ARD: Anomalous Research Department (Demo)

About ARD: Anomalous Research Department (Demo)

ARD: Anomalous Research Department (Demo) is a short horror demo by Modus Interactive and corpsepile, with the artist Trevor Henderson credited on the project. It came out on itch.io in 2021 and plays in the browser. The page lists the full project as still in development, and no full release has appeared.

In the basement of a local community college sits a forgotten computer, the last relic of the Anomalous Research Department. You sit down at it and go through what it holds. What was the department for? What did it find? Was it the solution, or the cause?

Everything happens on an old CRT monitor with a curved, glowing screen. You read old emails, open photos and play a video, and players also mention a 3D maze inside it. Commenters describe it as sinister and say that just looking through old emails and photos frightened them more than they expected.

It is a demo, about 20 to 30 minutes long by players' accounts, but complete enough to stand on its own. It suits players who like horror found by digging through old machines, such as Heaven Does Not Respond or Home Safety Hotline.

How to play ARD: Anomalous Research Department (Demo)

1. Open the itch.io page and press Run game to play the demo free in the browser.
2. Stay in the windowed view; players report lag and mouse trouble in full screen.
3. Click through the old computer's desktop to open its emails, photos and files.
4. Play the video and explore what the files lead to, to learn what the department found.

Tips

• Do not switch to full screen; several players found it lags badly there.
• Nothing happens until you start clicking around the desktop, so explore.
• Read every email; the story is in the details.

Questions