So, after playing The Uncle Who Works For Nintendo (UWN) and The Girl in the Haunted House (GHH), it’s safe to say I’ve had my fill of creepiness for the night. I want to talk about both games, but I played UWN until I unlocked all the endings so I will primarily discuss that game.

First of all, how freaking scary. From the lack of color, to the sounds, to when Uncle comes in and wrecks everything with his strange red text commands–this game is definitely one of horror. Using different drawings of the setting to help create a sense of place worked to make the story feel more realistic. The sounds creeped me out every time. I think having the option to check the grandfather clock while also having it chime to indicate the passage of time was smart, especially considering how important time is to the story. Honestly the way time works when it comes to “choosing your own adventure” in this game was probably its coolest feature.

One play-through is enough to understand that the dreaded Uncle is coming at 12. Many of the games options change depending on the time. For example, what games you play/watch your friend play changes depending on the hour you ask. Same with the talk option. Only after your friends’ mom brings you popcorn at 9 do you have the option of asking about the Uncle’s visit. If you don’t call your mom before 11, then you’re doomed to meet the Uncle.

Certain options are not only time-sensitive, but depend on other choices being made first. For example, if you wish to find out about the Uncle you need to first think about him. This causes the option to “think about your own mew” to appear. Choose that and be sure to click on the bolded red text (which throughout the game indicates a choice) to find out about the storm. Then ask your friend about their uncle and tell them you don’t believe them. Be sure not to punch them back or you will never get the choice to find out about the Uncle. After things settle, talk to your friend about the storm, and once they realize you remember, you’ll learn about the Uncle.

It was fun to find out what choices I needed make to unlock new ones, and what kind of endings would come out of my choices. The moments of choice mostly feel consequential, though a lot of them lead to the same next choice (like, for example, all the options you have when talking to your friends parents).

GHH was similiar to UWN in that options would appear only after other options were chosen, but I don’t think it was as effective as UWN. But then again, I definitely played UWN for a lot longer than GHH (only played through that one twice) so maybe there’s still more for me to discover.