Simulacrum - Chapter One

About Simulacrum - Chapter One

Simulacrum - Chapter One was released free on Game Jolt in August 2019 by Prymordium. Its maker describes it as a horror adventure game inspired by classic survival horror such as Silent Hill and Resident Evil, and as the first chapter of a longer story. It is a Windows download built in Unity.

You play Abigail, who is trapped in a dark world and must find her way back home by solving riddles, escaping a hellish nightmare and uncovering the roots of her past. It begins in an ordinary bedroom with a bookcase and a television, and moves into rusted corridors with grated floors, stained walls and dim lamps, lit only by a small pocket flashlight that, as the inventory says, was a gift from someone called Jennifer.

The homage shows in the details. The camera is placed at fixed angles, the menu holds a map, memos and items, and the text speaks in the stilted, ominous voice of the early-2000s games: a bloodied note reads that it is not my will but the will of our fathers, a newspaper clipping discusses apparitions, and the game asks if you want to reach for a key in a dark hole. Puzzles include a rotating cylinder of lettered rings.

Players on its Game Jolt page praise how closely it follows the old Silent Hill style, from the puzzles to the music, and several call the riddles hard. It suits players who miss Team Silent's games and want a free, short taste of that otherworld, while a later chapter is awaited.

How to play Simulacrum - Chapter One

1. Download Simulacrum - Chapter One free from its Game Jolt page, unzip it and run simulacrum.exe (choose More info, then Run anyway if Windows warns about an unknown publisher).
2. Explore as Abigail, examining objects and reading every memo and note you find.
3. Use the menu to check the map, your memos and your items, and toggle the flashlight with F.
4. Use what you find and the clues in the notes to solve the riddles that block your way.
5. Push on through the nightmare to find a way back home.

Tips

• Read the memos twice: the riddles lean on what the notes and clippings say.
• Keep the map open often; the dark corridors look alike.
• Save data sits in AppData\LocalLow\Prymordium\Simulacrum if you want to back it up.
• The maker gives an email for help on its Game Jolt page if the game will not run.

Questions