The Bellows

About The Bellows

The Bellows is a short horror experience for VR headsets, released free on Steam in September 2016. Steam lists BOT Jungle Productions with Evan Davis, Bryce Davis and Gehrig Gosslin as its makers; the PlayStation VR version, published by Castle Steps LLC, came out on the PlayStation Store in July 2017 for $4.99. It began as a short playable trailer on itch.io. It is VR only: there is no flat-screen mode.

The makers built it with one aim: scaring you, scaring your family and scaring your friends. It plays like an interactive movie in two parts. In the manor the lights go out and a lantern is all you have, while books fly off shelves, furniture moves by itself and paintings fall. In the hospital, with its peeling corridors and rusted equipment, people are dragged off into the dark and a madman comes after you. You walk with a button and turn in fixed steps, and beyond opening doors and pulling a lever you mostly watch; you cannot pick things up or fight back.

Critics compared it to an amusement park ride more than a game. SelectButton gave it 6 of 10 and found the manor scarier than the hospital; The VR Grid gave it 4 of 10, praising its surround sound and atmosphere but calling the jump scares predictable and the walking slow. Steam players rate it higher: 86% of 245 reviews are positive.

It suits a first evening with a headset, or a quick scare to hand to a friend, rather than players looking for puzzles or a long game.

How to play The Bellows

1. Download it free on Steam for a SteamVR headset, or buy it on the PlayStation Store for PS VR, which also needs the PlayStation Camera.
2. Pick one of the two parts from the menu; the tutorial at the start shows how to move.
3. On PS VR use a DualShock 4 or two Move controllers; with Move controllers you hold the middle button to walk and steer with your hands.
4. Walk through the manor or the hospital, open the doors the story asks for, and let the scenes play out around you.

Tips

• Play with headphones; both reviews single out its sound.
• If the darkness makes it hard to find your way, try turning off the dark vignette comfort option, which SelectButton found made the game harder to see.
• Two Move controllers let each floating hand move on its own, which SelectButton preferred to the DualShock 4.
• Play the manor first: reviewers found it the scarier of the two parts.

Questions