Yeah, everyone’s talking about the expressions the girl is making, but can we take note that when you can hear the Hag’s footsteps, the girl looks in the direction the Hag is in based on where the sounds are coming from?
Also when you're in hiding and the had passes by you, the footsteps gradually het louder the closer she is, fck I thought somebody was behind me hahaha
Like someone said below, i love how the girl actually has different reactions to certain parts of the game. When she hides and the Hag gets near, her panic adds to it. Even the detail of her sweating and her eyes following the monster's direction. Like she is in so much fear, she has to keep a close eye. Things like that, adds to the suspense. And when she gets spotted, she gets shocked and continues to act so, until she is hidden out of sight. Even when she goes down to the basement area, you can see she is nervous and scared of the dark, even with the little light she had. A complete contrast to the unemotional sprites in some games, and i'm all for it. It adds a sense of realness to it!
Agreed! And the girl's eyes following the hag's footsteps also help confirm what your ears are hearing in terms of where the hag is. It's like a hint that helps you know when the witch is passing above or below you.
@@Tenshii_Artii i mean that the character on this game gives a lot of emotions by how he looks around while frisk from undertale has always the same face even on the worst situations
@@danielc.6769 Well, i actually don't play Undertale. So i don't know much of it. Which it would have been unfair to make a comparison with something i didn't know of. I also said 'some'. Not all.
So the Hag's story is hinted throughout...There was a house with a mother witch and two daughters. The one of the daughters was born deformed and eventually went mad. She hated her appearance so she smashed all the mirrors and even torn out her own face from the family portrait. At some point she turned her mother and sister into grubs and kept them in the basement. Any children or people who entered the house would be turned into an insects and killed. Small detail, the player kills a kid that was turned into a slug for a key he swallowed.
Expressions change when: Tired (Low stamina) Grasping for air Hag isn't near (Far away) Normal Hag is wandering (Mostly far) Looking around Hag is near (Behind) Sharpened eyes Hag is near (While hiding) Or in darkness (In basement) Sweating and panic Hag has found you (Chased) Shocked You escaped (Ran away) Literally a cry for help
That's the beauty of intended uncanny valley. You take a comforting inviting thing and incorporate it with something horrifying or unsettling That's what makes this game so wonderful
Love how the ending leaves it to your own personal interpretation: Like did the hag actually come back for the poor girl, or is that a mere product of the now troubled girl's traumatized mind feeling like she hasn't truly escaped?
As someone who suffered from PTSD, I’ve felt I didn’t escape the god forsaken country I came from years after I came to the US, the second is plausible
@@avabeyva I agree with you on that, it's just that the douchebags at Cartoon Network took everything that we all enjoyed watching off the air and replaced them with new and unenjoyable shows.😠
@@ashleyyoung796 Some modern shows like Mao Mao, Infinity Train, Craig of the Creek and Summer Camp Island are really nice, but ones like TTG, The Fungies, and Ben 10 reboot are bummers definitely >:( Haha I love how there's a discussion going on about Cartoon Network under a horror game video
my interpretation of the ending is that the girl in fact did escape and live, the shadow of the old hag was just a representation of her having PTSD I am not some angsty sad teen so I actually much prefer happy endings because this girl just deserved it after all those stuff she went through.
I was not expecting the little girl to have to _immediately_ plunge the hatchet into the hag's hideous face. Definitely caught me (and the girl) off guard.
Attention to detail. Her pupils dilate from the sheer terror and adrenaline when the hag goes over to check the girl’s hiding spot. It’s like her mind is saying “This is it. This is the end.”. And then the hag goes away. And the girl calms down. Makes me want to go all out and protect her. In the ending scene, I could pretty much relate to her. Back then, while I was 7 years old, I would sleep in the dark... But when I opened my eyes, there were shadowy figures in the my room. There’s a scientific name for such things but I forgot. Then I started sleeping with a bright LED night light plugged in. I’m 20 years old now, but I sleep with two night lights, and a laptop on full bright running under my bed. I do this... Especially in the sketchy neighborhood that I’m in. And I lock my door. And I cover my window. When I do try to sleep in minimal light, I sleep with my back to the wall. If I don’t, I have these automatic thoughts spiraling through my mind. *“There’s something behind you.”* is what goes through my mind if I sleep facing the wall instead of away. Then I start believing that there’s something behind me, and I wouldn’t be able to sleep. I want to turn around, but I can’t. And when I do, and eternity has already passed. This game has resurfaced some night phobias of my younger childhood. But I’m alright now. And no, it was not night terrors or sleep paralysis demons. I can clearly remember rushing my light switch in record time. Maybe for the girl in this game, it was all just a nightmare. Maybe it was real and she was kidnapped. But there is a lesson to be had here. Children have growing imaginations, and a unique perception of things that socially normal adults don’t have. If anyone ever has children, take care of, love, and protect them. But not to an obscene obsession. What they say may or may not be true. But we must act accordingly and responsibly for their sakes. Because there are emotional scars that can follow them into adulthood. A perfect example would be me. Wow. This game really did a number on me. The only other game that seems similar in the tension factor with a little innocent girl as the playable character is called “Dreaming Mary”. But this one feels way too surreal to be compared to that game. Edit: Attention gamers. If you look closely and analyze the ending scene, you can see the lamp is on full blast. Yet the witch got inside. Door is closed. Curtain is... Wait... Cover your windows is what I said... But the window... It’s not covered by the curtains. Oh no.
