When thinking of the term “Horror,” what do you think of? You think of scary, disturbing, and unsettling phenomenons. For video game players, they would probably think of “Horror Games.”
Recently over the past few years, horror games have started to deter away from being Rated-R, spooky, horror games meant for more mature audiences such as teens or young adults. Many people say these horror games have gotten too child friendly and are trying to appeal to more of a child audience. It mainly depends on who you ask. Some people would say they are glad that horror games are becoming more child friendly, while others, not so much. The main reason for this problem is “Mascot Horror Games.”
“I think the devs of the game want to have more kids play the game so they make more money,” said a member of the Gaming Club.
The term Mascot Horror is well known as “Childhood nostalgia (animatronics, puppets, cartoons, etc.) turned evil by various means.” They usually take place in a more run down, dilapidated version of the place associated with the icon (pizzaria, cartoon studio, toy factory, etc.) A lot of people say that Mascot Horror has ruined/been ruined by the appeal to children. Games such as Five Nights at Freddy’s (ongoing game series, rated 12+), once very scary for its time, has slowly been getting less scary over the years. First released in 2014, it was incredibly popular among gamers. Leading up to the most recent release, Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach, it wasn’t the best received among gamers. A lot say it was the glitches and bugs still in the game on release, but most also say the game just felt too focused on being child friendly with all the bright colors and lack of a horror element to put it short.
The game Poppy Playtime (rated 8+), for many people, was when horror games really took a turn for the worst. Releasing the first chapter in 2021, Poppy Playtime was very popular among people, mainly children. Because of its child friendly mascots, this was also a great way to sell merchandise of the characters since the kids would see the character in the game and want merchandise of the characters. When talking about mascot horror, this game appears a lot. While the game has gotten more scary as the chapters have been released (up to chapter 3 so far), it still has people who think this game has ruined horror/mascot horror.
But what makes a good horror game? A horror game that is not made for a child audience. Now there are obviously different types of horror games. Ones that are realistic, ones that are good mascot horror, and ones where the horror comes from the environment instead of the enemy. For many people, the atmosphere and ambience is more of the scare factor than the enemies in the game. The quiet environment with a silent breeze, leaves blowing in the wind, and quiet music sets the tone of the horror game, giving you a sense of dread, making you feel uncomfortable.
A good example of this type of horror game would be “Slender the Arrival.” In the beginning, it’s nice and bright outside. But as the player makes their way down the path, quiet but dreadful music begins to play as the environment around the player slowly dims. Soon the player is plunged into the dark night, walking through the woods to get to their destination. With extra sound effects, such as footfalls crunching on leaves around them, it sets up the atmosphere perfectly. The player might not be able to see the threat, but you can hear it lurking around the player. With a good surrounding atmosphere, you’ll feel the impending doom later as they go through the game. Without these sound effects, music, and proper environments, the game would lack the unsettling feel that most horror games used to have.
One more good question is, “Why do the game developers need to make the game more child friendly if they’re making a horror game?” It’s not up to the game developers to make the game they have been working on for quite literally years to make it more child friendly just to appeal to them. Some children may develop phobias and increased fear, but that’s up to the parents to keep them away from horror games. They are called “horror games” for a reason. They are meant to be scary, they are meant to creep someone out, make them scared. If a child cannot bare the horror in the game, they shouldn’t play it, and the game developers shouldn’t have to decrease the scare factor for those children. Obviously, all kids are different. Some of them don’t get as scared as others while others get scared really easily. There’s no law saying that children can’t play horror games. Kids get scared of typical horror game tropes. “Darkness, Ghosts, Monsters, Death, etc.”
But many gamers are just tired of these horror games appealing to only children. A horror game doesn’t need blood or gore to make it good, it just needs some type of scare factor to make it good, and if kids can’t bare the jumpscares or the horror factor, the parents need to keep them away from them. Once parents begin to monitor their children and see what they are and aren’t playing, maybe then horror games will start turning up the scare factor and we’ll be able to play and get scared of them again.
