Slender: The Arrival

About Slender: The Arrival

Slender: The Arrival is the official video game of Slender Man, the faceless figure in a suit that grew out of an internet creepypasta. Blue Isle Studios made it in 2013 as a reworking and expansion of Slender: The Eight Pages, the short free game from 2012 that made the idea famous, with a full story, new characters and new places.

You play Lauren, who goes looking for her childhood friend Kate and finds signs that Slender Man has been at work. The story comes in pieces: notes, drawings on the walls and found tapes. You walk through forests at night, abandoned buildings, mountains and a mining facility, seen in first person and lit only by your flashlight.

The play is simple and tense. You gather eight pages through a level while Slender Man teleports ever closer, and each time you turn around he may be there. Sprinting burns your stamina, which then takes time to come back, so running blind does not save you for long. A second threat, the Chaser, comes at you directly, and you hold it off by keeping your flashlight on its face. There are Easy, Normal and Hardcore difficulties.

In 2023 the game got a 10th Anniversary Update on Unreal Engine 5: a full visual overhaul, a new chapter about Charlie Matheson's father, subtitles and more languages. On Steam you can still switch to the original 2013 version through the game's branches.

It suits players who want the classic Slender Man scare, a lone walk in the dark with something that keeps getting closer, in a longer and more story-led form than the free original.

How to play Slender: The Arrival

1. Choose a difficulty: Easy, Normal or Hardcore.
2. Explore in first person with your flashlight and follow the clues about Kate.
3. Find the pages placed around each level; Slender Man grows closer as you collect them.
4. Sprint to get away when he appears, but watch your stamina, which needs time to come back.
5. When the Chaser comes at you, hold your flashlight on its face to drive it off.

Tips

• Save your sprint for when you actually see him; an empty stamina bar leaves you crawling.
• Keep the flashlight pointed ahead and sweep it before you turn corners.
• Read the notes and listen to the tapes you find; they are where the story is told.
• Try Easy first if you are new to Slender games, then go back on Hardcore.

Questions