Stealth horror Horror puzzle Horror escape PS1 horror

Quiet is the Eyes

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An empty lab at midnight, and something at the window always watching.

Platforms: PC
Stores: Steam
Price: Free
Rated: Very Positive on Steam (96% of 225 reviews)
Players: 1
Made by: Rachel Perry, Ally Guo
Released: 2023

Not on GOG. Quiet is the Eyes is on Steam and PC. It is not in the GOG part of the site you came from.

What frightens A researcher stays at the lab past midnight to find her coworkers gone and the building in lockdown. A creature outside the windows is always watching and stalks her through the halls, so she must run and hide, crouching out of its sight, while she solves puzzles to open the doors and finds blood and records of a highly intelligent specimen.
Content: blood, being chased.

Quiet is the Eyes is a free 2D side-scrolling puzzle horror game. As a researcher alone in a locked-down laboratory at night, you solve puzzles to open its wings while a creature stalks you, and you run and hide to stay out of its sight.

About Quiet is the Eyes

Quiet is the Eyes was made by Ally Guo and Rachel Perry in the University of Southern California's games programme, with music by students of the Berklee College of Music, and released free on Steam by USC Games in December 2023. The makers say it is about unpredictability and the unknown: how they cause dread, and the relief that comes when it passes.

You play a researcher who has stayed at the lab past midnight. Her coworkers have gone, the rain taps on the windows and the building has entered lockdown. To get out you explore its different wings, a museum hall of skeletons among them, and solve themed puzzles: codes hidden in what you find, symbols to match, objects to read closely.

The fear is the creature. It is outside the windows and in the halls, always near and always watching, and the store warns that no place inside the lab is truly safe. You run, hide and crouch to stay out of its sight, and the game's records of a classified specimen, highly intelligent and not to be left unattended, hint at what it is. The art is soft pixel work in deep blues, with anime-style portraits, which makes the blood and the dark rooms full of eyes stand out.

It suits players who like 2D hide-and-escape horror such as Clock Tower or Clea, and puzzle games with a monster to avoid, and it costs nothing to try.

How to play Quiet is the Eyes

Add Quiet is the Eyes to your library on Steam for free and launch it.
Explore the lab from side to side, reading notes and checking objects for clues.
When the creature is near, run to a hiding place or crouch to stay out of its sight.
Use the clues you found to solve each wing's puzzle and unlock the next door.
Keep going through the lab to learn what happened and find a way out.

Screenshots

The researcher crouches behind a plant in a blue pixel-art corridor, thinking that if she stays down it should not see her

Rows of glowing eyes in the dark above the small figure of the researcher

A lab note on a classified specimen: highly intelligent, do not leave unattended

A passcode puzzle over a locked lab room

Blood splashed on the wall of a lab room as the researcher says it is just as she thought

A museum hall with dinosaur skeletons and crystals in blue pixel art

Tips

Write down numbers and colours you see; puzzle answers are often printed on objects in other rooms.
Listen and watch the windows: the creature is always somewhere near.
Find your nearest hiding spot before you start working on a puzzle.
Crouching keeps you hidden, as the game tells you early on.

Questions

Is Quiet is the Eyes free?

Yes, it is free on Steam.

Who made Quiet is the Eyes?

Ally Guo and Rachel Perry, as part of the USC Games programme, with music by students at the Berklee College of Music.

Is it scary?

It is a stalking game: a creature watches and follows you through the lab, and you must hide from it. There is blood, but the art is soft pixel work rather than gore.

What platforms is it on?

Windows PC, through Steam.