Terror At Oakheart

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A masked killer, a small town, and a body count that keeps rising.

Platforms: PC
Stores: Steam, GOG
Price: Paid
Rated: Very Positive on Steam (85% of 284 reviews); 2.9 of 5 on GOG from 9 reviews
Length: about 2.5 hours
Players: 1
Made by: Tainted Pact
Released: 2024

On GOG: one of the GOG horror games.

No. 14 of the police station horror games · No. 10 of the summer camp horror games

What frightens Teddy, a masked killer clown under the sway of a Lovecraftian beast, terrorises the town of Oakheart; you play a string of its people through his house, the police station, a ranger station and a summer camp, and one after another they die horribly at his hands, in gory pixel art.
Content: gore, blood, violence, very dark scenes.

Terror At Oakheart is a side-scrolling pixel-art horror game inspired by the slasher films of the 1980s and 1990s. Teddy, a masked killer clown, is terrorising the town of Oakheart, and you play one of its people after another as the body count rises and something worse than a man in a mask comes to light.

About Terror At Oakheart

Terror At Oakheart is a horror game by Tainted Pact, published by Assemble Entertainment and released on Steam on 27 February 2024 for Windows. It sets out to recreate the feel of watching an 80s horror movie, drawing on the slasher films of the 1980s and 1990s.

The community of Oakheart is being terrorised by Teddy, a masked killer clown. As the body count rises, you find there is more going on than a man in a mask killing helpless teenagers: Teddy is under the sway of a Lovecraftian beast that wants bodies. You play a cast of characters who square off against him in turn, and the store is plain that the story is about who survives and who is killed in the most horrific ways.

The game is split into chapters, each moving to a new set piece in the town: Teddy's house, where bodies hang in the basement under a red symbol, the police station, a ranger station in the rain, a summer camp and more. You walk through each scene, search it and solve light environmental puzzles, carrying a flashlight or a weapon depending on the moment. When a character dies, the story picks up from someone else's point of view, and at times you take control of Teddy himself. Reviewers single out a chapter where you play camp counsellors splitting up to search the campsite before the view switches to the killer.

There is real combat too: a pistol and a shotgun, a dodge roll and med-kits, and two boss fights at the end of long chapters. Reviews are split on it. Get Jumpscared gave the game five stars for its pixel art, 80s synth score and shifting viewpoints, while The Geekly Grind found the fights slow, with enemies that soak up bullets, one walking speed and no health bar, and much of the game spent in near-total darkness.

A run takes about two and a half hours. Collectible plushies are hidden through the chapters, and finishing unlocks a bonus mode, Mr. Tops Murder Mayhem. The first chapter and the prologue are free as a demo on Steam. It suits players who like pixel-art slashers such as The Happyhills Homicide or Lakeview Cabin, and the same studio also made Flesh Made Fear and The Skin Stapler.

How to play Terror At Oakheart

Buy it on Steam or GOG for Windows, or try the free Steam demo of the prologue and chapter 1.
Play each chapter as a different resident of Oakheart, and sometimes as Teddy himself.
Walk through the side-scrolling scenes with your flashlight, searching rooms and solving light puzzles to open new areas.
When armed, shoot, dodge-roll away and reload; use med-kits from your inventory to heal.
Beat the two boss fights to finish the story, then try the bonus mode it unlocks.

Screenshots

A police officer with a flashlight and gun in a dark, blood-spattered station corridor by the Operations door

A dark basement with wrapped, bloody bodies hanging from ropes, a chainsaw on a table and a red symbol painted on the wall

A ranger with a flashlight by the Ranger Station sign and the gate of Camp Oakheart on a rainy, foggy night

A girl with a knife and flashlight faces a pale, bloodied figure across a bed in a dark bedroom

A police officer in the Oakheart station office, under a mounted deer head and an Oak Heart shield sign

The Oakheart police department lobby at night, a receptionist at the front desk under a hanging TV

A man in a blue jumpsuit aims a shotgun at a crouching, bloody creature in a garage beside a red sigil

Tips

There is no health bar on screen, so heal with a med-kit early rather than guessing how hurt you are.
You cannot run, so dodge-roll to make space before you reload, especially with the slow-loading shotgun.
Ammo does not run out: take your time in fights rather than saving bullets.
Look into dark corners for the collectible plushies; you can replay chapters later to find the ones you missed.