98xx

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A lost 1990s operating system, and a platformer that should not do that.

Platforms: PC
Stores: Steam, itch.io
Price: Paid
Rated: Very Positive on Steam (81% of 489 reviews)
Players: 1
Controls: Mouse to open and use programs on the desktop; keyboard in some of the games.
Made by: JacksonG13 (JacksonGameStudios)
Released: 2023

What frightens You explore a lost 1990s computer OS whose surviving programs glitch: Jumping Julian looks like a normal 2D platformer until weird things start to happen, and the store warns of disturbing imagery, loud sounds, flashing images and sensitive topics.
Content: disturbing imagery, loud sounds, flashing images, mentions of suicide.

98xx is a psychological horror game played on a fake 1990s computer operating system that was lost for years. You open its surviving programs, games and files, starting with a platformer called Jumping Julian, until the glitches turn into something else.

About 98xx

98xx is a horror game by JacksonGameStudios, released on Steam in May 2023 and built up through a series of updates that each added newly discovered files. It presents itself as the 98xx, an old computer OS from the 90s made by the fictional Mirez Incorporated, recently found after many years of being lost.

A few files still work. The desktop, with its green hill and lone tree, holds games such as Jumping Julian, Puzzle Patterns, BallPopper, Talking Gerald, Tank Blast, Asteroid Blast, Dancing with Darcy and Kingdom Quest, software such as Pixel Paint, TypeWriter and a photo and video editor, and odd extras: a web browser called Surfur, a video player, documents, a photo gallery, a dial-up caller, a book reader and a security program.

Jumping Julian looks like a typical 2D platformer at first, but as you play, weird things start to happen, and the rest of the system holds pieces of the story. The store is direct about it: the OS contains disturbing imagery, loud sounds, flashing images and sensitive topics, and anyone with epilepsy or suicidal thoughts is told not to open it.

It suits players who like desktop and found-computer horror such as Kinitopet or Imscared, where the scares come from the machine itself.

How to play 98xx

Buy the game on Steam or itch.io and run it on Windows.
Boot the 98xx and look over the desktop of programs.
Open Jumping Julian and play it until things start to change.
Explore the other games, documents, photos, videos and tools for clues.
Follow what the system shows you to the end.

Screenshots

The 98xx desktop: program icons over a green hill with a single tree, and a START taskbar

Jumping Julian, a simple 2D platformer with blue platforms and a red flag

Talking Gerald, a cartoon head with a red and purple cap, and answer buttons including "You're worthless"

Pixel Paint with a red pixel smiley face drawn on a black canvas

Tips

Read the documents and look through the photo gallery and videos; the story is spread across the system.
Revisit programs after something changes elsewhere.
Mind the warning: it has loud sounds and flashing images.