Horror visual novels Horror escape Horror Short horror RPG Maker horror Horror puzzle

Elevator Hitch

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Two co-workers, one stuck elevator, and floors that should not exist.

Platforms: PC, Mac
Stores: itch.io
Price: Pay what you want
Rated: Rated 4.8 of 5 by 2,224 players on itch.io
Length: about 1 hour to 1 hour 20 minutes
Players: 1
Made by: racheldrawsthis, Rix and STUDIO INVESTIGRAVE
Released: 2022

What frightens Two co-workers are stuck together in a cheerful 70s office elevator that keeps opening onto empty, liminal floors. Each floor hides something wrong, and the friendly banter gives way to incomprehensible creatures, graphic gore, body horror and flashing, shaking images.
Content: graphic gore, blood, violence, body horror, disturbing imagery and audio, flashing and shaking images, implied family abuse, no manual saving.

A short horror visual novel with point-and-click puzzles, made in a month for the 2022 Spooktober VN Jam by racheldrawsthis, Rix and Bell Kalengar. Two co-workers get stuck in a 70s office elevator and search one liminal floor after another for a way out, toward 15 endings and a good deal of gore.

About Elevator Hitch

Elevator Hitch is a free, pay-what-you-want horror visual novel for Windows and macOS by racheldrawsthis and Rix (Ekrix), with music and sound by Bell Kalengar. It was made in a month for the Spooktober Visual Novel Jam in 2022, where it placed second, and the same team later made Dead Plate.

Two co-workers, a cheerful, lanky man in a striped tie and a nervous, glasses-wearing colleague, step into a perfectly normal 1970s office elevator and find they cannot get off. Every button opens onto a floor that looks almost like an office: empty cubicles, quiet corridors, rooms that feel left behind.

You explore each floor on a small 3D map and in point-and-click scenes, find what the floor needs to let you leave, and choose how the two talk and react. The art sits behind a warm CRT-style filter, and the easy back-and-forth between the pair makes the turn to horror sharper when it comes.

The horror is surreal and physical: incomprehensible things on the floors, graphic gore, body horror and disturbing sounds, with flashing and shaking images. The makers note there is no manual saving.

A run takes about an hour, and there are 15 endings to find, so it suits players who like a short, character-driven visual novel they can replay for different outcomes. An official puzzle and ending guide is linked from its page.

How to play Elevator Hitch

Download it from its itch.io page for Windows or macOS; it is free, or name your own price.
Read the warning screen, then pick a floor button in the elevator to start exploring.
Move around each floor's map and click on objects to examine them and find what lets you leave.
Choose how the two co-workers respond when the game offers options; your choices shape which of the 15 endings you reach.
Play again and choose differently to see the other endings.

Screenshots

The grinning, lanky co-worker in a striped tie points upward next to his nervous colleague with glasses, asking Top floor

Closed elevator doors in a cream 70s interior with a green prompt to press a floor button from 1 to 9

A small office cubicle in purple light with a desk, an old computer, a phone and papers pinned to the wall

The two co-workers lean close together over a small flame between their hands, behind a CRT-style filter

Tips

There is no manual saving, so set aside an hour to play a run in one go.
Look at everything on a floor before pressing the next button; small objects often hold the way out.
If a puzzle stops you, the makers' official puzzle and ending guide is linked from the itch.io page.
The game uses flashing and shaking images; lower your screen brightness or take breaks if they bother you.