Psychological horror Cosmic and Lovecraftian horror Short horror PS1 horror

You Will (Not) Remain

Rate it

Stay inside. Stay safe. Don't let anyone in.

Platforms: PC
Price: Free
Rated: Very Positive on Steam (92% of 2,548 reviews)
Length: about 30 to 45 minutes, by players' reviews
Players: 1
Made by: Bedtime Phobias
Released: 2022

What frightens You have been told to stay inside, and you have, for so long that the days blur. Outside, a nameless eldritch creature hangs over the city and turns the sky violet, whispers come through the walls, and the repeated days of chores with only a strange dog for company slowly make you doubt what is real.
Content: anxiety, depression, dissociation, suicidal ideation.

You Will (Not) Remain is a short, free 2D narrative game by Bedtime Phobias. Shut in your apartment while the city outside falls to an eldritch horror, you live the same lonely days with your odd dog Lambshank and start to question what is real.

About You Will (Not) Remain

You Will (Not) Remain was made in 48 hours for the Women Game Jam 2021 by the small team Bedtime Phobias, and released free on Steam in January 2022. It is a 2D narrative game in black, white and violet pixel art, set in an abandoned apartment complex while a city falls to something it has no name for.

The instructions were simple: stay inside, stay safe, do not let anyone in. You have done that for weeks, or maybe years, and now the only company you have is Lambshank, the strangest dog you have ever seen. Each day you walk the apartment, look after what you can, play fetch, and go out on the balcony, where a huge mass of something fills the sky above the towers.

The horror here is quiet. There are no chases. The fear comes from repetition and isolation: days that blur into each other, the whispers in the walls, the violet glow over everything, and a narrator haunted by past mistakes who begins to doubt their own mind. The makers say plainly that it is about isolation and deals with anxiety, depression, dissociation and suicidal ideation, and many players read the creature as a picture of those feelings.

It suits players who like short, thoughtful psychological horror and cosmic dread over scares, and anyone who remembers what lockdown felt like.

How to play You Will (Not) Remain

Download the game free from its Steam page and start a new game.
Walk through your apartment and interact with objects to go through each day's routine.
Spend time with Lambshank, your dog, and look after the things that depend on you.
Step out to the balcony and the hallways to see how the city and the creature change.
Go to sleep to end the day, and start the next one.

Screenshots

The player and the dog on a rooftop under a violet mass of tentacle-like shapes filling the sky over the city

Top-down view of the cluttered apartment with a kitchen, a television, a bed, a plant and scattered dog toys

The player standing on a balcony looking out at dark towers and the violet creature in the sky

Tips

Read every line of the narration; the story lives in the small thoughts between chores.
Water the plant and keep Lambshank company; players say the small chores are what the game is about.
Play it in one sitting, with sound on; the 8-bit soundtrack carries much of the mood.
Check the content notes first if themes of depression or suicidal thoughts are hard for you.

Questions

Is You Will (Not) Remain free?

Yes. It is free on Steam, for Windows.

How long is You Will (Not) Remain?

It is a jam game; players' reviews say a first play takes about 30 to 45 minutes.

Is it scary?

It is quiet dread rather than scares: isolation, a creature looming over the city, and a mind that starts to doubt itself. It deals openly with depression and dissociation.

Who made it?

Bedtime Phobias, a small team of four, in 48 hours for the Women Game Jam 2021.