Wow. I didn’t expect anyone to listen. Let me elaborate on my childhood. I was simple. The youngest of three brothers. I wasn’t perfect, and I was usually getting into trouble a lot. Went to church. I’m of Christian faith. Prayed to God, served my sacred obligation to him. Played lots of PC video games, and Nintendo games from 2000-2010. Loved to eat. And I helped my parents do chores. Went to school. Blah blah blah. But I had a different mindset aside from others. Not a psychopathic one. Nor a distorted reality. Actually... A different mindset is pretty normal I guess... So how was it that I was able to see things in the dark? I still see things in the dark to this day. My house was normal. Not haunted. I lived in a decent neighborhood. I live in a new house with my family. Not haunted. Mind you this in California, USA. Spot on in the middle of Silicon Valley, where a lot of science and technology happens. It’s not the safest place in the world... But still. I don’t like the dark. Pitch dark. Outside the house darkness with the natural moon light, and ambient LED street and house light... Pretty relaxing. Especially with the cool night air during summer. But... I see things at my home, when the sun goes down. Just recently, I saw a old lady in white inside the kitchen. Noped right back to my room. Gosh... I have a craving for food at that time. Or my mind will start making out dark faces in the windows when there’s no one even there. When that happens, I have to turn on all the lights and steel my nerves. It’s especially intense when I’m all alone and my family has gone somewhere for a couple of days. Sometimes one of my parents or brothers stays with my. But if I’m alone, every little sound unnerves me. When the sun starts to go down, it’s time to turn my house into and impenetrable fortress. I close and lock all the doors and windows. I cover all the windows. I get my snacks, water, flashlight, and a long kitchen knife. I even have a Bible and a hardwood stick. I cover the bottom of my door with a towel so no light peeks through. And I wait out the long night browsing the Internet until the sun rises. Even my closet. I don’t have a walk in door closet. Mine is a sliding door mirror closet. I block it with a stick so it can’t slide open. And lets not forget the AC vent. I closed it partially so that I can’t see inside, but open enough to have air flow through. Maybe I’m just paranoid. Or I’ve had a long day and need a glass of water and some sleep. Whoever is reading this, it’s alright if you don’t believe what I’m saying. You don’t have to. Just listening to me rambling about my personal experiences with the dark comforts me. Thank you. Stay safe out there during this... Situation. Enjoy your video games.
Some final things that I want to add. I guess this is why I’m a narcoleptic insomniac. I also make sure to eat and use the bathroom before night. This one time, I was with my family at visiting our cousins at their house. I was probably 9 during that time. My parents were taking with my aunt. I was with her son, whose a little older than my second oldest brother.We were playing games on his PSP in his room... Then he goes outside and tells me to wait. Then he turns off his light and holds the door shut. It was complete pitch black darkness. His window was covered completely. The bottom of his door was covered by his carpet floor. I was in full panic screaming for more than half a minute trying to pull his door open. Yeah... I need therapy. The darkness part of the game, and the ending scene really awoke a lot of my past fears and forgotten memories of the dark.
Okay... Final reply. I skipped the introduction. The girl entered the place on a dare. That’s even worse. It’s already a red flag to see an abandoned house. But if there’s rumors going about it... Not even for money would I go inside on. I watch Top 15s/Chills. I browse the 4chan and the dark web. I’ve seen things. Not illegal criminal activity. But paranormal activity. Irl and on the Internet. I delve deep into the recesses of websites and books. I know information that no one my age or younger should ever have to know. Especially when I’ve been exposed to that kind of darkness for almost the entirety of my existence that I have lived.
Truly incredible how the detail of the child changing face expression depending on the situation Is cute, Unnerving, usefull gameplay wise and adds so much character without even having her(him?) Speak. Hats Off to the creator.
