A 92-year-old grandmother tells terrifying stories of her experiences as a teenager during wartime as you explore her childhood home in Brukel.
Brukel‘s is a collection of Bie Verlinden’s stories of her life during wartime. These stories are unveiled as you explore the Brukel farmhouse, taking pictures of the objects and rooms left behind. Should you snap the right photo or stumble across the right area, the place will shift before your eyes, letting you experience the fear of soldiers’ boots hammering against the floor just behind the door.
Brukel is a different kind of horror game, one that cuts far deeper in its own way. Instead of unnatural monstrosities that could never exist, you are mere feet away from very real monsters that terrorized people in the real world. Tied into the calm, quiet narration of Verlinden, there’s an unsettling effect that sent chills to my core. These recreations of tension within this house are real, and you’re just taking a sip of the real fear they caused for Verlinden as a young woman.
Brukel can be overwhelming due to this sense of reality. Again, it strikes hard, and touches upon a different kind of horror compared to more traditional fare. It’s an important work, though, to remind us of what happens when hate is allowed to run rampant, and the dangers that can seep out of ordinary men and women during wartime. It’s an incredible work, if one that can be very difficult to endure.
Brukel is available now on itch.io, GameJolt, and Steam.
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