Horror puzzle Psychological horror Horror Surreal horror

Smile For Me

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Nod, shake your head, and find out what Doctor Habit is hiding.

Platforms: PC, Mac, Switch, PlayStation, Xbox
Stores: Steam
Price: Paid
Rated: Overwhelmingly Positive on Steam (98% of 1,887 English reviews); 4.62 of 5 stars on the PlayStation Store (81 ratings)
Length: about 3.5 to 5 hours
Players: 1
Made by: LimboLane
Released: 2019

No. 2 of the hotel horror games · No. 4 of the clown horror games · No. 3 of the horror games about depression · No. 1 of the puppet horror games · No. 1 of the television horror games

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What frightens In a habitat for lost souls, cheerful as a children's show, everyone is miserable. A dentist called Doctor Habit, shown as a live-action puppet, runs the place, and at night subliminal messages on the TV push you to stop meddling, while the bright world slowly shows a sinister side.
Content: creepy puppet imagery and scary scenes, mild fantasy violence and mild blood, mild language, suggestive themes and sexual innuendo, alcohol and tobacco, themes of depression and control.

Smile For Me is a surreal first-person point-and-click adventure with a creepy streak. You arrive at the Habitat, a resort run by the smiling Doctor Habit, and with only a nod or a shake of your head you help its gloomy residents, solving their odd puzzles before the Big Event, while the doctor's messages on the TV tell you to stop.

About Smile For Me

Smile For Me is made by LimboLane, the two-person studio of Gabe Lane and Yugo Limbo. It came out on PC and Mac in May 2019. The Bloom Update, made with publisher Serenity Forge, is now the definitive version, with updated graphics, remastered music, controller support, new art and easter eggs, and it came to Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and 5 and Xbox One and Series X|S in April 2023.

You arrive at the Habitat, a place for the lost run by Doctor Habit, a dentist with a gleaming grin and a tower of his own. The residents are anything but happy: a heartbroken clown, a man who wants to smell like pickles and many more, 23 characters in all. With the Big Event a few days away, you set out to cheer them up.

You never speak. You nod or shake your head in conversation, and on Switch you can nod with the motion controls. By day you take what people need and solve their puzzles, which are odd and sometimes obtuse, over 15 in-game days. The Habitat is a low-poly 3D world with flat 2D characters who talk in grunts, and Doctor Habit appears as a live-action puppet. At night, his programmes on the TV turn into subliminal messages telling you to stop meddling.

It is creepy rather than frightening: reviewers call it horror-lite, with an unsettling secret under its cheerful surface. Whom you help decides whether you see the good, neutral or bad ending, and after an ending you can load your save and go for another. Reviewers took about three and a half to five hours for a first play. It suits players who like strange, funny adventure games with a dark streak, in the vein of Endacopia or OMORI.

How to play Smile For Me

Walk the Habitat in first person and click on people and things.
Answer by nodding or shaking your head; you never speak.
Find out what each resident needs and solve their puzzles, often by fetching and using items.
Watch the days go by; the Big Event is coming and you cannot help everyone at once.
Read the diary pages you find; they point toward the better endings.