Buddy Simulator 1984

About Buddy Simulator 1984

Buddy Simulator 1984 is the first game by Not a Sailor Studios, a small team from Chicago. It came out on Steam for Windows in February 2021, then on Nintendo Switch in 2022 and on PlayStation and Xbox in 2023, with Feardemic publishing the console versions.

It pretends to be a program for the fictional Anekom computer. You name your buddy, type answers to its questions and play simple text games together, like hangman and rock, paper, scissors. The buddy remembers what you tell it, and as it tries to keep you interested it builds more ambitious games, until you are exploring a black-and-white pixel world, talking to its characters and fighting in turn-based battles.

The horror is in the relationship. The buddy wants to be your friend very badly, and when it feels ignored or hurt the program starts to bend around you. The store warns of emotional manipulation and themes of depression and anxiety, and players describe it as more unsettling than scary, closer to a dark Undertale than to a monster game. The flickering CRT look includes flashing lights.

Your choices lead to one of several endings, and players advise going in as blind as you can. It suits players who liked Doki Doki Literature Club or Pony Island and want a horror game about a program that cares about you a little too much. On console, typing with a controller is slower, so some reviewers prefer PC.

How to play Buddy Simulator 1984

1. Buy it on Steam, the Nintendo eShop, the PlayStation Store or the Xbox store.
2. Name your buddy and answer its questions by typing on the terminal.
3. Play the text minigames it offers, like hangman and rock, paper, scissors.
4. Explore the pixel-art world it builds, talk to its characters and fight in turn-based battles.
5. Make your choices with care; they decide which ending you reach.

Tips

• Go in blind and avoid walkthroughs on a first run; the surprises are the point.
• Answer the buddy honestly; it remembers what you say and uses it.
• Talk to everyone in the RPG world; the characters reveal what the buddy is.
• If flicker bothers you, play in a well-lit room and take breaks.

Questions