Spooky's Jump Scare Mansion
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| Genre(s) | Survival horror |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Spooky's Jump Scare Mansion is a 2014 survival horror video game developed and published by Lag Studios. The player's objective is to traverse to the end of a mansion comprising a thousand rooms. Originally titled Spooky's House of Jump Scares, the game's title was changed to Spooky's Jump Scare Mansion in 2016 due to a copyright dispute.[1][2]
Gameplay
[edit]Spooky's Jump Scare Mansion is a first-person survival horror game in which the player is tasked with traversing through a mansion comprising a thousand rooms. As the game progresses, the player encounters multiple hostile enemies, referred to as "specimens". The player's objective is to reach the final room. The game gradually escalates in difficulty and horror intensity. It starts off with "intentionally tame" scares, which gain gain psychological impact as more unsettling horror elements are introduced.[3][4]
Development and release
[edit]The game was made using the GameMaker creation system, which is primarily intended for making games with 2D graphics. Because of this, authors of the game had to use elaborate techniques to emulate 3D objects.[5] Its graphic design were described as "morbidly cute and simplistic art that is reminiscent of childish drawings and cartoons for toddlers".[6]
The game was released in 2014 as a freeware, and in 2015 it was released on Steam.[7] Two DLCs have been released for the game: Karamari Hospital (2015) and Spooky's Dollhouse (2020).[8][9] A recreated version of the game, remade using the Unity engine, was released on Steam in 2017 under the title Spooky's Jump Scare Mansion: HD Renovation by Albino Moose Games.[5] The remake was also released on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.[10][11][12]
Reception
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The game became an online success, comparable to games such as Doki Doki Literature Club!, Baldi's Basics in Education and Learning, and Bendy and the Ink Machine, with several notable YouTubers making videos on it.[15] Various other content created by fans of the game, including a song by The Living Tombstone, further contributed to its popularity.
Griffin McElroy of Polygon described the game as a "weird hybrid of parody of the jump scare horror genre, and genuinely horrifying game".[7] Ian Higton of Eurogamer praised the PlayStation VR version of the game's remake, writing that "you can almost feel [the specimens'] physical presence gaining on you as you try to escape". He compared the experience to "dropping acid and going to a Halloween Horror Fright Night".[16]
References
[edit]- ^ Monroe, Nick (2016-05-20). "Spooky's House of Jump Scares Renamed To Spooky's Jump Scare Mansion". Gameranx. Retrieved 2025-07-02.
- ^ Hurych, Amanda (2019-04-14). "10 Things Players Don't Know About Spooky's Jump Scare Mansion". ScreenRant. Retrieved 2025-07-02.
- ^ Palola, Taneli (2018). "Teaching video games: video game literacy in the language classroom". jyx.jyu.fi. Retrieved 2025-07-02.
- ^ a b Bronmans, Casper (2015-04-30). "Early Access Preview: Spooky's House of Jump Scares". Rely on Horror. Retrieved 2025-07-02.
- ^ a b Immonen, Miikka (2023). "Updating a Game's Graphics from 2D Sprites to 3D Models". www.theseus.fi. Retrieved 2025-07-02.
- ^ Milford, Jessica (2024). "Lost Innocence and Corrupted Children: An Analysis of the Theme of Childhood in Contemporary Western Horror Games". Auckland University of Technology.
- ^ a b McElroy, Griffin (2015-04-27). "Spooky's House of Jump Scares makes even the most adorable ghosts kind of scary". Polygon. Retrieved 2025-07-02.
- ^ Smith, Adam (2016-01-14). "Have You Played... Spookys House Of Jump Scares?". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved 2025-07-02.
- ^ ""Rock It™ Games Announces Spooky's Jump Scare Mansion: HD Renovation for Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 5 Now Available for Preorder"". gamespress.com. Retrieved 2025-07-02.
- ^ "Spooky's Jump Scare Mansion: HD Renovation coming to PS4 on October 29". Gematsu. 2019-10-25. Retrieved 2025-07-02.
- ^ "Spooky's Jump Scare Mansion: HD Renovation PC, PS4, Switch, XONE". GRY-Online.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2025-07-02.
- ^ "Spooky's Jump Scare Mansion: HD Renovation coming to Switch on October 13". Gematsu. 2022-10-05. Retrieved 2025-07-02.
- ^ Humphries, Meg (2015-09-24). "Spookier Than Meets the Eye - Spooky's House of Jump Scares Review". BagoGames. Retrieved 2025-07-02.
- ^ "Spooky's House of Jump Scares: Spooky's House of Jumpscares". LevelUp (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2015-08-06. Retrieved 2025-07-02.
- ^ Toniolo, Francesco (2021-08-26). "Evolution of the Youtube personas related to survival horror games". Persona Studies. 6 (2): 60. doi:10.21153/psj2020vol6no2art964.
- ^ Higton, Ian (2019-12-22). "Ian's top ten best PSVR games of 2019". Eurogamer.net. Retrieved 2025-07-02.
