Psychological horror RPG Maker horror 2D horror Short horror Analog horror

It Moves

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A boy, a bunk bed, and nights that get stranger every time he falls asleep.

Platforms: PC
Stores: Steam, itch.io
Price: Free
Rated: Very Positive on Steam (88% of 328 reviews); 94% positive on Game Jolt (374 ratings) and 4.6 out of 5 on itch.io; 4.3 out of 5 from JayIsGames readers; featured in Rock Paper Shotgun's Freeware Garden
Length: roughly 1 hour (maker's estimate)
Players: 1
Controls: Keyboard; the Steam version has full controller support
Made by: SnowOwl
Released: 2014

What frightens A boy who has just been given his own room is terrified of going to sleep in the bunk bed, and each night his nightmares carry him into stranger places: cellars, a school, a sacrificial chamber, an underwater base. Undead babies, cow-like monstrosities, cultists and other half-seen creatures wait there, and the maker builds dread through atmosphere and ambient sound rather than many sudden screame
Content: disturbing creatures, including undead babies, occult and sacrificial imagery, some jumpscares.

It Moves is a free top-down horror game made in RPG Maker by SnowOwl, based on Michael Whitehouse's short story about a child who dreads bedtime. You play the boy through each night's nightmare, solving a few puzzles among strange creatures, in a game that relies on atmosphere and suspense rather than jumpscares.

About It Moves

It Moves was made by SnowOwl in RPG Maker VX Ace, with custom graphics by its maker and finished in August 2014. It adapts Bedtime, a short story by Michael Whitehouse: a grown man remembers the nights when, as a boy, he was afraid to fall asleep in his small, narrow and oddly long bedroom. It is free on Game Jolt and itch.io, and since February 2019 on Steam, published by Kodama Games.

The story is told in the man's own narration, between scenes in the boy's house with his parents. The rest of the game is the nightmares. Each one takes you somewhere new in top-down 2D, drawn in SnowOwl's own dark, detailed pixel art: cellars and a school, a jungle, church-like halls, a sacrificial chamber and an underwater base among drifting jellyfish. Along the way you solve a few puzzles, find your way through mazes and meet creatures that are hard to put a name to.

The maker set out to frighten without many of the usual screamers, saying the focus would be atmosphere and that ambient sound is what separates a good horror game from a great one. Rock Paper Shotgun called it one of the few games that understand how atmospheric horror works, a game that scares rather than startles, with chapters that get weirder and more disturbing as everyday fears blend into supernatural ones. JayIsGames readers noted a few things that still count as jumpscares, usually something running across the screen.

Play is simple and some players find the mazes repetitive, but the writing, the creature designs and the sound carry it. It suits players who like story-led RPG Maker horror in the line of Yume Nikki, and anyone who remembers being afraid of the dark as a child. It takes about an hour.

How to play It Moves

Download it free from Steam, or from itch.io or Game Jolt as a zip.
If you took the zip, unzip it and open Game.exe, as the maker's itch.io page says.
Walk the boy around his home and read the narration between nights.
In each nightmare, explore the map, pick up what you find and solve the puzzles that block your way.
Keep away from the creatures you meet and find the way through each dream until he wakes.

Screenshots

It Moves screenshot: the boy stands on a long walkway before a huge horned skull with glowing red eyes in a dark red chamber

It Moves screenshot: the boy at a desk inside a rusted underwater base, with pale jellyfish drifting in the dark water around it

It Moves screenshot: the boy in a dark overgrown jungle beside a pond and an old wooden house, with a grey creature on its roof

It Moves screenshot: the boy among rows of school desks in a dark wooden classroom with two hunched green creatures

It Moves screenshot: the boy sinking through dark green water past kelp and fish toward a shaft of light

It Moves screenshot: the boy and his dad in a narrow hallway at home, with Dad saying it is bedtime soon

Tips

Play with headphones; much of the dread is in the ambient sound.
Read the narration fully; the game includes the original story's text, so you do not need to read it first.
Some areas are mazes; note landmarks as you go so you do not circle the same rooms.
Play it in one sitting at night; it takes about an hour.

Questions

Is It Moves free?

Yes. It is free on Steam, itch.io and Game Jolt, for Windows.

How long is It Moves?

Its maker gives a playtime of roughly one hour.

What is It Moves based on?

Bedtime, a short story by Michael Whitehouse about a boy who is afraid of falling asleep in his bedroom.

Does It Moves have a lot of jumpscares?

Not many. The maker aimed for atmosphere and suspense over screamers, though a few moments, like something running across the screen, still make you jump.

What was It Moves made with?

RPG Maker VX Ace, with custom graphics by its maker, SnowOwl.