V.H.S: Video.Horror.Story

About V.H.S: Video.Horror.Story

V.H.S: Video.Horror.Story puts a camcorder between you and everything. The screen is a tape from the last night of 1989: PLAY in the corner, the time and date at the bottom, a signal bar, grain and green CRT light from old computers on office desks.

Its one idea is the camera's frequency. On one setting you see the environment: walls, doors, desks, blood on a wall. On the other you see the monsters, pale shapes in the static, but the room around them goes dark. You can only look at one at a time, so every step is a choice between knowing where you are going and knowing what is with you.

A team of students at Isart Digital in Paris made it in 48 hours for the Global Game Jam 2017; this is their post-jam version, with game design by Julien Metzger, art by Pierre Brouchet and Swann Klein, programming by Antoine Bordes and Antoine Eschenbrenner and sound by Aurélien Montero. The original 48-hour build is kept on the Global Game Jam site.

It is free on Game Jolt for Windows and Mac. It suits players who like found-footage and camcorder horror such as Blair Witch or Captured, in a small, tight form.

How to play V.H.S: Video.Horror.Story

1. Download the Windows or Mac build free from Game Jolt and unzip it.
2. Plug in an Xbox controller if you have one; the makers say it plays best that way.
3. Move through the rooms with the camera on its environment setting to find your way.
4. Switch the frequency to check for monsters, then switch back to move on.

Tips

• Switch frequency often; what you cannot see is still there.
• Learn a room's layout before you tune to the monsters, because the room goes dark when you do.
• Play in the dark with headphones; the static and sound give warnings.

Questions