The Visitor

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Play the alien parasite and eat your way up the food chain.

Platforms: Browser
Price: Free
Rated: 4.60 out of 5 on Newgrounds from 5,002 votes, with over 1.6 million views; front page on Newgrounds
Players: 1
Controls: Mouse only: point and click
Made by: Zeebarf (Jay Ziebarth)
Released: 2007

Play The Visitor ClickShake Games (maker's site, Ruffle preview)

What frightens You are the monster: a small alien parasite that lands on Earth in a meteorite and has to kill and eat its way up from frogs and birds to pets, wild animals and finally the people in a farmhouse, bursting out of each victim bigger and more grotesque, drawn with plenty of blood and dark humour.
Content: gore, violence, animal death.

The Visitor is a free Flash point-and-click horror game by Zeebarf, released on Newgrounds in 2007. You guide a tiny alien parasite that crashes to Earth in a meteorite, using each scene to kill and devour animals, and then people, growing more monstrous with every meal.

About The Visitor

The Visitor is a point-and-click game made in Flash by Jay Ziebarth, known as Zeebarf, who later founded ClickShake Games. It came out on Newgrounds in October 2007, where it was put on the front page and is rated M; the maker calls it an interactive horror adventure. It still plays free in the browser on Newgrounds, and ClickShake's own site offers it in the Ruffle player.

The story turns a creature feature around. A small pink slug arrives on Earth on a meteorite, and you are on its side. Each scene, in the woods, by the water and around a farmhouse, is a puzzle: click the right things in the right order and the parasite gets inside its prey, eats it and takes on something of it, from claws and teeth to wings. It starts with frogs, fish and birds and works up through pets and wild animals to the family in the house.

The horror is body horror from the monster's side: creatures eaten from the inside, blood spattered over the drawn scenes and a creature that grows more grotesque with every kill. The art is cartoon-like and the tone has a dark sense of humour, but the game is built around gore, and ClickShake warns that it contains gory cartoon depictions. The maker says the last scene has three possible endings.

It suits players who like Flash-era point-and-click puzzles and gruesome creature horror, and who do not mind playing the monster. The sequel, The Visitor Returns (2011), adds seven new scenarios and more endings.

How to play The Visitor

Open the game's Newgrounds page; the old Flash game runs in the browser through Newgrounds' Ruffle player, so no plug-in is needed.
Press the play button on the game, wait for it to load and press Play.
Look over each scene and click on objects and creatures to see what happens.
Find the order of clicks that lets the parasite reach and eat its prey, then move on to the next scene.
In the last scene, try different choices to see each of the three endings.

Tips

The puzzles need logic and common sense more than luck: think about how each creature in the scene could be lured or used.
Each creature you eat gives the parasite something, such as claws, teeth or wings; think about what your new form can now do.
Replay the final scene to find all three endings.

Questions

Can you still play The Visitor?

Yes. It plays free in the browser on Newgrounds through its Ruffle player, and on ClickShake Games' own site.

Is The Visitor a horror game?

Its maker calls it an interactive horror adventure. You play the monster, a parasite eating animals and people from the inside, with a lot of cartoon gore and some dark humour.

How many endings does The Visitor have?

The maker says there are three possible endings in the last scene.

Is The Visitor on iPhone or Android?

The maker released a free mobile version, but its App Store and Google Play pages no longer answer, so the browser version is the one to play.

Is there a sequel?

Yes. The Visitor Returns (2011) is the point-and-click sequel, and The Visitor: Massacre at Camp Happy is an action spin-off.