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The Mantis screenshot: a pale brick back building at night beside a blue dumpster and garbage bags, with the task 'Take the garbage to the bin outside.'

PS1 horrorShort horrorHorror

The Mantis

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Finish your night chores. Something in a suit is watching.

Platforms
Browser, PC
Stores
itch.io
Price
Pay what you want
Rated
4.6 out of 5 on itch.io (33 ratings)
Players
1
Controls
First person, on keyboard and mouse; Esc opens the pause menu.
Made by
JagoTheArtist
Released
2025
Play on itch.io

What frightens Alone at a small store at night, you work through ordinary chores, taking out the trash, flipping the breaker when the lights die, until crying in the dark and a tall thing in a suit with a mantis face show up and it starts to chase you. Loud sudden noises and its sudden attacks carry the scares.

Content: jumpscares, loud sounds.

The Mantis is a short, PSX-style horror game by JagoTheArtist, free in the browser. Alone at a small store at night you do one chore after another, until the lights fail and something with a mantis face comes for you, and where you run decides which ending you get.

About The Mantis

The Mantis is a short horror game by JagoTheArtist, made in Godot as a way to learn how to handle missions, events, cutscenes and menus. It plays in the browser on itch.io (with hardware acceleration switched on in the browser), and there is a Windows download too. Its maker warns of loud noise.

The night starts plainly. You are at a small, empty store after dark, and the game hands you one task at a time on screen: take the garbage to the bin outside, deal with the lights when they go out. The store and the lot around it are drawn in low-poly PS1 style, dim and blocky, with darkness pressing in at every window. Then the tasks turn strange, such as following the sound of crying, and the thing of the title appears: a tall figure in a suit and tie with the head of a mantis.

Once it starts chasing you, where you go decides the ending. Its maker lists two endings and a silly one, and in September 2025 added a new ending that opens up if you pay attention during the earlier tasks. Players in the comments say they did not expect to be as scared as they were.

It suits players who like short night-shift horror where ordinary chores slowly go wrong, and who want to replay a quick game to find every ending.

How to play The Mantis

  1. Open the itch.io page and press Run game, with hardware acceleration enabled in your browser, or download the Windows build.
  2. Read each task at the bottom of the screen and carry it out.
  3. Move through the store and the lot outside in first person, using the objects the task asks for.
  4. When the Mantis comes after you, choose where to run: each choice leads to a different ending.
  5. Play again and look for options that open up during the tasks to reach the other endings.

Screenshots

The Mantis cover: a pixelated figure in a suit and tie with a pale, mantis-like face under the title MANTIS, with a 'New ending' badge
The Mantis screenshot: the store counter with a register and screen beside a dark window onto the empty lot, with the prompt 'Follow the crying...'

Tips

  • Turn the volume down a little before you start: its maker warns of loud noise.
  • Pay attention to the objects around you during the tasks; the maker says new options can appear that lead to another ending.
  • If the browser version will not start, turn on hardware acceleration or use the Windows download.

Questions

How many endings does The Mantis have?

Its maker lists two endings and a silly one, and a later update added another ending reached through options that appear during the tasks.

Is The Mantis free?

Yes. It plays free in the browser on itch.io, and the download is name your own price.

Why does The Mantis not load in my browser?

The browser build needs hardware acceleration; turn it on in your browser settings, or download the Windows version.

  • first person
  • psx
  • low poly
  • night
  • store
  • monster
  • chase
  • godot
  • chores

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The Mantis is played on jagoedition.itch.io and its makers' stores; this page links to them and is not part of it. Pictures are from the game's own pages and remain its owner's. Terms and pictures.

Sources: jagoedition.itch.io, jagoedition.itch.io