring up my cell phone and began to take the first of a few surveys. The questions seem very mundane at first, asking if you have a job and if you live alone. But then they began to ask more odd questions, such as if you have any statues in the house or if you feel like they’re ever watching you… These questions sent chills down my spine. I wasn’t feeling like it was watching me before, but now I am. As I got to the end of the first group of questions, I received a message that read: She heard you. Hide.

From this point on, The Survey proves itself to be a great little horror game. It’s short, and most players finish it in about 2 hours, but I absolutely loved it. There are fantastic scares, and it’s more of an exploration game like Gone Home where you get to enjoy the atmosphere and subtle qualities because you’re not so distracted running around. Once I hid in a closet from… something… but I don’t know if I even needed to. This isn’t Slenderman where you’ll be running around the house. It’s an experience that is great at building fear.

It is always great when a horror game really delivers a powerful story, and The Survey doesn’t disappoint. I was struck with how emotional and almost depressing it all was. Throughout the game, there are hints at what has happened, but it kept me guessing until the last shot before the credits. I found myself just sort of sitting there, dumbfounded. It was terrifying and upsetting all at once but I really enjoyed the experience.

That’s not to say that it is perfect. One jarring problem was my very own pixelated shadow, and there were a few moments where it really broke the tension as I cracked up laughing watching it bobbing along beside me. It sways along at a different pace than you are walking at. But it is worth noting that this may be due to my other problem with the game: my walking speed. It reminded me of your speed in Fallout or Skyrim when you’re “over encumbered” and begin to move at a snail’s pace. I wasn’t thrilled by this, but I was tolerant of it because it seemed that was what the game intended.

I assumed that maybe that was their way of building the tension, but after watching a Let’s Play I was shocked to see him walking at a much more normal pace. While I was playing I saw no hint of lag or stutter that is usually associated with a computer not running a game properly. The audio never lagged either. Basically, the game runs flawlessly on my laptop, but my walking speed is half what it could and should have been. I know it’s not just me, because there is a discussion thread on Steam about this. None of us can figure out if it was something they changed in an update at some point, or if some computers just can’t run it right. I was able to overlook this because the game never requires you to rush anywhere, but it can be quite annoying for some and so it was worth noting.

There have also been reports of the game crashing for some, and I did experience it twice. The first time it happened I had only been playing for about 10 minutes, and the second time was just after the game had autosaved, so it never affected me too much. Crashing is crashing, however, and it’s not to be excused. Other players haven’t had it crash at all, so keep this in mind as well. So far I have yet to determine why it happens to some, but a common time it happens is when players bring up their cellphone. The Survey has no manual save feature, and I have heard it only autosaves once near the middle of the game. I can confirm it did save around the mid-point, but there was no indication that it was saving, so for all I know it saves more than once. This is definitely frustrating unless you sit down aware of this ahead of time.

While I do have my issues with the game, I still had a great time playing it. The Survey is currently priced at $4.99 USD, and while I wish it was a bit less, I would recommend it to my friends. If anyone knows an answer to the walking speed issue, please let me know in the comments below!

Stay scared,
Dark Princess