Some recent horror games like Phasmophobia and Lethal Company take advantage of microphone functionality to allow monsters to locate players based on any real-life sounds they make. Taking that mechanic and making it central is the recently released Shhh, a horror game that completely ends if it detects the player’s screams.
Developed by 616 Games, Shhh is a game with a simple premise: players explore sinister locations and experience unsettling events, with the threat that if they scream the game will end. Whether that end comes in the form of a hard cut-to-black or a monster noticing you remains to be seen. The game currently contains only a single scenario, but 616 promise more will be added in free updates.
The developer released a short preview on Youtube that you can watch below. While nothing really “happens,” the visuals and especially the sound are actually very effective at building the increasingly tense atmosphere that a horror title relies on.
616 Games is an indie developer that produces “bizarre and crazy” games inspired by 1980s and 1990s horror movies and VHS aesthetics. Shhh appears to be one of the more grounded entries among other horror games like Blood Burger and the Poop Killer series.
In other horror news, the release date for Alan Wake 2‘s New Game+ mode was finally revealed at 2023’s The Game Awards, where the game won awards for Best Art Direction, Game Direction, and Narrative. At the same event, Hideo Kojima took to the stage alongside Director and Comedian Jordan Peele to announce a new horror game titled simply OD.
Horror game Shhh, by 616 Games, is available on Steam and Itch.io, but does require a microphone.