I adore the artstyle, soundtrack and coding dynamics of the game. Her looking around frantically when she knows the witch is near or when she's running gives so much to the vibe. Even small details like her sweating while hiding, the witch stopping right above where she hears noise below, and her looking at the dead rat briefly amplify on the intensity and immersion of the game! Plus that the art style gives off heavy 2000's horror cartoon network vibes and I love it!
I also noticed that the little girl turns her eyes towards the direction of the witche’s foot steps (actually that might be just her looking at interactiveable objects). THATS GNARLY DUDE 😎 !
I LOVE the Witch in this game holy crap. It's like taking all the stereotypes of typical cartoony witches and cranking it up to an unnatural degree. Even down to her cackle, which sounds like it's coming from something that doesn't know how to laugh properly. Also- it looks like it's not an old lady, but rather is wearing an old lady like a costume.
During her jumpscare, both her eyes look at random directions and her teeth are closed, but when she laughs, she smiles and the right eye (which is missing the pupil) looks at you. This definitely looks like a monster wearing a body.
@@thelastmlg2699 maybe the witch got involved with dark magic/demons and as a result they took over her body? it would explain why her teeth seem so sunken into her mouth/the general lack of mouth skin on her.
Just have the grown-up version of the girl's daughter get kidnapped in the sequel, and you alternate between the two. Hell, you could even make this one hag part of a much wider conspiracy to traffic children. Maybe draw some inspiration from The Witches and/or The Promised Neverland.
Maybe the ending could be like a repeat of this one, but with something a little bit stronger. Like an actual axe instead of a hatchet, or a sledgehammer, or a shotgun, etc. Which would actually kill the Hag.
@OmegaGamer EX But how would hiding work with 2 characters? Would you go into a simultaneous control split-screen mode where both characters have to find a hiding place if one is seen?
Things I've noticed about the game so far: - Is it just me (or simply the art style) or does the witch's face sorta look like a mask? (look closely at the jumpscare at 1:03) Especially towards the end (8:42) despite taking a hatchet to the face only the skin appears to be split (again could be me but still) - Pretty sure the "slug with human eyes" is a previous child victim, meaning the girl may or may not have committed murder - Who are the girls depicted in the paintings in the loft (6:40)? and why in the middle portrait is the person on the left has their face torn out? A cool game overall, I'll have to play it myself.
I'm pretty sure that the portraits on the wall are the Witche's in her younger days. I mean, the colors, the aging, how her skin seems to fall off on her what seems to be her adulthood, which would finally making her look like what she is now... Maybe her thing is that since her face is messed up, she kidnapped girls to take their skin and transform them into a slug? (You gave me that idea) Or, maybe that slug is just a zombie slug (based on the real life zombie snail. Look it up, those are real. Scariest shit I've ever seen. Among... Other things... )
@@Gazing-09 The right portrait is a girl with a flower on her head (she's also in the middle portrait), the portrait on the right is clearly the witch in the past (same nose and facial lines). So clearly the witch had company in the past but is now alone.
To pull from some theories in the comments, I believe the Hag is the girl in the portraits with her face torn out. All the mirrors in the house are broken as well, it wouldn't be hard to believe that she wasn't too fond of her appearance. The artist/dev/whoever did a very, very good job with environmental storytelling!
Police were called to 1000 Quarry Street, VA, to discover two missing local children and evidence of a violent struggle. The property has no apparent owners since its condemnation in 1981, but shows signs of persistent squatting by what the police assume is the kidnapper. The caller requested that their child, who reported the "gnarled hag" to them, be unnamed in the proceeding coverage, due to concerns of trauma. This is Channel 8 News, bringing you the latest in the thrills and chills of Virginia developments.
For a moment i thought she was gonna pop up, do something horrible to the kid, then, it was gonna end.... and i also can't believe this isn't lumpy touch
At some parts of the gameplay, I realized you were able to tell when the hag was coming and how close she was. I was like: "Wait, how did he know she was coming?". But then I saw the girl's eyes and how they followed the hag's location. Which is why I think the gameplay mechanics of this short indie horror are amazing, really adds to the atmosphere. But besides that, really hope the ending is just the girl suffering bad trauma and having nightmares about the hag instead of the hag actually manifesting into a physical being.
I think she's sweating, but I agree. She's just a little girl, and you can see how terrified she is. It really adds something, like "I need to get this kid out of here fast." Perfection.
I love the mechanic that you have to hide in another room the witch isn't in when she saw u, it just makes so much more sense and more difficult as well
I mean if some elephant-sized witch monster is on my heels running through a haunted house, you can bet the idea of "getting tired" ceases to exist until I know I'm _FAR_ away from that monstrosity.
