A really good children's horror story. No, really, I don't mean that as a pejorative, good horror stories for children are very much a thing, a possibility still. This is one that might fit nicely along with something like Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (on that note: - OK I think my mind is a little clearer now). Perhaps Grimm's Fairy Tales even. Or anything else considered a work of children's fiction that's actually pretty f'ed-up when you bother to take a look at it (which is too many things to count). It's not exactly the most original story out there but it is told well and with a folkloric element to it. I don't want to say much more but... yeah, it's a nice creepy little game in of itself and a good horror title to scare your kids.

The game is actually told, in part at least, as a "story within a story" with an introduction from Grandma Agnes, who may arguably be the most frightening thing about this game, and who occasionally stops by to provide some narration (I do wonder what parts of her storytelling got cut - "and so he interacted with a flower pot, finding out that it was merely but a flower pot. Then he went on to interact with the next flower pot, to find that, it too, was merely just a flower pot." "he was stuck on this particular puzzle for some time. And then... he was stuck some more! Mwahahaha! Oh, but then he realized, he needed to collect the bladed item he had seen earlier to use on the plant for his ingredient, so he treaded back..."), but mostly it's just about a family of three, mother, father, and son, in the year 1914 (or was it 1913? one of those, pick your poison) who inherited a mansion from a deceased uncle of the mother's. Thing is, they weren't close at all, so it was odd that they were the inheritors in his will. Yeah we've seen this story before, it never ends well.

You start off playing as the kid and you wander around looking at things, doing little tasks, like getting a key by using a plunger on a shower drain, and so on. Among the noteworthy things to look at are the collection of paintings around the place, all of which depict a troll-like creature of sorts. There's even at least one I recognized, a great painting by the also great Norwegian artist Theodor Kittelsen! There's also one that's just a set of red eyes looking at you in the dark, which creeped me out when I saw it for some reason.

So at some point you decide you want to explore the woods in the back. Your parents let you, as long as you get back in time for supper! Predictably, you don't. This is when you take control of the father, whose one heavily emphasized characteristic is that he has severe back pain, though for someone with chronic back pain who even needs medicine for it he's pretty mobile, and runs surprisingly fast even. So you attempt to go in the woods yourself but because it's dark and you don't want to get lost, you wimp out and go back. Actually, I probably would too. The little wooded area in the back is very well-done. It gets gradually darker as you go along, and you're met with a combination of noises, from sounds of nature in nocturnal form, ambient rumblings, and what sounds like the growling of some unholy beast. These definitely tense you up.

So, as dad, back in the manse, you decide the kid will surely come back on his own eventually, maybe, but in the meantime let's see what this crazy uncle of ours left behind! And it's some crazy stuff alright. Research into alchemy, writings of witness accounts of the kinds of things that would befit the sounds of growling from unholy beasts and so on. Things take a turn for the... strange, and somewhat disgusting near the end, and at the actual end, quite morbid.

But just when you thought you could safely close out of the game Gamgam Agnes pops up and freaks you the fuck out to tell you the moral of this story (which is... what exactly? If you're a poor family with a dead, distant uncle who leaves a mansion in his will, don't accept it? Yeah I think we've learned that from tons of horror stories already, thanks granny), then disappears with a cackle. Personally, I'd like to see her get her own horror game. It'd make for an effective one, I'll tell you that.

So, besides being a nice little horror game, what I really like most about it is that And knowing that the SnowOwl games I played have at least some elements of what I just mentioned in all of them this shows some solid versatility on his part, keeping on the same path of the types of games he wants to make while trying something different whether this was his intention or not. Besides the classic dark fairy tale-esque story element it's also the above reasons hidden (so as to not spoil people's expectations) that I see this as solid horror game for a wide range of ages. Considering all the crazy, scary shit kids all over have grown up with, including my generation, this is a good entry point for the wide world of "RPG Maker horror" which yes I do seriously see as a "thing," a "movement" if you will, with a lot of games and some really good ones at that. This I wouldn't say is among the absolute best of that genre, nor do I see it as SnowOwl's best work even (Rust and Blood for that, edging out Miserere probably) but good work all the same.