While some game genres are expanding to include massive open worlds packed with optional side quests, horror games as a whole have remained a smaller subset of games. The horror genre is inherently resistant to an overlong campaign, as even the most terrifying enemies and baffling scenarios lose their edge after hours of exposure. Some of my favorite games this year were small, tightly defined horror (or horror-adjacent) experiences, including titles published by Critical Reflex. Mouthwash, Threshold value, Arctic eggs, Buckshot rouletteAnd No, I’m not human They’re all fascinating, weird little games with a short playing time but big impact.
Games like Arctic eggs And Buckshot roulette are deliberately ugly and unattractive; the games depict grimy environments full of doomed people. While AAA titles strive for greater graphical fidelity and complex interactions, indie games can work with a much smaller and simpler canvas. “I think horror games offer a lot of room for experimentation compared to other genres,” said Rita Lebedeva, founder of Critical Reflex, in an interview with Polygon. “If the main goal is to scare the player, the rest of the game can basically be anything. The developers often build the game around one strong concept and usually stay within an easily digestible scope.”
Lebedeva is a fan of the classic era of survival horror titles on the PlayStation and PlayStation 2. Lebedeva’s inspirations include older classics such as Spooky grounds and newer titles such as Lost alive, Buddy simulator 1984, Dark wood, EncryptionAnd Fear & Hunger.
“One way to tell if a title will resonate is to find something that makes you go, ‘Woah, holy shit!’ and then try to judge whether this game is suitable for your niche taste or whether others will have a similar reaction,” said Lebedeva. “There are obviously some expectations we have to meet as a publisher, and I think we’ve done a great job so far in making sure we both pick up titles that captivate our audience and make promises to the developers that we can actually deliver on. ”
As major titles with long production cycles and huge budgets become increasingly risky, smaller labels are turning to experimental experiences. Blumhouse Games, a spin-off of the film production studio, showed six horror games under its label this summer. Critical Reflex has a subsection of its publishing apparatus called the CR Channel, a sub-label for all things horror. Upcoming games on CR Channel include Regular home renovationwhich is about cleaning and repairing perfectly normal and safe homes, and Drowned lakea fishing game with survival elements.
“Recently we have had success with titles that most publishers consider too risky, working with developers whose first games were very experimental and artistic,” said Lebedeva. Investing in small developers can be the start of collaboration on larger projects. “So if they now want to do something more commercial without feeling like they’ve ‘sold out’, we’re the perfect partner for them – someone who speaks the same language as them.”
The indie horror scene is flourishing on marketplaces like itch.io, and publishers like Critical Reflex are helping to elevate promising titles and introduce new games that would otherwise fly under the radar. “When games end up on the Steam charts because of their weirdness, it makes it less stressful for other developers to create things that are different from something else they’ve seen before and actually show it to a wider audience,” Lebedeva said. “Many of the developers I personally contacted were genuinely surprised to hear that something they considered a small project could be of interest to a publisher.
“I really hope I see more games that make me feel like I just started exploring video games and say, ‘Damn, I can do it.’ What?’ or my all-time classic, “God, wish I published that” – “because it is so off the beaten path and coded for me.”