Transparency Item: The Perspectives section of the Graphic is comprised of articles based on opinion. This is the opinion and perspective of the writer.
The horror game genre has gone through many phases and trends throughout the years. For a while, it mainly consisted of survival horror games such as the ever-so-popular “Resident Evil” series and “Silent Hill.”
After, came psychological horror with titles like “Omori” and “Doki Doki Literature Club.” Then, asymmetrical horror with games such as “Dead by Daylight.” More recently the multiplayer horror trend is seen in “Phasmophobia” and “Lethal Company.”
Subsequently, the mascot horror trend with indie games such as “Five Nights at Freddy’s” and “Poppy Playtime” has gained significant popularity, embedding itself as the current leading trend into gaming culture.
Mascot horror is a newer term coined in the horror game genre as Five Nights at Freddy’s spawned a series of less-than-stellar imitations attempting to catch up to the lore-heavy, jump-scare horror from unsettling animal mascots.
Much of the mascot horror genre’s rise to prominence came through gaming YouTubers’ reactions such as Markiplier and theorizers such as MatPat. From there came “Poppy Playtime,” “Choo-Choo Charles“, “Hello Neighbor,” and “Case: Animatronics,” just to name a few.
While it was interesting for a while, the mascot horror genre has fallen far from the pedestal it has sat on for over a decade.
By now, game developers have taken note of the changing trends, so we have seen a mix of different games released recently that are a lot more creative, branching out into different genres.
There’s “Buckshot Roulette,” an indie tabletop horror, “The Outlast Trials,” a co-op game, “Still Wakes the Deep,” a walking simulator and many others. While I think these games are terrific, they all come from different genres demonstrating how horror games have yet to solidify a specific trend in recent years
But, seemingly out of nowhere, an older horror title regained fame very recently and it got me thinking: Is it possibly a sign of a change in the horror game genre?
A game called “I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream” re-emerged. The game is based on a book by Harlan Ellison who also voiced the antagonist of the game, an AI computer named Allied Mastercomputer, shortened to AM.
“I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream” depicts a post-apocalyptic world where AM has taken over and imprisoned and tortured five humans for 109 years.
I think the subject of AI taking over the world is quite relevant today, so a game that came out so long ago about the very same fear reaching today’s masses is quite telling.
Many more recent games have also reflected this sense of foreboding dread set in more reality compared to the zany mascot horror.
“Mouthwashing” is an indie horror game that depicts a crew under a corporate contract stranded on a spaceship with only mouthwash to eat.
“The Closing Shift” showcases the story of a girl working a night shift with the looming threat of a stalker. “Fears to Fathom” is an episodic horror game based on real-life experiences of different people
It is striking to see just how much some of these story-based games reflect the current state of the world and are grounded in very real fears compared to how fantastical and almost whimsical the mascot horror sub-genre is.
The positive reception toward these indie games and bringing back older games speaks volumes about our fears these days: something more tangible than what mascot horror can offer.
Developers have chosen to depict criminals, stalkers, corporate settings and more earthly fears over fantastical horror featuring animatronic bears. It is intriguing to see how newer titles have chosen more grounded scenarios to depict in comparison to mascot horror.
While I do not believe that a full shift to a different genre is not going to happen for a long time with “Five Nights At Freddy’s” still having substantial popularity and “Poppy Playtime” continuously releasing more chapters in its overall story, I believe that these are surefire signs of a tonal shift in the video game horror genre as a whole.
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Contact Christy Thien via email: christy.thien@pepperdine.edu or by Instagram: @christy.e.t
