Horror Tale 1: Kidnapper

About Horror Tale 1: Kidnapper

Horror Tale 1: Kidnapper is the first episode of the Horror Tale series by Euphoria Games, the studio behind Death Park and Mimicry. It came out on phones in 2022, reached Steam in January 2023, and arrived on Xbox, PlayStation 4 and Switch in April 2023, published there by EpiXR Games. You can also play it in a browser on CrazyGames. The App Store lists it as Horror Tale 1: Scary Kidnapper.

The town of Lakewitch has been losing its children for a long time. Tom is waiting for his parents to come home when he runs into the kidnapper, a man in a hoodie and a stitched rabbit mask with a knife on his belt. His friend Harry has a plan: make their tree house safe enough that the kidnapper can't get in. To do that, Tom has to go out and fetch the tools and materials, and the places they lie in are the places the kidnapper watches.

The tree house is your base. From there you head out to five areas, among them Tom's parents' farm, the kidnapper's lair, a sawmill and the school. It works like Ice Scream and Evil Nun: one item gets you into a locked room where the next one waits, a hammer breaks boards, and so on. The kidnapper patrols while you search. He comes toward noise, so you crouch to move quietly and duck into hiding spots, and he'll check a manhole or drag you out of a barrel. When he spots you the music picks up and you run.

It isn't gory. The look is bright and cartoony, with orange sunsets and purple nights, and TheXboxHub's review says the themes sit closer to PG than to an adult horror film. There are jump scares, though, and the whole story is about a man who takes children. Difficulty runs from a ghost mode, where he can't see you at all, up to a hard setting where he moves faster.

A first run takes about an hour. Xbox players on TrueAchievements get every achievement in half an hour to an hour. It's free with ads on Android and iPhone and a paid download on PC and consoles. Pick it if you like Ice Scream or Granny and want a story about a couple of kids against a stalker, told over several episodes.

How to play Horror Tale 1: Kidnapper

1. Choose a difficulty: ghost mode for the story without being caught, or normal and hard for the chases.
2. Meet Harry and learn what the tree house needs, then head out to the area where each item lies.
3. Watch where the kidnapper walks and crouch behind cover until his back is turned.
4. Use what you find to open the next locked room, solve the riddles that guard some items, and carry them back.
5. Fortify the tree house and see what the night brings.

Tips

• Crouch whenever he is near. On PC it is C, and moving low makes less noise, which is what draws him.
• A barrel or a manhole is not a safe hiding spot forever. Since an update he checks them and can pull you out.
• On PC, press H for the hint menu when you are stuck on what to fetch next.
• Learn each area's paths before you go for an item, so you know where to run when the music changes.
• Look around for collectibles and documents. They fill in the story of the missing children.

Questions