Psychological horror PS1 horror Short horror Horror

MOTHERED - A Role-Playing Horror Game

Rate it

Come home from surgery to a mannequin that says it is your mother.

Platforms: PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch
Stores: Steam, itch.io
Price: Paid
Rated: Very Positive on Steam (93% of 438 reviews); 4.8 of 5 on itch.io (61 ratings); 4.15 of 5 on the PlayStation Store (247 ratings)
Length: about 2 hours
Players: 1
Made by: ENIGMA STUDIO
Released: 2021

No. 16 of the time loop horror games · No. 7 of the mannequin horror games

Get it on Steam itch.io PlayStation Store Xbox Nintendo eShop

What frightens Liana comes home after major surgery and finds only a strange mannequin that claims to be her mother; over seven days of mornings, afternoons, evenings and nights in a familiar but unnatural home, talking to Mother reveals what role you play in this world.
Content: abuse, sickness, death, fantasy violence, mild language.

MOTHERED is a short first-person horror adventure by ENIGMA STUDIO with point-and-click mechanics. You play Liana, a young girl back home after major surgery, who finds a mannequin claiming to be her mother and lives seven uneasy days with it in a home that is familiar and wrong.

About MOTHERED - A Role-Playing Horror Game

MOTHERED - A Role-Playing Horror Game is a first-person horror adventure by ENIGMA STUDIO, released on Steam and itch.io for Windows on Christmas Eve 2021. Dolores Entertainment brought it to PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One and Series X|S and Nintendo Switch in March 2023, where it is sold simply as Mothered.

You play Liana, a young girl who has come home to stay with her mother after major surgery. When she arrives, all she finds is a strange mannequin that claims to be her mother. By talking with it, you discover more about the role you play in this world, and whether you can help Mother go back to how things were or will repeat past mistakes.

The story unfolds over seven days, each split into morning, afternoon, evening and night. Mother gives you small tasks, such as eating breakfast, answering the phone or picking apples, and finishing them moves the week on. There is little else to do: no fights and no chases. The fear comes from the uncanny, from a family that never seems quite right and from how your own dutiful actions sit against the health of the household.

Everything is drawn in low-poly 3D seen through a glitchy VHS filter, with tape-style captions for each part of the day. The maker calls it two hours of dense, unsettling storytelling with two very different endings, and the first ending is not the last word: reviewers note that the game loops, and that breaking the cycle is part of the task.

The store warns of sickness, abuse and death, and the console versions are rated ESRB Everyone 10+ for fantasy violence and mild language. It suits players who like slow, unsettling domestic horror that works through a relationship rather than chases, and who are happy to play a short game more than once.

How to play MOTHERED - A Role-Playing Horror Game

Buy it on Steam or itch.io for Windows, or on PlayStation, Xbox or Switch, and arrive home as Liana.
Explore the house in first person and interact with people and objects by pointing and clicking.
Talk to Mother, the mannequin, and do the task each part of the day asks of you.
Carry on through all seven days, then keep playing: the story is not over until the credits roll.

Screenshots

Mother, a figure in a pink dress, seen from behind by a misty lake at night, saying: The nights have been cold lately. Have you noticed?

A pale girl in a light dress in a dark hallway beside an open red door covered in notes, seen through a VHS filter

A foggy park at night with a lit lamp post and empty benches, captioned Sunday Night

Picking a red apple from a tree in autumn sunlight, captioned Wednesday Morning

A foggy path by a wooden fence at dusk in red and blue light, with the caption Be with Mother

A blurred view out of a wooden window at trees and a pale sky, captioned Friday Morning

A glitching purple VHS title card reading Wednesday Afternoon, between parts of the day

Tips

Talk to Mother often; the story comes out in conversation.
Look around the house at each time of day, as things change.
The game saves at the start of each day, so think before you follow or refuse a task if you are trying for the other ending.
Mind the content warning: it deals with abuse, sickness and death.