Short horror PS1 horror Psychological horror

Start Survey?

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The same dull day, a laptop survey, and a game that knows your name.

Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux
Stores: itch.io
Price: Pay what you want
Rated: 4.4 of 5 from 1,007 ratings on itch.io
Length: 5 to 10 minutes
Players: 1
Controls: Mouse only: move to look, left click to interact, right click to zoom, scroll to spin an item, C to turn on colour
Made by: anniesden
Released: 2019

What frightens Alone at your desk, you go through the same dull tasks every day until a survey on your laptop breaks the pattern and things turn out not to be what they seem, in the maker's words an episode of the Midnight Zone. The maker warns that the game reads basic information from your computer, such as your username, and that streamers with private files on their desktop should not play it.
Content: reads information from your computer, such as your username,, may show private files from your desktop if you stream it, t.

Start Survey? is a short first-person horror game by anniesden, made for Haunted PS1's Horrifying Halloween jam. You repeat the same boring tasks every day until a survey on your laptop disrupts the routine. It takes 5 to 10 minutes, is played with the mouse in grayscale, and reads basic information from your computer, as its maker warns.

About Start Survey?

Start Survey? is a tiny horror game by anniesden, made in Unity for Haunted PS1's Horrifying Halloween jam in 2019 and offered on itch.io for whatever you want to pay, for Windows, with Mac and Linux builds in beta.

You have little to your name and spend each day repeating the same boring tasks, one day the same as the one before. You sit at a desk with a laptop, a clock and a few things to pick up and turn over in your hands, and a screen that asks whether you want to start a survey. This time the pattern breaks, and you find that not everything is as it seems, in what the maker frames as an episode of the Midnight Zone.

It is played entirely with the mouse: look around, click to interact, right click to look closer and scroll to turn an object. The whole thing is in grainy grayscale behind a rounded CRT frame, and the maker suggests keeping it that way, though C turns the colour on.

The maker warns that the game reads basic information from your own computer, such as your username, and that anyone streaming it with private images on their desktop should not play it. That reach out of the screen is a large part of how it unsettles. It suits players who like short, quiet meta horror and survey games such as Please Answer Carefully, and has a sizeable following on itch.io for a jam game.

How to play Start Survey?

Download Start Survey? from its itch.io page (pay what you want) for Windows, or the Mac or Linux beta.
Read the maker's warning first: the game reads basic information from your computer, so do not stream it with private files on your desktop.
Move the mouse to look around the desk and left click to interact with things.
Right click to zoom in on an object and scroll to spin it in your hands.
Answer the laptop when it asks you to start the survey, and play it through to the end.

Tips

Play in grayscale, as the maker prefers; press C only if you want colour.
Clear your desktop of anything private before you record or stream it.
Pick things up and turn them over; the room is small and worth a close look.
It runs with the mouse alone, so a trackpad user may find a mouse easier.

Questions

Is Start Survey? free?

Yes. It is pay what you want on itch.io, so you can download it for nothing.

How long is Start Survey?

The maker puts it at 5 to 10 minutes.

Does Start Survey? read my computer?

Yes. Its maker states that it reads basic information from your computer, such as your username, and advises streamers with private images on their desktop not to play it.

Can I play Start Survey? on Mac or Linux?

There are Mac and Linux builds on its itch.io page, both marked beta. The main build is for Windows.