I wish there were more games like this, having to hide in the shadows from a greater force while it creeps in front of you. Games like these are amazing and so was that last part literally telling you to RUN
Now this is a good way to get you invested in the MC of the horror game you want her to make it alive and well, so you're now also afraid of her dying like she is
I think the ending can be interpreted as follows: the girl ran away from home, but even though she is free physically-psychologically, she is still in this house. A rather sad but realistic ending.
Damn, haven't seen such a cool and good horror game like this one in a while. That's an exact example of a game that gameplay i'd like to watch more often on a youtube.
The girl ´s walking reminds me of how Sr.Pelo ´s characters run everytime with all these quick taps :3 and also Stewie from Family Guy ´s quick tapping
Absolutely love the art style and the attention to detail. Very cute and charming cartoon art style while the excellent use of sounds still makes this cute looking game a tense and scary experience. I love how the girl's eyes act like a radar to hint at where the Hag is, and the different expressions display the different gameplay states. One little detail I wanna point out that in addition to having different faces for neutral/hiding from Hag in same room/being chased, at 4:35 there is also a subtle face expression for "in same room as Hag but not detected yet". The detailed expressions go a long way to adding character to an otherwise mute and unremarkable protagonist, and I love how it's worked into the gameplay too.
I rewatched this after awhile and somehow, the jumpscare in the kitchen actually managed to scare me so hard that I dropped my phone. this game is simple, but incredibly effective.
I thought I was the first to say the constant expressions of the girl , that are interesting. kinda cute everytime her eyes looks to what’s around her, and the face alterations when the monster is near and distant
I have a theory. It doesn’t mean it’s true, I just kind of thought of it. The entire thing was a lucid dream. The house? Dream. Hag? Dream. The end was just the girl having sleep paralysis. So if the game had a happy ending, it would probably be that. Or not. I dunno. Another common theory, the shadow was PTSD. I wouldn’t think the hag would go outside the house because of her face, so people don’t see it.
Please god no more dream endings. The “it’s all in [character]s mind” trope is old and done..but you do have some good points. I think the hag would go outside the house though, but just hide in the darkness. The hag directly came back to the girl and decided to play the music box to taunt her of what is going to happen. But if it was sleep paralysis the girl would’ve not been able to run AT ALL.
8:55 - I can imagine what this girl is going through - "I survived. I ran away from the monster's house. But the Hag is still out there somewhere. She lurks in the darkness. She will not forgive me. Maybe she is hunting me now. Maybe she will find me someday ....
For those who’re into stereo sound and not mono, if you listen to this video with your headphones, you can hear distinct footsteps from different ends of your headphone. Giving it an environmental 360 hearing
giving the main character a cutesy Over the Garden Wall art style works really well, it ups the stakes and makes you really not want anything bad to happen to this kid
And today marks 4 years since this video that I saw in quarantine came out. Seriously though this game is simple and short. - The sound effect and soundtrack are good. - The character designs are good like the adorable appearance of the little girl and the scary appearance of the Hag. - and the fact that the girl is also guided by the sound and the pupils of her eyes locate the location of the Hag. It's gorgeous and I even considered it advanced for a simple game. Pompasaur made an excellent game and seriously, this game deserves a part two. I have always said this 4 years ago but I want to hug the little girl (I even called her Samantha) when I see how traumatized she is, and kick the shit out of the brats who dared her to go to that house I'm sure half of you know about this, but there will be a successor to this game called The Forgotten House
The sounds design was phenomenal. When she went in the basement and the knocking sound happened in my headphones, I could swear I felt wall I was leaning against start knocking.
Me: Oh hey finally a 2D game with a cute art style that cant be that bad. Now i can stop being a female cat and download it The game: Me: on second thought being a female cat it not that bad at all
I've been watching this channel for amazing games not played by much people and also get ideas from those games for our project in College. This is by far the closest to the game we made which is worse in comparison to this game, considering we had 2-3 months to make our game. It's so good so good with the chase sound, jumpscare, and reactions of the girl looking at the surroundings.
I love how the girls eyes change depending on how close the hag is to her, but it's just rlly funny the way her pupil's shrink too like 1 pixel when she's looking at the hag but the hag doesn't see her. It's like "oh fuck"
The cute design of the girl keeps you grounded and prevents the game from being TOO scary while also still making it tense and agitating as heck. Her eyes following around and her expressions changing depending on the situation make her feel more connected to the world around her and more alive in general. It's really cool, you relate to her but also feel like she is the one experiencing the horror, not you as the player, and it's your job to get her out rather than to escape yourself.