I Can't Sleep

About I Can't Sleep

I Can't Sleep is a free point and click horror game by Temi (programming and sound) and Janessa (art and design), made for Scream Jam 2025. It runs in the browser, and a Windows download is offered for a smoother experience, since the makers note the web version can be laggy.

You are a university student who spots an ad in the university journal: participants wanted for a classified project. All you have to do is spend the nights in a control room, answer questions and complete simple tasks, and you are not allowed to sleep for a whole week. You have pulled all-nighters before, so you sign up.

The room is drawn in warm, scratchy browns: a fireplace, shelves of books, a desk where cards with instructions arrive. The tasks start simple, like drawing a line between two points without touching the edges. The horror comes from sleep deprivation and, as the makers put it, perhaps something else. Players mention how small details change as the nights go on and how tense the sound design makes it.

It suits players who like slow-building psychological horror in a single room and can spare twenty minutes. The makers mark it as mature content for adults.

How to play I Can't Sleep

1. Click Run game and confirm you are 18 or older if itch.io asks.
2. Use the arrows at the edges of the screen to look around the control room.
3. Pick up the cards that arrive at the desk and follow their instructions.
4. Type your answers with the keyboard when a card asks a question.
5. Keep going through each night of the study.

Tips

• Play with headphones; much of the tension is in the sound.
• Look around the room between tasks and notice what has changed.
• Check each answer before you put a card away, as you cannot change it after.
• If the browser version stutters, try the Windows download.

Questions