2023’s first horror hit was made by a 20-year-old - Fears to Fathom: Carson House Quick Review
PLAY IT OR SKIP IT?
Absolutely play it if you have any love for horror games or appreciation for the hard work of indie developers. Fears to Fathom: Carson House is the third in an anthology of stand-alone, short-form horror games developed by Rayll, a twenty-year-old solo game developer based in India. As impossible as it might sound to believe, that one-man development studio has created an instantly compelling tale of terror that had me white-knuckling my mouse and no-exaggeration jumping out of my seat.
TIME PLAYED
According to Steam, I’ve played just under an hour and a half of Fears to Fathom: Carson House—eighty-seven minutes, to be exact. That comprised a full run through the game, but my runtime actually falls on the longer side of things. Most players will clear this episode in around an hour. One of the great things about Fears to Fathom is that each episode is short and tight and can easily be completed in one sitting.
WHAT’S AWESOME
• VHS aesthetic. Carson House looks like an old horror flick I’d rent for cheap from the video store in the small town I grew up in. You know the kind—some grimy ’70s or ’80s cult classic scary movie that’s clearly been run through the rewinder a couple dozen times too many and shows plenty of film grain and tracking lines. In other words, it’s absolute the perfect visual style to put me in the mood to get frightened.
• Surprises. I don’t want to say too much about Carson House, because one of the best things about it is how it kept me guessing. You play a teenager who’s being paid to house-sit a big empty home. Is it haunted? Are your high school friends messing with you? Or is something even more sinister going on? The game kept me unsure and on my toes until the last ten minutes or so.
• Immersive elements. Fears to Fathom: Carson House reminds players that they’re in the role of a high school student regularly. Whether it’s texting back and forth with your significant other, running into some buddies at the corner store, or needing to set aside time to do your math homework, the game successfully emulates that listless senior year feeling. This is where being created by a twenty-year-old probably helps an awful lot.
• The music. Fears to Fathom opens with a notice that “all music tracks in this video game are copyright free.” Considering that, it’s astounding how perfectly matched the music is to the scenarios on display. If you had told me that Rayll had teamed up with a horror movie composer to create a unique soundscape just for this project, I would have believed you. The developer clearly did an incredible job at digging up the perfect copyright-free tracks to use.
WHAT SUCKS
• Limited gameplay. The Steam page for Fears to Fathom: Carson House is up front about the game’s limitations: It describes the game as “primarily a first-person narrative walking simulator.” There are some other small mechanics, such as limited dialogue and some memorable moments where you get to use a simulated computer in the game world, but mostly you’re just walking through small environments and waiting for the next scare. If you’re not into that type of game, you might not enjoy Carson House as much as I did.
💬 Are you ready to jump into the scares waiting in Fears to Fathom: Carson House? Or are you going to skip this fright-fest? Share your thoughts below.
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