Anonymous Messages

3D Unity game in which the main hero wonders around woods, completely alone collecting voice messages. There is no need to emphasize that this clearly is yet another Slender-man rip off - a typical first person 3D horror game. The game is quite short, it takes no more then 15 minutes to finish, because this is an alpha version (it means it was never finished).

What is it about

In "Anonymous Messages" main hero has no recollection of any previous events. He doesn't know how did he get in this dark forest, or why, or how to get out. Brief and poor instructions at the beginning of the game suggest that the key to your salvation is in collecting recording tapes. There are 'Anonymous messages' recorded on these tapes, which slowly reveal pieces of the puzzle and lead towards an exit. Since wandering around this cold and dark woods is very stressful, your heart rate slowly starts to rise. If it reaches 225, you die. Another role of the messages is to bring down your heart rate back to normal at 60 beats per minute.

The game was made in such manner that the atmosphere itself makes a certain dose of tension. Still, the only jumpscare moments are those when player comes across trees which come to life in front of him. Overall, the game is not too scary, but still falls into the horror genre.

The ending of the game in sketchy and wasn't thought all the way through, and the explanation is certainly not satisfactory. It turns out that the main hero was building a 'time machine' to bring his late wife back to life, but something had gone wrong. And then, on top of everything, it looks like he is the one in a coma, and not his wife. Confused memory fragments are mixed with impulses of a dying body, which is making the whole story, this story, in his head. Something like that, I guess...

About the author

The author of the game are 'Bug Games'. This version we have here is alpha version, and it was never improved. At the moment there is another game in making, under the name Anonymous Messages: Origins. This project is still in its early stages and can be found at Steam Greenlight. Credits: Danar Kayfi (programmer) and Mohammed Dmour. Down below you can find a teaser trailer for 'Origins'.

Controls

They are standard for Slenderman rip-offs. There is even an 'f' control - for flashlight.

• WASD - move
• mouse - look/camera
• esc - pause
• R - replay the last message

Conclusion

In the end, this is definitely not the best horror game out there, but it's not the most horrible one either. Tree mechanics could have been a lot better to begin with.

Anonymous Messages: Origins (Teaser)