Horror visual novels Short horror Horror

GAVRIL

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A crash downstairs, and you live alone.

Platforms: Browser, PC, Mac
Stores: itch.io
Price: Pay what you want
Rated: 4.7 out of 5 on itch.io (971 ratings)
Length: 15 to 20 minutes
Players: 1
Controls: Mouse: click to advance the text and click a choice to pick it; Ren'Py menu for save, load, skip and history.
Made by: Part (music by Lei Hart)
Released: 2023

What frightens A crash downstairs wakes you in a house where you live alone, and you go down to find a hooded intruder whose grin and appetite are not quite human; the wrong choices end in your death, with a jumpscare, loud sounds and death scenes.
Content: jumpscares, loud sounds, death scenes, strong language.

GAVRIL is a short horror visual novel played in the browser. You wake to a crash downstairs, find a hooded intruder in your home and must talk, feed or fight your way through the encounter, toward one of six endings.

About GAVRIL

GAVRIL is a short visual novel by the artist Part, made in a week as a first game project and released free on itch.io in 2023, with music by Lei Hart. It is built in Ren'Py and runs in the browser, with name-your-price downloads for Windows and macOS. Gavril is a character from Part's own story, BUBO, and the maker has said a second chapter is in the works.

The setup is simple. A loud crash downstairs wakes you up. You would like to blame a pet or a sibling, but you live alone, so you go to look. Waiting there is a hooded man in a long grey coat with a wide grin, something black and inky trailing from him, and a hunger that is not normal. Your goal is to survive him.

You play by reading and choosing. Each decision, such as whether to call the police, untie him or offer him food, steers the night toward a different end, and the maker counts six of them, a bonus one included. Some end with you dead, and there is a jumpscare on the way. The maker describes it as more satirical than scary: the tension of a stranger in your kitchen sits beside a lot of dark humour, and Gavril himself is as pitiful as he is threatening.

It suits players who want a quick, character-driven horror story to finish in one sitting, and those who enjoy hunting every ending of a short visual novel. The maker posted a walkthrough in the page's devlog, also for those who want to avoid the jumpscare.

How to play GAVRIL

Open the itch.io page and press Run game, or download the Windows or macOS version.
Click to advance the text as you go downstairs to find out what made the noise.
When choices appear, click the one you want; they decide how the intruder reacts.
Play again and choose differently to reach the other endings; the devlog has a walkthrough.

Screenshots

GAVRIL title screen: the hooded intruder grins from under his hood beside the Start, Load, Options, About and Quit menu

GAVRIL scene: the hooded intruder sits grinning at a kitchen table under window blinds while the choices Untie him and Don't. Call the cops now. are shown

GAVRIL scene: Gavril, hood down and looking tired, sits at the table and says he has not eaten all day

Tips

Save before each choice with the Ren'Py menu so you can try the other branch quickly.
If the full-screen view is zoomed in the browser, play it windowed or use the download.
The walkthrough in the devlog lists how to reach every ending, and warns where the jumpscare is.