Analog horror Psychological horror Short horror

Alternate Watch

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Watch the house until 6 am, and report every Alternate that gets in.

Platforms: PC
Stores: itch.io
Price: Free
Rated: 4.6 of 5 from 510 ratings on itch.io
Length: about 30 minutes
Players: 1
Controls: Mouse: switch between cameras with the arrows and file a report from the Report menu
Made by: Tesseron
Released: 2022

What frightens On night watch over a family home through black-and-white security cameras, you report every anomaly until 6 am: moved objects and changed pictures, mimics trying to blend in, distorted impersonators of people, a shadow figure with white eyes, a cloaked figure that whispers, things seen only in mirrors. An open door means someone has come in.
Content: corpses.

Alternate Watch is a free anomaly horror game by Tesseron, set in the world of The Mandela Catalogue. You watch a home through grainy black-and-white security cameras from midnight until 6 am, switching rooms and reporting each change, from moved objects to impersonators that only look human, before the threat takes over.

About Alternate Watch

Alternate Watch is a fan game made by Tesseron in Unreal Engine 5 between February and May 2022, and updated in June 2022 and April 2023 with content and polish the first release lacked. It takes the camera-watching rules of I'm on Observation Duty and sets them in the world of The Mandela Catalogue, the analog horror web series about Alternates, beings that imitate people. Wikipedia lists it among the games based on the series. It is free for Windows on itch.io.

You sit a night shift in front of the security feeds of a family home: kitchen, living room, bedrooms, a kid's room, bathroom, laundry and basement, in black and white with a clock and a threat level in the corner. Flip between the rooms, learn what each one looks like, and when something changes, open the Report menu and name what you saw.

The game gives you a list of what to look for, and it reads like a field guide to the series: pictures that change, objects that move, mimics that duplicate an object or try to blend in, flawed impersonators that are distorted copies of people, a shadow figure with white eyes, a cloaked Preacher that whispers, a Tulpa seen only in mirrors, corpses, and things that cannot be classified. An open door is not a moved object: it means someone is inside.

It is quiet and slow, with the fear in the doubt over whether you really saw a change and in the figures that start to appear as the night goes on. It suits players who enjoyed I'm on Observation Duty and want a darker theme, and fans of The Mandela Catalogue who want to be on the watch themselves.

How to play Alternate Watch

Download Alternate Watch free from itch.io as a ZIP or RAR and unpack it on Windows.
Use the arrows to move between the house's security cameras and learn how each room looks.
When something changes, open the Report menu, choose the room and the anomaly type, and file it.
Keep watching and reporting until 6 am to beat the night.
If it runs slowly, turn off Lumen lighting in the settings, as the maker suggests.