Rate top gamesObscurium - WWI Horror
About
INSTRUCTIONS:
- This is a simple point-and-click horror adventure story.
- Click or tap where you want to walk or look.
- Using a mouse or trackpad is recommended, so you see your cursor.
- As you collect items, your cursor will change when you hover over things that can be affected.
- The game takes 20-30 minutes to complete.
- Progress is auto-saved in your browser, so you can come back any time.
TRIGGER WARNING this game contains:
- gore
- disturbing sound effects
- themes of amputation, infanticide, war, and suicide.
You open your eyes to blur and shadow. You're standing in a stinking morgue, in a tent hospital on the grounds of a crumbling French mansion. World War I rages on the far side of the woods. You can still hear the shelling over no man's land, far closer than you'd like.
The wounded soldier tells you it was mustard gas. You can barely remember. There was a gas, yes, and a smell like rotten bread, but there was also a woman in gray, striding through the gasping soldiers and touching them each on the brow...
There are so many dead. Despite your damaged sight, you are able-bodied and have medical training. The injured soldier needs your help.
As you struggle to lend aid to the mangled man, You ask after your fellow nurse, Nancy. What happened to her? In your nightmares she's alone and crying. She's probably out in the trenches bravely doing her duty... and you know you must find her. Time is running out. For weeks a dark madness has been growing here. Figures haunt the windows of the house. A mournful piano is heard at night. Unearthly creatures lurk in the woods. And the patients speak of a ghostly child running in the rubble, dragging the corpse of an infant...
Thus begins Obscurium, a video game of quiet horror.
Nurse Mary Wellsley must face her deepest fears. Six souls entrapped, forlorn Between two truths their paths are torn Six souls to close the door And leave this plane forevermoreGAMEPLAY
Obscurium is a 3rd-person point-and-click adventure. You guide the protagonist, Red Cross Nurse Mary Wellsley, as she explores rooms collecting items and solving simple puzzles. All the while she unravels the mystery of this bizarre place and the fate of her fellow nurse and closest friend, Nancy.
CONCEPT
Mary's sight has been taken: her world is heavily blurred—except around your cursor, freeing your imagination to fill in the horrors she encounters, and it turns the occasional chore of pixel-hunting into an engaging element of the story.
The hazy portal of Mary’s ravaged eyes empowers a “theatre of the mind," painting visions far more chilling than can be drawn or described. It also provides unique gameplay challenges and a close, almost intimate atmosphere.
TEAMOur team is made up of Scott and Noa, a dad and teenaged thespian in Colorado who love creepy tales, roleplaying games, and writing. Obscurium began as an entry for a "Two Minute Horror Jam" here on itch.io. It gave us something to do during the pandemic. We sketched out the scenes, found and recorded creepy audio clips (Noa is the voice of Mary), and put together a short game called The Nurse.
After some positive reviews from youtubers (thanks for the encouragement, guys!) we wanted to challenge ourselves to make it longer and tell a deeper story. Our goal was to end up with 20-30 minutes of intense gameplay. It was the biggest project we'd yet attempted, and doing it as a Kickstarter was an amazing entrepreneurial experience for Noa. And here it is!
The money we made went into Noa's college fund. Your support will keep that wagon rolling.
Satisfying horror isn't loud. It doesn't leap at you throwing gore. It takes your hand and welcomes you in. It bides its time and dismays you.
Obscurium is inspired by writers like Henry James (The Turn of the Screw), Rudyard Kipling (They), Susan Hill (The Woman in Black), and H.P. Lovecraft (The Call of Cthulhu).