Zeitgeist

About Zeitgeist

Zeitgeist was made by Wagyu_Dev in seven days for Scream Jam 2025, where it placed 8th overall and 9th for horror out of 931 entries. It is a free, name-your-own-price Windows download on itch.io, still being updated by its maker.

You wake up in a small underground bunker. The world outside is gone, and in your dreams you saw strange phone numbers that you feel compelled to call. Outside the bunker a single phone booth stands in the fog. There are seven valid calls to make, some of which have to be processed on the computer in the bunker, and you keep track of them in a notebook.

The maker's aim was to make the mundane act of making phone calls feel mysterious. Corridors glow red and green, a face hangs on a wall in the dark, and ten scripted abnormalities wait before the ending, along with a few easter eggs from real life. It borrows from poems by Wallace Stevens and T.S. Eliot, and its maker names the works of David Lynch as the inspiration.

It suits players who like quiet, strange horror that asks questions more than it chases, and who can spend half an hour in one bunker with a telephone.

How to play Zeitgeist

1. Download Zeitgeist from itch.io, extract it and run it on Windows.
2. Explore the bunker, then walk outside to the phone booth.
3. Dial the numbers you have and listen to each call.
4. Use the computer in the bunker to process calls that need it, and note what you learn in the notebook with Tab.
5. Find all seven valid calls and watch for what changes around you.

Tips

• Keep the notebook open often; it tracks what you have found.
• Hold right click to zoom in on small details and numbers.
• Play with headphones; much of the mood is in the sound.

Questions