Psychological horror Stealth horror Haunted house 2D horror Surreal horror

Knock-knock

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Stay awake and sane until dawn in a cabin where something has moved in.

Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, iPhone
Stores: Steam, GOG
Price: Paid
Rated: Very Positive on Steam (87% of 2,087 reviews); Metacritic 57 (PC, 16 critics); 4.3/5 on PlayStation Store (494); 3.9/5 on GOG (249); 4.7/5 on the App Store (181)
Length: about 3 hours
Players: 1
Made by: Ice-Pick Lodge
Released: 2013

No. 23 of the horror games about madness · No. 30 of the cabin horror games

Get it on Steam GOG PlayStation Store (PS4, PS Vita)Xbox Nintendo eShop (Switch)App Store (iPhone, iPad)Official site

What frightens Each night in an old cabin in the woods, an insomniac Lodger wanders dark rooms, attics and cellars by candlelight, hiding from Guests that may or may not be real and repairing lights and rooms so he reaches dawn still sane.
Content: partial nudity (esrb teen), intense horror and fear themes, frightening creatures in the dark.

Knock-knock is a 2D horror game by Ice-Pick Lodge, the studio behind Pathologic. As the latest Lodger of a strange cabin in the woods, you spend each night hiding from uninvited Guests, fixing lights and rooms, and holding on to your sanity until sunrise, while trying to work out whether any of it is real.

About Knock-knock

Knock-knock is a horror game by the Russian studio Ice-Pick Lodge, the makers of Pathologic. It came out on Steam for Windows, Mac and Linux on 4 October 2013, then on iPhone and iPad in 2014, on PS4 in September 2015 (the PlayStation purchase includes the PS Vita version too), on Xbox One in August 2017 and on Nintendo Switch in 2018. It is voiced in English, Russian and Japanese, with German and Polish subtitles.

There is an unusual cabin deep in the woods that has served as a laboratory and home for three generations of Lodgers. Lately the latest Lodger has noticed things changing: objects go missing, there are noises and rattling, and something odd is coming out of the woods. At night, someone seems to have made himself at home in the dim rooms, attics and cellars.

You see the cabin from the side, cut open like a doll's house, and walk the Lodger from room to room with a candle. Your aim each night is to reach dawn while still sane. Rooms go dark and the house falls apart, so you fix the lights and repair the rooms, since the house helps the Lodger and keeping it in order wards off what comes in. When the Guests appear, you hide and wait, watching and listening for what is moving. Some nights take you out into the woods as well. The game does not explain its rules: part of the work is understanding the game being played with you.

What frightens is the uncertainty more than any single creature. The Lodger cannot sleep, the Guests may be figments of his imagination, and the drawings show a house where walls seem to undulate and a giant eye looks through a hole in the wall. Critics split on it: Metacritic's PC score is 57, with complaints that the routine of lights, doors and hiding repeats, while players rate it much higher on Steam, PlayStation and the App Store. Like Ice-Pick Lodge's Pathologic games, it is strange, deliberate and does not explain itself, which suits patient players who like their horror unsettling and puzzling rather than loud.

How to play Knock-knock

Buy it on Steam (Windows, Mac, Linux), GOG, the PlayStation Store, the Xbox store, the Nintendo eShop or the App Store.
Each night, walk the Lodger through the cabin's rooms, attics and cellars with his candle.
Turn on the lights and repair the rooms that have fallen apart, since a house in order keeps the Guests out.
Hide when the Guests come, and avoid looking at what you should not.
Hold out until sunrise while still sane, and search for what the Lodger has lost.

Screenshots

The Lodger in a nightgown holds an oil lamp in a dim red room with a checkered floor, beside a clock-faced figure and framed insect drawings

The Lodger with a candle in a dim tiled cellar with a boiler, shelves of jars, a bathtub and a wooden staircase

A cutaway of the cabin at night among bare trees, the Lodger with a candle in a lit attic room above dark lower floors

The Lodger holds a candle in a dark brick cellar while a tall headless figure in a straitjacket stands in a doorway

A cutaway of the dark cabin with a few lit rooms, set in a foggy forest of bare twisted trees under a pale moon

The Lodger with a candle in a dark striped room, where a giant eye stares through a jagged hole in the wall; Russian subtitle below

Tips

Watch and listen closely; the store says paying attention is much of the game.
Expect to spend time working out the rules; the game does not spell them out, and a first night may end before you understand why.
Play with sound on, since noises tell you what is happening in the house.
Keep the lights on and the rooms fixed as you go rather than leaving them for later, since the house aids the Lodger only when it is in order.

Questions

Who made Knock-knock?

Ice-Pick Lodge, the Russian studio behind Pathologic, which also published it.

How long is Knock-knock?

About three hours for one playthrough, by the critic CD-Action's count; the reviewer adds they spent far longer exploring it.

What platforms is Knock-knock on?

Windows, Mac and Linux on Steam and GOG, PS4 and PS Vita (one purchase covers both), Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and iPhone or iPad.

Is Knock-knock very scary?

It is more unsettling than shocking: you hide from strange creatures in a dark house and are never sure what is real. It is rated Teen by the ESRB for partial nudity, and the App Store warns of frequent, intense horror themes.

What is Knock-knock about?

An insomniac in a cabin in the woods must survive each night until dawn while strange Guests wander the house, and work out whether they are real.