Spooky's Jump Scare Mansion is a 2014 adventuresurvival horror[1]video game developed and published by Lag Studios. The player's objective is to traverse to the end of a mansion comprising a thousand rooms. Originally titled Spooky's House of Jump Scares, the game's title was changed to Spooky's Jump Scare Mansion in 2016 due to a copyright dispute.[2][3] The game received an HD remaster in 2017, which was released for PlayStation 4 in 2019, Nintendo Switch in 2022, and Xbox One and Xbox Series X in 2023. [4][5][6]
For as long as the unnamed and unseen protagonist can remember, legends have been told about a derelict mansion in their hometown. The history of the house itself is virtually unknown, and even the town's oldest residents cannot remember the mansion's origin. Being an avid history enthusiast, the protagonist goes to explore the mansion. Inside, they encounter a young ghost girl named Spooky.
Spooky informs the protagonist that the only way to escape is to pass through the mansion's randomly generated 1000 rooms (although she wonders out loud if there are possibly more rooms than that). Rooms are filled with varying jump scares. While the first 50 rooms appear nonthreatening, a series of discoverable letters left by a former researcher indicate a more sinister plot. After room 50, the rooms begin to take a much darker tone, with hostile entities appearing and the cute facade disappearing.[5]
Gameplay
Spooky's Jump Scare Mansion is a first-person survival horror game in which the player is tasked with traversing through a mansion comprising a thousand rooms. As the game progresses, the player encounters multiple hostile enemies, referred to as "specimens". The player's objective is to reach the final room. The game gradually escalates in difficulty and horror intensity. It starts off with "intentionally tame" scares, which gain psychological impact as more unsettling horror elements are introduced.[7][8]
The game was developed by North Carolina-based[10] Lag Studios. It was made using the GameMaker creation system, which is primarily intended for making games with 2D graphics. Because of this, authors of the game had to use elaborate techniques to emulate 3D objects.[11] Its graphic design were described as "morbidly cute and simplistic art that is reminiscent of childish drawings and cartoons for toddlers".[12]
The game was released in 2014 as a freeware, and in 2015 it was released on Steam.[13] Two DLCs have been released for the game: Karamari Hospital (2015) and Spooky's Dollhouse (2020).[14][15] A recreated version of the game, remade using the Unity engine, was released on Steam in 2017 under the title Spooky's Jump Scare Mansion: HD Renovation by Albino Moose Games.[11] The remake was released on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch in later years.[16][17][18]
Griffin McElroy of Polygon described the game as a "weird hybrid of parody of the jump scare horror genre, and genuinely horrifying game".[13] Ian Higton of Eurogamer praised the PlayStation VR version of the game's remake, writing that "you can almost feel [the specimens'] physical presence gaining on you as you try to escape". He compared the experience to "dropping acid and going to a Halloween Horror Fright Night".[22]
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