It Moves

It Moves is filled with plenty of unsettling environments to explore which make you question your own sanity in venturing further and further into their dark embrace.

pretty freaky monsters

It Moves is another independently developed horror game that proves you don't need big budgets and super fancy visuals to create a shocking and memorable experience, just so long as you have a healthy dollop of creativity. This one builds on childhood fears of darkness and what lurks within and then throws in a nice mixture of exploration, puzzle solving and tense encounters with some pretty freaky monsters to create a solid all-round horror experience.

Some fears are not unfounded

The game plays out in overhead fashion, similar to 16-bit RPG classics and finds the player in control of a young lad who happens to be pretty afraid of the dark and for whom bedtime is a time of absolute terror. Unfortunately, he's about to find that his fears aren't unfounded and that everything his parents told him about being safe in bed is completely untrue. The adventure that follows is memorable and terrifying in equal measure but which doesn't fall back on clichéd jump scares to create tension and instead is successful simply by providing solid gameplay which makes you think and which again shows that less is often more.

question your own sanity

Perhaps the best part of the game is the wonderfully understated atmosphere, with plenty of unsettling environments to explore which really do make you question your own sanity in venturing further and further into their dark embrace. The game uses a gritty colour scheme which is reminiscent of horror movies like the Saw franchise, while the lighting is particularly effective at ramping up the tension. Only a small portion of each area is typically revealed and with the rest left in shadows, leaving you to populate those darkened corners with all sorts of imagined terrors. Fortunately though, not everything is left to the imagination and moments of fear and terror are frequent and superbly well handled, with some truly memorable setpieces.

Puzzles: genuinely clever little head scratchers

The puzzles too are integrated nicely into proceedings, and don't feel tacked on, instead being an integral part of the experience which serve to heighten the drama and push the narrative along. There are some genuinely clever little head scratchers which will keep you entertained and challenged and which again help to elevate the game to the next level of quality.

It Moves | CREEPYPASTA: THE GAME (YouTube video by Markiplier)