Psychological horror Chilla's Art PS1 horror

[Chilla's Art] The Karaoke | ヒトカラ

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A schoolgirl, a night of solo karaoke, and someone who will not leave her alone.

Platforms: PC
Stores: Steam
Price: Paid
Rated: Very Positive on Steam (82% of 721 reviews)
Players: 1
Made by: Chilla's Art
Released: 2023

What frightens A high school girl's ordinary evening, from after-school practice to a night alone at a karaoke parlour, slowly turns into a story where the threat is a person rather than a ghost; the store warns of sexual assault, suicide and trauma.
Content: sexual assault, suicide, trauma, partial nudity, violence, strong language.

The Karaoke (ヒトカラ, Hitokara) is a first-person Japanese horror game by Chilla's Art about a high school girl who goes to a karaoke parlour on her own after school. Its horror comes from people rather than ghosts, and it has six endings.

About [Chilla's Art] The Karaoke | ヒトカラ

The Karaoke (ヒトカラ, Hitokara, Japanese slang for singing karaoke alone) is a horror game by Chilla's Art, the studio behind The Convenience Store and The Closing Shift, released on Steam in February 2023. You play a high school girl through ordinary days: club practice in the school gym, the walk home through narrow streets, and evenings at a 24-hour karaoke parlour.

Like The Closing Shift, it is an everyday story more than a ghost story. Fan write-ups note that the threat here is a person, not a spirit, and the store's own warnings make clear how dark it gets: sexual assault, suicide, trauma and violence. The dread builds through small, wrong details on the way home and inside the booths.

The game uses the studio's VHS filter, copying the trails, noise and jitter of an old CRT screen, over realistic environments inspired by Japanese horror films. It autosaves at each checkpoint and has six endings, and there are small minigames along the way, including the karaoke itself.

It suits players who liked the slow, grounded unease of The Closing Shift and Parasocial. Players who want ghosts and chases, or who would rather avoid its themes, should look elsewhere.

How to play [Chilla's Art] The Karaoke | ヒトカラ

Buy it on Steam and start it on Windows.
Walk through the girl's day in first person, from school to the streets and the karaoke parlour.
Talk to the people you meet and interact with objects to move the story on.
Play again to see the other endings; there are six.

Screenshots

A girl in a gym kit in the school gymnasium suggests free-throw practice, in Japanese subtitles

A narrow street at night with a parked white van and the karaoke sign glowing red ahead

The drink bar of the karaoke parlour, with dispensers and posters in dim red light

A flip phone glowing pink in the basket of a bicycle parked in a dark overgrown alley

A red-walled karaoke booth with a glowing screen and a song tablet on a stand

Tips

Read the store's content warning before you start: it lists sexual assault, suicide and trauma.
The game autosaves at checkpoints, so you can stop between scenes.
Expect small minigames along the way, including the karaoke machine itself.