Haunted Ps1 Summer of Screams Jam Recap Part 2
Summer has come to a close, and with it, the submission period for the Haunted PS1 Summer of Screams Jam. Close to two months of sowing, and now we the audience get to reap; 66 horror games submitted, all unique and fascinating in their own right. Had we the time we’d dissect and probably praise just about all of them. Yesterday we showed five games worth starting with. Today we’re going to show you five more.
I Envy You, That You Will Touch the Vault of Heaven
Look, I’m not going to lie to you guys, I entirely chose to play I Envy You, That You Will Touch the Vault of Heaven because that is one of the most rad names I’ve ever heard of for a game.
Did I make the right choice? Yeah, probably. I Envy You is currently not really a full game, but rather a series of prototype scenes to get an idea of what the developer is going for in a full game. It’s broken down into three parts. First, there’s the “ascent” of the tower, which is really just going up a large tower and finding an unlocked door by clicking around. The third part is just a quick conversation, tossing some vague and slightly threatening lines of dialogue at you. Both are very short but do some decent world-building. However, it’s the middle part where the meat is.
For the middle you get to experience combat, which is first-person turn-based. You can spend action points to move, throw bricks, or fight a monster. The arena is a small puzzle boss, having you throw bricks to knock down pillars that weaken the enemy’s damage. It’s clearly still in beta, but there’s enough good ideas here that this can easily be drawn out into a full game, one I would gladly play. Also I really want to discover more of this world.
I Envy You, That You Will Touch the Vault of Heaven was made by STRACHKVAS and you can grab it here.
Pigsaw
Get it? Instead of Jigsaw it’s Pigsaw.
Look if you hand a bunch of saws to pigs then what you get is Pigsaw, an action horror FPS where you need to escape from a slaughterhouse run by mad pigs. They can kill you in a heartbeat, so you probably want to make sure you don’t get on their bad side. Or caught. There are some basic stealth elements, mostly in avoiding getting seen and crouching to avoid making noise, and if you manage to catch a pig by surprise you can deal some extra damage.
Eventually, you get a shotgun, and you can at least try to bring the fight to the pigs some. It’s still likely you’ll die a lot, but having the ability to actually fight back is refreshing. There’s something about getting to use a double barreled shotgun to blow away a pig that attempts to cut you up with a sawblade attached to its arm, you know? The gun has a nice meaty feel to it, enemies ragdolling is always a good time, and also I had to put work into dodging sawblades. In all, it’s a good time.
Pigsaw was made by Achebit. You can grab it here.
Death Flush
When I was a kid I was afraid of the toilet. Apparently I wasn’t the only one, as this has become the plot for horror game Death Flush.
Yes, I’m serious. The game stars a pair of lovers, Ronnie and his girlfriend who I’m never really sure gets named. A long time ago Ronnie’s grandfather was killed by a toilet-themed killer named the Toilet Seat Killer. Now Ronnie has an absurd fear of the bathroom, despite his overwhelming need to pee. It’s a hilarious b-movie setup that’s full of absurd voice acting, strange plot points, bad animation, and some other great nonsense.
Yet this all comes together for a rather fantastic 30 minute game that is worth experiencing for all those wonderful reasons. You’ll be solving simple puzzles, running from serial killers, eating bathroom mints, and doing a boss fight around a giant toilet. There’s also about one toilet pun every minute, which seems important to note. What I’m saying is, this is easily my favorite horror comedy of the year.
Death Flush was made by Imposter Syndrome. You can grab it here.
Rococo
Everyone has snuck out of bed to go steal cookies from the cookie jar at least once. It’s what you do. Rococo emulates this, just with a twist.
Rococo doesn’t quite look like it belongs with the other games on this list at first. It’s the bright cheery colors, the synthwave vibe, bouncy floor, and cute version of Clair De Lune. Your goal is to simply bounce on the floor higher and higher so you can reach the forbidden cookies and snack a little. After all, what else are you supposed to do with floating cookies?
Sure it all looks cute, but Rococo hides a dark secret. One that I don’t want to spoil for you. The whole game is only three minutes long, but I highly suggest quickly getting through it. It’s very worth playing through. Plus, after you win, you can unlock a fun epilogue that lets you explore the weird synthwave world a little bit.
Rococo was made by colter. You can grab it here.
Animals in Buildings
While the Summer of Screams is a celebration of spooky, there’s always time for some good ol’ fashion spoopy. Thus, we get Animals in Buildings
It’s a bit of a classic trope in post-apocalypse media, where you get to see some animals inside of a building that they very clearly do not belong in. Thankfully Animals in Buildings takes place in the post-post-apocalypse, so now nothing really belongs in buildings. You’ll play as a cat with a sword and a quest to start a new era by reclaiming a throne from what remains of humanity.
The whole thing plays like a classic Ps1-era 3D platformer. It has a fun feel and you get a sword that you can use to smack around slimes and anthropomorphic crocodiles. There’s plenty of hidden collectibles to find as well. It all starts with a fun bouncy vibe, but the further you get in the game the more off things start to feel. The building you’re wandering becomes stranger, skeletons start to stare at you, and the game leans harder into its spoopy vibe.
Animals in Buildings was made by Mynki James. You can grab it here.
