The Grandfather Demo

Not many horror games manage to leave a lasting impression on the players, mostly because they rely on shock and gore to scare them. However, if a bit of psychology is mixed into the experience, the effects can last for years, and even cause a few long-term memories. Such was the case with games like Amnesia: The Dark Descent and Silent Hill, as well as a few other memorable titles over the years.

The Grandfather is weird, and it makes that pretty obvious from the first few seconds of gameplay. Everything appears to be erratic and out of place, especially the environments and the plot. The story is presented using comic book-style panels and a voice-over, but the imagery is confusing and disturbing in most cases. Hence, if you are up for something new and maybe a few nightmares, this is definitely worth a try.

The plot talks about an old man who is tormented by nightmares and awful thoughts, but it’s rather difficult to say what the actual idea behind the story is at this point. Dismembered limbs and strange rooms are what you have to go through right now, but the comic book intermissions hint at something else as well. Sadness seems to be the dominant sentiment as well, so the entire concoction is quite potent.

Gameplay-wise, it’s all about solving puzzles and unlocking the way further. The perspective alternates between fully-3D sections and classic 2D environments, both of which are pretty disturbing. In essence, you have to solve puzzles by combining items and figure out how to use their effects to advance, but it may take a while to understand how everything works. A tutorial would be helpful, but that may be part of the final version.

As mentioned earlier, the imagery is quite disturbing, but the actual graphics are not exactly state-of-the-art from a technical point of view. In fact, most of the visual elements are hand-drawn, which adds an extra layer of creepiness to the entire package. The procedural soundtrack is an interesting gimmick as well, which means that the players can create sounds and melodies by clicking on certain objects, or simply by solving the puzzles.

All things considered, The Grandfather may be a bit too experimental for some folks to feel comfortable playing it, but there’s certainly potential here. As long as the gameplay doesn’t get too frustrating to be scary, the game can become quite a hit with the fans of the horror genre.

Note: The Grandfather is currently undergoing an IndieGoGo campaign, which means that you can help the development process by donating money. If you want to help, you can simply visit the official project page and decide for yourself if you want to contribute.