Cutscenes and flashbacks punctuate Homebody, depicting Emily’s social anxiety. Emily isn’t gifted in combat, and as such, my best option for dealing with the killer is simply to hide in a closet or run away. Homebody joyously draws inspiration from PlayStation-era survival-horror games, with fixed camera angles and polygonal graphics.

Homebody mixes the primal fear for one’s life with the much less intense (but more relatable) fear of awkward conversations, strained friendships, and people being mad at you. I try to bring this experience up with my friends through dialogue trees when we chat, but it doesn’t matter how hard I try to warn them - it’s just filtered into banal small talk. Just as I resign myself to checking out the basement, I’m stabbed to death by a mysterious masked figure.īut then the clock reverses, and I’ve just arrived at the house again. These are also areas of the house that we’re forbidden from entering by the absent homeowner. After a few jokes about the horror movie atmosphere, I check the power box, which is weirdly empty - there are just two cords, one leading up to the attic and one to the cellar.

I’m in an isolated house full of friends, rented out over the years by an eccentric writer, when the power unexpectedly cuts out. I assume the role of Emily, a young woman with agoraphobia - an isolating, suffocating fear of leaving one’s safe place and awkward, embarrassing, or uncomfortable experiences.

Homebody, published by Rogue Games and developed by Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator studio Game Grumps, tends toward the latter. Horror is a vast genre, ranging from blood-soaked slasher films to strange and cerebral campfire stories.

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