The Body Monstrous

About The Body Monstrous

The Body Monstrous is a free narrative horror game by doublecrow, made in Godot and drawn in stark black-and-white pixel art with a few photographic title images. Its page sums it up in four words: take care of your body.

You play someone who lives alone and works freelance from home. Each day starts the same way: get out of bed, take your meds, water the plants, try to finish the article that is overdue. A kind neighbour drops by with food and asks if you are alright. And there is something in the basement that has to be fed, that makes the ground shake, and that can hurt you badly when it wants to.

The game never needs a jump scare to be frightening. The horror is in the routine: plans you cannot keep, a mess you have to clean, a fear of the next time it hurts you, and the knowledge that you are stuck together one way or another. Many players read it as a picture of chronic illness or depression.

The maker lists content warnings on the page, among them blood, body horror, loud noises, mild flickering lights and suicidal ideation. If the audio stutters in Chrome, the maker suggests Firefox, and to play again you should reload the page. It takes about fifteen minutes and suits players who want horror with something to say.

How to play The Body Monstrous

1. Click the game to focus it and start the day.
2. Walk around the house with the arrow keys.
3. Go up to objects and people and interact when the icon appears.
4. Do what the day asks of you, and go down to the basement when you must.
5. Follow the days to the end; reload the page to play again.

Tips

• Read the content warnings on the itch.io page first if any of them matter to you.
• Use Firefox if the sound stutters in Chrome.
• Play with sound on; much of the tension is in the noises from below.
• Reload the page before replaying, as the maker advises.

Questions