Psychological horror Short horror PS1 horror

That Which Gave Chase

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Mush a dog sled into the arctic with a passenger you should never have trusted.

Platforms: PC
Stores: Steam, itch.io
Price: Paid
Rated: Very Positive on Steam (91% of 1,163 reviews); 4.8 of 5 from 75 ratings on itch.io
Length: 45 to 60 minutes
Players: 1
Made by: Aslak Karlsen Hauglid
Released: 2023

Get it on Steam itch.io (includes a Steam key)

What frightens You drive a team of sled dogs across a fogged, empty arctic, carrying a grinning scientist back to the site of the expedition he abandoned. Sudden cuts skip time and leave you disoriented, the wildlife turns hostile, derelict cabins hold what is left of the last trip, and his cryptic remarks make the end of the route something to dread.
Content: violence towards people and animals (low-resolution), drug use.

A short first-person dog-sledding horror game in PlayStation 1 style. You are hired to take a scientist across the frozen wastes to the site of his abandoned expedition, steering the sled over hard terrain while the journey, and the man behind you, grow more and more wrong.

About That Which Gave Chase

That Which Gave Chase is a short narrative horror game by the Norwegian developer Aslak Karlsen Hauglid. It grew from a demo made for the Haunted PS1 Demo Disc, came out on itch.io in May 2023 and on Steam in June 2023, and has since been translated into more than ten languages.

A scientist who had to abandon an expedition in the arctic hires a musher to take him back for the last leg of the journey. You are the musher. Most of the game is spent on the sled, in first person, steering four dogs over ice, slopes and open snow, leaning to keep the sled from tipping and choosing your way between waypoints. Now and then you stop at a cabin or camp the expedition left behind and look around on foot.

The store calls it a mix of adventure and light horror with a walking-simulator structure, and its fear is the slow kind. The story comes in sparse dialogue and notes, the editing cuts suddenly from one moment to the next so you lose track of time and distance, and the land itself seems not to want you there. Your passenger promises a great reward, but his grin and his stories of the last expedition suggest you are taking him somewhere nobody should go.

The low-poly look, white fog and grainy textures keep the world vague, which makes every shape on the horizon uneasy. It is for players who like quiet, atmospheric horror they can finish in one sitting and puzzle over afterwards; there are no chases, fights or jump-scare corridors.

How to play That Which Gave Chase

Buy it on Steam, or on itch.io where the purchase includes a Steam key, and start a new game.
Drive the sled with the movement keys or a gamepad, steering the dogs along the route the scientist gives you.
Shift your weight on slopes and rough ground to keep the sled from tipping over.
Stop at the cabins and camps along the way and explore them on foot for notes about the earlier expedition.
Keep pushing toward the final waypoint and see where your passenger is really taking you.

Screenshots

First-person view from the sled: the hooded passenger in front, four dogs pulling across a snowy slope, subtitle Keep steady

The dog team hauling the sled along a steep snowy mountainside in low-poly PS1 style

The goggled scientist in a fur parka pointing a rifle at dusk, the sled and dogs waiting by bare poles in the fog

Four grey sled dogs in harness on the snow beside a dark wooden cabin

Tips

Take steep ground slowly; a tipped sled upsets the dogs and costs you time.
Read every note you find; the story is mostly told in what the last expedition left behind.
Play it in one sitting with headphones; the wind and silence carry much of the mood.
If the ending leaves you puzzled, the store hints that there is more to uncover for players who look closely.