Elevated Dread

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One last building of flyers, one elevator, and a long night.

Platforms: PC
Stores: itch.io
Price: Pay what you want
Rated: 4.6 of 5 from 460 ratings on itch.io
Length: about 20 minutes (maker's estimate)
Players: 1
Controls: Keyboard and mouse: move and look around in first person, interact with doors to put up flyers
Made by: andrground
Released: 2023

What frightens A child putting flyers on apartment doors for his first pay reaches the last building of the night. Its dark corridors, blood on the floors and the elevator build an unsettling atmosphere, with the story told through the surroundings and jump scares along the way.
Content: jumpscares, blood.

Elevated Dread is a free, short first-person horror game by andrground for Windows. You play a boy putting up flyers on apartment doors for his first wage, and the last building on the list is dark, stained with blood and served by one elevator. It takes about 20 minutes.

About Elevated Dread

Elevated Dread is a small horror game made in Unity by the solo developer andrground and released on itch.io in January 2023. It is free to download for Windows, with the option to pay what you want.

You are an ordinary kid who cannot wait to collect his first pay. The job is simple: go door to door and put a flyer on every apartment. After a long and rough day there is just one building left. Inside, the corridors are dim, the walls are stained, and the floors carry blood that nobody has cleaned up.

Play is first-person and simple. You walk the floors, stop at each door and hold the button to stick a flyer to it, then take the elevator on to the next floor. The game tells its story through what you pass on the way: notes on the walls, graffiti, rubbish bags and the state of the rooms.

The fear comes from the building itself, from its sound design and from a handful of jump scares, rather than from anything you fight. At about 20 minutes it suits a player who wants one tense, contained walk through a bad place in a single sitting, much like other short apartment-block horror games.

How to play Elevated Dread

Download Elevated Dread from its itch.io page (free, or pay what you want) and unzip it on Windows.
Run the game and play with a keyboard and mouse.
Walk to each apartment door and hold the interact key to put up a flyer.
Use the elevator to move between floors and finish the building.

Screenshots

Elevated Dread title art: the name in green neon letters below an open elevator lit red inside

Elevated Dread screenshot: an open elevator with a large number 8 on its back wall, bin bags and a red heart drawn on the floor

Elevated Dread screenshot: a closed metal elevator door under a cyan strip light, with a keypad and posters of faces pinned beside it

Elevated Dread screenshot: an apartment door in a green-lit corridor with the prompt Put up flyer and a streak of blood on the wall

Elevated Dread screenshot: a dark car park at night with the line Wow, it's been a long and rough day

Tips

Play in the dark with headphones; the sound design carries much of the tension.
Read the notes and posters on the walls as you go, since they tell the story.
Expect a few jump scares and keep the volume at a level you are comfortable with.