On July 26, British game designer Sam Barlow, who also created Silent Hill: Shattered Memories and Telling Lies, will release a new horror mystery FMV game titled Immortality, which will be the third "found footage" horror title Barlow has created. "Found footage" is a cinematic style where the work is presented as if it's simply recovered footage rather than a pre-planned, directed, and edited experience.
While titles such as The Blair Witch Project, Paranormal Activity, and Cloverfield prove that the concept can work in films, there're also some games that successfully utilize this style. Without including games like Resident Evil 7: Biohzard that only use it occasionally, there're still plenty of excellent "found footage" horror games like Barlow's Her Story.
Amanda the Adventurer (2022)
Created for The DreadXP Found Footage Jam on Itch.io, Amanda the Adventurer is a short 2022 indie game that's inspired by edutainment shows like Dora the Explorer. The game follows an unnamed player character who finds three old VHS tapes of the titular kids show Amanda the Adventurer. Each tape has one episode, and the player is able to click on objects within the show and type in answers to Amanda's questions.
While everything seems relatively normal at first, the show becomes increasingly unsettling over the course of the episodes, and it quickly becomes clear that Amanda is more than what she seems. Though the experience is short, the well-designed characters and the uncanny mix of edutainment nostalgia and analog horror make it a memorable game, which has been demonstrated by the recently established fanbase for it.
Feeding_Log_01172013 (2022)
Developed for the 50th Ludum Dare Game Jam, the short 2022 game Feeding_Log_01172013 is another example of a great FMV experience. The protagonist stumbles across a classified tape that features live-action footage of a person trying to feed Specimens Alpha and Beta, but this person discovers that the creatures have broken out of their cages. Strangely, to keep this person alive, the player must pause, play, and fast-forward the tape at the right moments.
Regardless of whether the tape is playing or paused, the player will hear Alpha and Beta, which will help them know where the creatures are. To create the directional audio, the developer actually made an in-game 3D environment that corresponds to the live-action footage. Even though the execution could use some more work, the unique gameplay ideas make the game a worthwhile experience.
Beat the Buzzer (2022)
Another game that was created for The DreadXP Found Footage Jam is the 2022 indie game Beat the Buzzer, which is one of the many great horror games on Itch.io. The game follows a woman named Clarissa Dunst who trades bootlegs of unaired TV shows and indie films. One day, she receives a tape of episode 4 of a game show called Beat the Buzzer where contestants must answer trivia questions before the buzzer goes off in order to win one million dollars.
She quickly discovers that the tape is haunted, however, and she must help the contestant, Randall, answer the questions correctly in order to uncover the horrifying truth behind this episode. With a hand-drawn art style and an intriguing mystery to solve, players will be engaged and will want to solve the mysteries.
Blut Club (2022)
Created by French indie developer Xena-Spectrale, who also developed the horror-based Metroidvania Sanctuarium Online, Blut Club is a short 2022 indie game and another game created for The DreadXP Found Footage Jam. Taking place in 2003, the unnamed protagonist stumbles across a lost mobile phone.
To uncover what happened to three missing individuals, the player will experience what happened within the nightclub "Blut Club" by controlling the person who filmed the events on their phone. Rather than a regular nightclub, the Blut Club seems to be similar to the establishment in the 1998 film Blade. Despite only being a five-minute experience, the game is memorable because of the unique perspective of watching the tiny phone screen while things happen around it.
The Building 71 Incident (2021)
Created for the developer's Undergraduate Thesis, The Building 71 Incident is a 2021 atmospheric walking sim that takes place in southern Brazil. Between 1997 and 1998, the titular Building 71, which is a building on a university campus, is seemingly closed because of a gas leak. During that time, however, strange activities began happening within the building. To uncover what's happening, the protagonist, an unnamed man, sneaks into Building 71 and begins recording his investigation.
Now, the protagonist has been reported missing, but some of his recordings have been released to the public. Although the gameplay is somewhat similar to P.T., the quick pacing, eerie scenes, and lack of jumpscares make this game engaging, unlike most P.T. clones.
September 1999 (2018)
Developed by 98demake, who also created the '90s inspired game OK/NORMAL, September 1999 is a 2018 free five-minute horror experience. Over the course of several days in September of 1999, the unnamed protagonist films short snippets of what appears to be their own house as they do something horrifying.
Although the game uses 3D graphics, the use of filters and details makes the footage look real. While the game is incredibly short, the concise narrative is effective and impactful.
ARD: Anomalous Research Department (2021)
Co-created by Modus Interactive, who developed the driving horror game Groaning Steel, and Corpsepile, creators of the horror open house simulator The Open House, ARD: Anomalous Research Department is a short horror demo that was a hidden game on the 2021 Haunted PS1 Demo Disk. The game features art-work from famous horror artist Trevor Henderson.
In the basement of a local community college, the unnamed protagonist finds an old '90s computer that belonged to the now-defunct Anomalous Research Department. While navigating the retro desktop, the player can read emails, look at photos, change the desktop background, experience an old maze screensaver, and finally watch the terrifying video that led to the department's demise. The accurate '90s computer interface and the amazingly unsettling art-works from Henderson create a horror experience that doesn't exist anywhere else.
Maple County (2021)
Based on Alex Kister's YouTube analog horror web series The Mandela Catalogue, Maple County is a short horror game where the player watches the Maple County Police Department's training video on alternates, which are mysterious creatures who try to look like ordinary humans in order to kill people. At first, the player simply interacts with the video by selecting which images depict alternates.
But, as the VHS tape continues, the video slowly gets corrupted until the player finds themself watching a recorded encounter with one of the alternates. The success of this title led to several other games based on The Mandela Catalogue, such as Assessment Examination and Mandela Invasion. But, this game is the only one so far that truly captures the same terror the original web series provides.
Her Story (2015)
Before developing the spiritual successor Telling Lies, Sam Barlow created the 2015 award-winning FMV mystery game Her Story, which helped repopularize the FMV genre. On an old desktop, the player slowly uncovers what happened to a missing man named Simon by watching seven fictional police interviews of his wife, Hannah Smith.
Since the interviews are cut into 271 clips, the player must use the computer's "L.O.G.I.C. Database" to sort through all the content. By typing in keywords from the videos into the database, certain clips appear that contain those words. Because the game never gives a straightforward explanation, the player must draw their own conclusions about the case. This makes the experience feel more realistic and immersive, and the player feels accomplished when they uncover the secrets.
Simulacra Series (2016-2019)
Beginning with the 2016 spiritual predecessor Sara Is Missing, Simulacra is a series of FMV horror games where the player somehow discovers a lost phone. To uncover what happened to the phone's owner, the player must look through the emails, text messages, photos, videos, contacts, apps, and more.
Eventually, it's revealed that a "race" of A.I.s known as Simulacra are trying to create a "perfect" digital society by killing humans in the real world and assimilating their consciousness into the virtual space. The large amount of little details in each game makes players truly feel as if they're looking through a real person's phone.