I really liked last week when I sank into the dark depths of Itch.io and pulled from it a number of horror games that surprised me, so I decided to do it again, but this time I shifted my sights to the Most Popular section of the horror genre. I pulled from that section four games ranging from 20 minutes to a whole hour. This week I am going to talk about the two that grabbed me the most; this week is Burger & Frights and Night of the Consumers.
Burgers & Frights is a first person horror game by Donitz. It is currently only on PC (Itch) and it is the absolute best price… Free.
There is no real story to Burgers & Frights. You start the game riding home from getting a burger, see an old man drive by and then a bike on the side of the road and then the screen fades. You then reload to the same instance that you were in prior, riding home with a burgie in a cart, but then the game takes a nosedive. An apparition of a young girl appears and she is not happy. Something has happened to this young girl and she is intent on telling you her story while trying to murder you.
Gameplay is your run-of-the-mill horror game. The player is always on their bike and the controls mimic that. The longer you hold onto a certain side, the more the bike pulls to that direction. It does not seem that exciting but when the spooks come, the bike is the most stressful part of the game.
There are moments throughout the game that are generally spooky at times. The atmosphere is what excels the most in this game. It is fucking DARK and the flashlight is naturally shit, so when the game ramps up the spooks, it gets really spooky. The woods are painfully silent, so any sound can induce stress. It makes There are moments when you must navigate and not hit downed trees all the while avoiding the demon girl trying to kill you. It is all pretty fun, even the spooks.
Graphics are fine. The forest is green, the skyline is a nice purple and blood is red. Reminds me of an early PS2 era game.
Burger & Frights is probably one of my favorite horror games to date on Itch. It does everything right to secure a fun thirty minute horror session. There is a moment that the ghost is on the pegs of the bike and when you look back she is there, good scare, got me and my wife. The moment it begins to come at you in multiple directions, the choice moment I was really spooked.
All around, the best game I’ve played is horror Itch.
Give it a chance, it’s only thirty minutes.
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Night of the Consumers (Notc) is a first person “horror” arcade game from Germfood. Like the former, it is on Itch and currently retails for $2.
NotC’s story is pretty cut and dry, but I want to leave it up the developer description because it is so good:
“It’s your first day on the job and the store is closing in a matter of minutes. The consumers, with their unrelenting thirst for customer service are still prowling the aisles and there are shelves still to be stocked up. The store needs to be kept in pristine condition, and empty shelves will not be tolerated by The Manager. Welcome to hell.“
Gameplay revolves around the premise that you need to pick up boxes and stock the store before the store closes all the while ignoring customers’ ridiculous demands for items that they could easily get themselves if they just read. WASD moves our main character in Doom like fashion, SHIFT sprints, and SPACE allows you to enter the stocking minigame after picking up a box of supplies that are littered around the store.
The stocking minigame is something special, it is so easy yet so fucking scary. There are only two shelves to stock, usually, but there are customers droning around looking for a worker to yell at, so time is crucial. Stock the shelf fast or be punished with a customer screaming at you to help them.
To aid you in the fight against the masses are staff rooms. Staff rooms provide a small breather from the hustle and bustle of avoiding customers that are chasing you frantically.
All really good, fluid gameplay.
Sound is so bad, it’s good. Customers are an obvious parody of the undead and it is in full force in the audio. Customers breath heavily, they run at you with their arms fully reaching (as zombies do) and they are incredibly loud. You know that you’ve been had when you hear “EXCUSEEEEEEEE MEEEEEE” from down the aisle as you look and the customer is TRUCKING towards you.
Graphics are complete and utter poop. The colors represent the mundane colors of retail. Bland, gross and just plain terrible. The customers’ faces are flat, pixelated and there is so much detail being attempted on the NPC’s that make them look so much worse.
Customers are so grotesque looking as well. I remember hated being chased by the elderly woman because she was so lanky and the skin was just so loose. NotC is a pretty decent game for $2. It got me jumping at least five or six times as customers peek around corners and charge at you without much notice. It is fun trying to figure out the perfect line of stocking while looking for customers to avoid and when that moment comes, run to find a safe room all within the allotted time. It is stressful, spooky and fun all in one small half-hour package and I’m glad I got to play it.
Grinds and Games 