‘Leave House’ Challenges You to Escape a Cryptic Haunted Home

I’m quite a fan of suspense in games, and even of horror themes, however I really dislike horror games.

There’s something about being made to feel uncomfortable while playing a game which just doesn’t sit right with me. Call me a coward or craven if you want, but I very rarely find fear to be a good incentive to keep playing a game. So, why did I play Leave House? Well, much like the main character in the game, I had a compulsion.

At first, there isn’t much there. As a matter of fact, if it wasn’t for the slightly haunting music then it would have just seemed like most Bitsy games – a space to explore. There is something a little off about the house, though. It’s aged, and has been clearly abandoned. Sofa pillows litter the front room and there’s nothing except for mustard in the fridge. It clearly seems like people left in a rush, or the place has had squatters living in it for a while.

But then, things get a bit weird. Having a peek at the garden, looking out all the windows and trying all of the locked doors triggers… something. Soon, the stairwell feels infinite and strangeness fills every room.

I can’t talk too much about Leave House – about what it does or how it does it – but I can talk about how it made me feel. The atmospheric music filled me with tension, the infinite staircase littered that with confusion and the big shift twisted all of that into panic and fear. Was the game broken? Was there even a way out? I don’t know why I kept trying, because part of me was really not enjoying it, but then I figured it out and finished it and got free and that. Well, that felt good.

Leave House is available now on itch.io.

About The Author

Dann Sullivan

After almost a decade of selling games, Dann decided to try his hand at writing about them instead. A few years in and he is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Big Boss Battle, where he and his team cover games of all shapes and sizes. When not in the role, he can often be found seeking out small, memorable game experiences.

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