Thermomorph

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Your crew is dead. Wait for the escape pod, with a sensor and a flamethrower.

Platforms: Browser, PC, Mac, Linux, Android
Stores: itch.io
Price: Free
Rated: 4.5 out of 5 from 115 ratings on itch.io; players call it simple and scary, and some wish for an audio cue when the creatures come close
Players: 1
Controls: Keyboard: arrow keys to look left and right, Space to switch the sensor between motion and heating
Made by: Varun R. (Varun Ramesh)
Released: 2018

What frightens Your crew is dead and unidentified creatures stalk the halls of your mining ship; alone in the dark with a green motion sensor, the ship's heating to keep alive and a flamethrower, you wait out the hours until the escape pod is repaired, and the creatures arrive with jump scares.
Content: jumpscares, mild fantasy violence.

Thermomorph is a free horror game by Varun Ramesh that puts the Five Nights at Freddy's formula on a mining ship from Alien. Your crew is dead, creatures stalk the halls, and with a motion sensor and a flamethrower you have to survive the night until the escape pod is repaired.

About Thermomorph

Thermomorph is a short horror game by Varun Ramesh, made with Blender and the LÖVE engine and released free on itch.io in 2018, one of three horror games he made over three months that year. It plays in the browser and can be downloaded for Windows, macOS, Linux and as an Android APK, and its source code is on GitHub.

The maker names its two inspirations plainly: Five Nights at Freddy's and the film Alien. Your crew is dead. Unidentified creatures stalk the halls of your mining ship. Armed with a motion sensor and a flamethrower, you must survive until the escape pod is repaired.

You spend the night at one spot in the dark. A green handheld screen switches between a motion map of the ship's corridors and the heating readout, the clock ticks from 2:00 AM, and you look left and right down pre-rendered, grimy corridors. When something moves close, the flamethrower is your answer, and its fire fills the screen. Players say that sometimes you have to burn the darkness and hope, and the maker warns of jump scares.

It suits FNAF fans who want the formula without animatronics, and anyone who likes the motion tracker scenes in Alien. Players' main wish is an audio cue when a creature is near; the slow sensor is the tension.

How to play Thermomorph

Open Thermomorph on itch.io and play it in the browser, or download it for your computer or Android.
Choose New Game from the menu.
Use the arrow keys to look left and right down the corridors.
Press Space to switch the sensor between the motion map and the heating readout, and keep the heat up.
When the sensor shows something close, use the flamethrower, and hold out until the escape pod is ready.

Screenshots

The green motion sensor showing a map of the ship's corridors, a blip near the player and the time 2:08 AM

A burst of flamethrower fire filling a grimy, dark corridor of the ship

The sensor switched to heating mode, reading Heat OK 101.0 at 2:02 AM

Thermomorph running in the browser on its itch.io page, at its green title menu

Tips

Check the motion map often; the creatures move between scans.
Players say that when a creature is near and a scan is too far off, burning the dark can save you.
Do not forget the heating while you watch the motion map.
Play with sound up, but do not count on hearing the creatures; players note there is no warning sound.

Questions

Is Thermomorph a FNAF fan game?

It is not a Five Nights at Freddy's game, but its maker says it is inspired by FNAF and by Alien: you survive a timed night with a sensor instead of cameras.

Is Thermomorph free?

Yes. It is free on itch.io, in the browser or as a download.

Does Thermomorph have jump scares?

Yes. The maker warns of jump scares and mild fantasy violence.

Can I play Thermomorph on my phone?

There is an Android APK on its itch.io page, and players have played it in a phone browser.