The Horror Game Awards Summer Showcase took place over the weekend, unveiling world premiere trailers for 50 new and upcoming horror titles that are sure to send a chill down even the bravest horror fan’s spine.
With so many games appearing in the showcase, it’s hard to play favorites, but some trailers definitely stood out from the crowd. From backrooms-themed titles that focus on creating a general sense of impending doom to fast-paced games that will jumpscare you out of your skin, The Horror Game Awards Summer Showcase has something for everyone (well, everyone who likes horror games). Here are three of my personal favorite game trailers from the showcase.
1. Inhuman Resources: A Literary Machination
Inhuman Resources: A Literary Machination sees players take on the role of a minimum-wage worker at SMYRNACORP, a totally not-at-all-shady mega-corporation that only requires prospective employees to provide two items upon being hired: a signature and a blood sample. One of those things is not like the other…
Inhuman Resources appears to take place in a sort of retro-futuristic alternate reality. The SMYRNACORP job description lists “industry-leading technology” as one of the benefits of employment, but a closer look reveals that employees are using flip phones, floppy disks, and old-school time cards. Other perks include “dental benefits” and “passionate coworkers,” but it appears that SMYRNACORP’s dental plan is best avoided (unless you enjoy the taste of blood in your mouth), and as for the aforementioned “passionate coworkers,” they’re probably better described as “traumatized colleagues with thousand-yard stares.”
The game utilizes a Goosebumps-esque choose-your-own-adventure mechanic that allows players to decide how they’ll navigate working for their new corporate overlords. In one example, the player is forced to choose how to interact with a janitor who can’t hear them because he’s got headphones on. Option one is to leave him alone, while option two allows players to engage in every introvert’s nightmare and yank those headphones right off the janitor’s head. In the trailer, the player chooses to leave him alone, but their choice results in some creepy whispers echoing through SMYRNACORP’s hallways. As for the company’s so-called “dental benefits,” another scene from the trailer depicts the player attempting to remove a colleague’s tooth.
While this text-based adventure still has plenty of unsettling visuals, it’s unlikely to make you scream. But for players who enjoy narrative-based dystopian horror — or just really dislike going to the dentist—Inhuman Resources offers a deeply unsettling look at the lengths people are willing to go in the name of stable employment.
Inhuman Resources: A Literary Machination is available now for PC, Android, and iOS.
2. Backrooms Level X
Fans of the backrooms (and liminal spaces in general) are in for a treat with Backrooms Level X, a first-person narrative-focused survival horror game that developer Firenut Games says will immerse players “in an endless labyrinth of desolate and liminal spaces.”
Backrooms Level X is definitely not for players who believe that the concept of the backrooms is more terrifying without the presence of SCP-like monsters. The game features 13 levels of winding, maze-like liminal spaces that contain “giant enemies,” but based on the game’s trailer, Backrooms Level X appears to make a genuine attempt to balance monster-based jumpscares with environments that are already creepy enough on their own, without the addition of creepy-looking abominations.
The game appears to make a genuine attempt at faithfully recreating the backrooms without going overboard. While it does include monsters, these terrifying entities are more in line with the inexplicable cosmic horrors many backrooms fans dreamed up when the concept first began to gain popularity on social media. Yes, players are going to be chased around, but they’re not going to be chased around by a monster based on Skibidi toilet. The game’s designers seem to prefer cultivating unsettling vibes that make the jumpscares even more terrifying, rather than overusing those jumpscares to the point that players get burned out.
Backrooms Level X also pays homage to some of the earliest and most popular backrooms content creators. One scene in the trailer depicts two characters investigating a strange, grid-like floor full of square holes that lead to god-knows-where. This room is almost identical to the one featured in VFX artist and backrooms content creator Kane Pixels’ “Pitfalls” video, which features several backrooms employees trying to navigate their way through the room without falling through the holes in the floor.
Backrooms Level X is available now on PC, but Firenut Games says the game will launch on PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox Series X sometime in the near future.
3. Dark Mass
Fans of underwater horror games like Subnautica and Still Wakes The Deep will likely find themselves feeling right at home with Dark Mass, an undersea thriller that mainly takes place in a dilapidated, entirely submerged old mansion. Players will be stepping into the shoes — er, flippers — of Alice, a certified diver known for her underwater exploration skills. Working alongside her brother Reed, Alice is tasked with exploring the wreckage of a previously unreachable ship that has been shaken loose after a recent earthquake.
But the contents of the ship are far less interesting than what lies beneath it: a strange, centuries-old mansion that has remained untouched since it first slipped beneath the surface. How this manion came to rest at the bottom of the ocean isn’t quite clear, as the building is apparently old enough that global warming likely isn’t the culprit. What is clear, however, is that Alice and Reed are definitely not alone. One scene from the trailer shows Alice stumbling across a zombie-like creature that appears to be able to walk across the ocean floor rather than swimming or floating.
Dark Mass does not yet have an official launch date, though its Steam page lists it as “coming soon,” and developer Path Games has confirmed it will launch on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X. Based on the trailer, Dark Mass appears to land in the horror game sweet spot, utilizing both jumpscares and a growing sense of unease to keep players on their toes — and the edge of their seats.
