Creaks

Making use of things that go bump in the night

Atonal swerve takes Amanita Design from the comedic daftness of Chuchel’s cherry-based point-and-click and into the mysterious Gothic platform puzzles of Creaks. This is a game about lights and ladders where you must lead your pullover-wearing character through a labyrinthine house while avoiding monsters. You use light to convert snarling beasts into household objects, which you can clamber on or use to press switches. It’s a way of using childhood fear as a game mechanic: a terrifying shape in the corner of the room is definitely a wolf right up to the moment you switch on the light and reveal... an innocent dressing gown.

Moment to moment you’re figuring out how to get to the next ladder, but the demo hints at a bigger foe. Talons scratch on the roof, and a gang of mysterious figures consult a book. The ominous, scratchy ink art style immediately reminded me of the work of illustrator Edward Gorey – and the sombre color palette accentuates the twilight feel of the game. scary tales Inkscape