Analog horror Horror Horror puzzle Slasher horror

Killer Frequency

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Talk the callers of a 1987 radio show away from a masked killer.

Platforms: PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, VR
Stores: Steam
Price: Paid
Rated: Very Positive on Steam (93% of 6,286 reviews); Metacritic 82 on PC, from critics
Length: about 5 hours
Players: 1
Controls: Mouse and keyboard or a gamepad to look around, pick things up and choose dialogue; hand controllers on Meta Quest.
Made by: Team17
Released: 2023

No. 22 of the small town horror games · No. 5 of the maze horror games · No. 22 of the phone horror games · No. 9 of the horror games with a radio

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What frightens A masked killer called the Whistling Man is back in a small town in 1987, and his victims phone your late-night radio show for help. Shut in the station, you have to work out where each caller is and talk them through hiding or getting away while you listen to the killer close in over the line.
Content: violence mostly heard over the phone, with some blood, strong language.

Killer Frequency is a first-person horror comedy from Team17 set in a small-town radio station in 1987. As the late-night DJ, you take calls from people being hunted by a masked killer and solve puzzles in the booth to talk them out of danger, live on air.

About Killer Frequency

Killer Frequency is a 2023 horror comedy made and published by Team17. It is 1987 in Gallows Creek, a small American town, and Forrest Nash, a radio DJ who has fallen from the big city to the night shift, is on air at midnight. The police chief has just been killed, a masked killer known as the Whistling Man seems to have returned, and with no one else to call, frightened townspeople start phoning the radio station.

You never leave the station. Each call is a puzzle: a caller describes where they are, and you use what is around you, such as maps, magazines, files, records and notes, to tell them where to go or what to do, choosing your lines in real time. You might guide someone through a maze from a map or find the instructions for starting a car. Between calls you keep the show going by playing records and adverts, and you explore the station for clues about the killer.

The tension comes from hearing everything and seeing nothing. You listen to the footsteps and the whistle get closer while you search a desk for the answer, and a wrong choice can end a call with a scream. Whether each caller lives depends on what you do, and the ending changes with how many you save. The tone mixes the slasher films of the 1980s with jokes and a bright, stylised look, so it frightens more through suspense than gore.

It plays on PC, PlayStation, Xbox and Switch, and in VR on Meta Quest, where you handle the switches and records with your hands. It suits players who like puzzles and talking games, and anyone who wants a horror game built on suspense rather than chases.

How to play Killer Frequency

Answer the ringing phone lines on the desk and listen to what the caller tells you.
Search the radio booth and the rest of the station for maps, files and manuals that answer the caller's problem.
Pick what to say from the dialogue choices to guide the caller step by step, before the killer reaches them.
Between calls, keep the show on air by playing records and adverts, and look for clues to who the killer is.

Screenshots

Killer Frequency screenshot: the 1980s radio booth with an ON AIR sign, microphones, speakers, a mixing desk and a record player

Killer Frequency screenshot: dialogue choices to guide a caller through a maze, with the maze map held up in the radio booth

Killer Frequency screenshot: choosing what to say to a caller from three dialogue options at the radio desk

Killer Frequency screenshot: a wall map of the town of Gallows Creek next to shelves of records and tapes

Killer Frequency screenshot: the station lounge at night, with a magazine open on instructions for hot-wiring a car

Killer Frequency screenshot: a dark office lit by a desk lamp, with a rotary phone, an old green-screen computer and a corkboard

Killer Frequency screenshot: the radio station lobby with a neon KFAM 189.16 sign above the reception desk

Tips

Read every magazine and file you pass; the answer to a later call is often in something you saw earlier.
Listen closely to what callers describe around them before you give directions.
Callers you lose change the ending, so a second play lets you try to save everyone.

Questions

How long is Killer Frequency?

About five hours for the main story, according to HowLongToBeat, and around 11 hours to see everything. There are multiple endings depending on who you save.

Is Killer Frequency scary?

It is a horror comedy: the suspense comes from listening to callers being hunted, with jokes and a bright look between the tense moments.

Can you play Killer Frequency in VR?

Yes, on Meta Quest. The PC, PlayStation, Xbox and Switch versions are played on a flat screen.

Is Killer Frequency voiced?

Yes, it is fully voiced in English, with subtitles in ten other languages including French, German, Spanish, Japanese and Chinese.