Paper Cages

About Paper Cages

Paper Cages is a short game by Placeholder Gameworks, the studio behind Death and Taxes, made for Spelkollektivet's 2019 Halloween Game Jam. The jam's theme was horror, and the team chose the sub-themes personal and archenemy. Its pitch is a list of chores: wake up, get dressed, brush your teeth, eat breakfast, go to work. A true horror story.

You play in a small bedroom drawn in warm pink and navy pixel art: a bed, a family photo on the wall, a desk with a computer, a sleeping cat. Getting up is the first fight. A close-up of the character's face appears between bars for willpower and completion, and you mash the Z key just to wake. Every task after that costs something, and the meters at the corner of the screen keep count.

There are no monsters and no jumpscares. The archenemy is the character's own mind, and the dread is in how hard each ordinary step becomes. The maker's trigger warnings list mental health, depression, anxiety, self-loathing, dysphoria and eating disorders.

It suits players open to horror that is personal rather than supernatural, and it is over in one short sitting. It plays in the browser or as a free download for Windows, Mac and Linux.

How to play Paper Cages

1. Press play; you need a mouse and the Z key.
2. Mash Z when prompted to wake up and to push through hard moments.
3. Click on objects in the room to do each morning task.
4. Keep an eye on the meters in the corner and try to make it to work.

Tips

• Read the trigger warnings first; the game deals with depression and eating disorders.
• Take it slowly: the point is how each task feels, not speed.
• Look at the computer and the messages on it.

Questions