Murder House

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An 80s news crew, an abandoned house and a killer in a bunny mask.

Platforms: PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch
Price: Paid
Rated: Overwhelmingly Positive on Steam (95% of 2,345 reviews)
Length: about 2 to 3 hours
Players: 1
Made by: Puppet Combo
Released: 2020

Get it on Steam GOG PlayStation Store Nintendo eShop (Australia)

What frightens A TV news crew breaks into the abandoned house of an executed child killer, and a man in a stained Easter bunny mask starts killing them one by one while you hunt for a way out.
Content: gore, blood, decapitation, descriptions of child abuse, strong language, jumpscares.

Murder House is a short survival horror game by Puppet Combo, made to look like a PS1 game played off a VHS tape. A local news crew breaks into the home of the executed Easter Ripper to film a ghost story, and finds that someone in a bunny mask is still inside.

About Murder House

Murder House is a game by Puppet Combo, the studio behind a run of low-poly slasher games. It came out on Steam in October 2020 and on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch in October 2021, and the maker calls it the spiritual successor to Babysitter Bloodbath.

It is 1988. A small TV news team drives out to the empty house of Anthony Smith, the Easter Ripper, a child killer who was caught and executed, to shoot a story about the place for the evening news. You play Emma, the intern. The house is dark, the real estate agent never turns up, and before long the crew's van will not start and the gate is locked.

The game copies the survival horror of the fifth console generation on purpose. Movement uses tank controls, the camera cuts between fixed angles, doors open in short black-screen transitions, and you collect keys, weapons and puzzle items in a small inventory. There are no auto saves: you save with pencils, and there are only so many of them. A first-person mode is there for anyone who would rather not use the fixed cameras.

The fear comes from the killer. A man in a dirty pink bunny suit can appear in a doorway or behind you, and the clumsy controls make every chase tense. Low-poly faces, a fuzzy VHS filter and a synth soundtrack give it the feel of a rented 80s slasher tape. It suits players who enjoy Resident Evil-style exploring and do not mind blunt violence; the store page warns of blood, decapitation and descriptions of child abuse.

How to play Murder House

Use tank controls: up moves forward in the direction Emma faces, left and right turn her on the spot.
Search each room for keys, tools and notes and check the inventory to use them on locked doors and puzzles.
Save your game by using a pencil, and keep some for later since they are limited.
When the bunny-masked killer appears, get away from him and keep moving toward the next goal.
Switch to first-person view in the options if the fixed camera angles trouble you.

Screenshots

Murder House screenshot: the killer in a dirty pink Easter bunny suit and mask with a yellow bow stands in a dim hallway, seen through a fuzzy VHS filter

Murder House screenshot: a low-poly woman stands in a dark doorway while the bunny-masked killer looms behind her

Murder House screenshot: the crew's van with a roof antenna parked in tall grass before a pale two-storey house in a misty wood

Murder House screenshot: the inventory screen with a flashlight, pistol, shotgun and key above a bloodied girl standing in a wrecked room, her status marked danger

Tips

Save before opening doors to new parts of the house; a death sends you back to your last pencil.
Read the notes and watch the tapes you find: they explain what the house wants from you.
Play with a controller, as the game recommends; tank controls are easier on a stick or D-pad.
Listen for the music and sounds that warn the killer is close.