It’s October, which means you’ll likely get into the Halloween spirit later this month by watching, reading, or playing some horror or horror-adjacent media now. In addition to all the exciting (and terrifying) movies released this year, there are also plenty of great horror games to choose from, like Hollow body or the upcoming remakes of Until sunrise And Silent Hill 2. You can add another game to that list: Busy. Followed.a new survival horror game that plays like the interactive equivalent of 2014’s It follows.
Developed by Shane Ferry, a Belfast designer who makes games under the name ‘Night Dial’, the premise of Busy. Followed. is almost completely summarized in the name itself. You play as a random bystander who happens to come across a man bleeding in an alley next to a suitcase. After agreeing to take the suitcase from him, the man warns you that you will have to find a way to keep him away from an entity that will haunt you until he pulls the suitcase from your cold, dead hands.
No one can see the entity except the person who has the briefcase, and worse, it has the ability to transform its appearance to better hunt its prey. As if all that wasn’t bad enough, your character suffers from severe claustrophobia and asthma! The only way to put distance between yourself and the supernatural monster pursuing you is to navigate crowded subway tunnels, bustling nightclubs, and riot-filled streets with only your trusty inhaler in hand to avoid accidentally falling into the waiting clutches of your pursuer ends up.
Busy. Followed. is scheduled for release on Steam on October 24, but if you’re curious to experience the game for yourself a little sooner, the prototype demo is available to download and play itch.io.