PAREIDOLIA
An Exploration-Horror game where furniture want to kill you.
PAREIDOLIA
An Exploration-Horror game where furniture want to kill you.
Personal project, 2024
Embedded Files
An Exploration-Horror game where furniture want to kill you.
Pareidolia is an exploration-horror game where unsettling creatures lurk in plain sight.
Some will help you — offering health, resources, or bonuses — while others will try to rip you apart. The twist? Every object in your environment could be a threat.
As you explore the eerie world, paranoia sets in. Is that rock just a rock? Or is it something more sinister? You’ll find yourself gripped by fear, unable to tell whether you should move forward — or run for your life. But you must keep pushing, because only by uncovering new items and resources can you survive.
Your only defense? A flashlight to blind your foes, mirrors to turn them against each other, and fire to destroy the hidden monsters. But be careful — not all Pareidolias are enemies. Some are helpful, and destroying them could cost you dearly.
Here’s a video to give you a glimpse of the game concept. (Note: Visuals are placeholders.)
The player enters a new room, only to find himself trapped by a locked door. As he explores, he discovers a friendly Pareidolia — a fruit-shaped creature that replenishes his health bar — and a metal key. But when he turns to face the door, the furniture on the wall in front of him distorts into a horrifying monster’s face. It suddenly comes to life and begins to chase him down, forcing him to sprint for his life.
A pareidolia is "the tendency for perception to impose a meaningful interpretation on a nebulous stimulus, usually visual, so that one sees an object, pattern, or meaning where there is none" (Wikipedia).
It’s the reason you might catch yourself seeing a face in the knots of wood, in the arrangement of clouds, or even in the front grill of a car.
What makes pareidolia so unsettling is the way these patterns can evoke emotion: sometimes joy or curiosity, but more often, they strike fear. A friendly face or a smile can suddenly twist into something far darker.
In Pareidolia, the very environment itself is alive with these distortions — forcing the player to question: Are you seeing things? Or is something truly watching you?
This gameplay mechanic opens the door to a world of twisted traps, unsettling puzzles, and unexpected terrors. Every visual cue could be both a clue and a threat.
One level is draped in unsettling patterns. If the player dares to look at the walls for too long, monstrous creatures materialize, drawn to the gaze. The only safe path forward is to keep their eyes on the ground, avoiding direct contact with the walls while a blind creature stalks the area. Using the eerie moans it emits, the player can pinpoint its movements — but only if they dare to listen closely.
In another chilling moment, a creepy face begins to take shape on a wall, slowly formed by a painting and a wall clock. It stands as the last obstacle, blocking the only exit in the room. The player must scavenge the area for an object to throw, knocking down the painting and disarming the creature before it comes to life.
In the dead of night, the player stumbles upon a lonely cabin. At first, everything seems calm — too calm. As they approach, the dog inside senses their presence, barking loudly and alerting the inhabitants. The lights flicker on, and suddenly, the cabin itself becomes alive. The windows glow like menacing eyes, and the open garage door forms a gaping mouth. The cabin lurches forward, devouring the screaming inhabitants as it crashes toward the player, intent on crushing anything in its path.
Additional infos
The game's visuals, sound design, and music are inspired by the concept of liminal spaces — unsettling, transitional areas that feel both familiar and strange, familiar but wrong. The environments leave the player with a sense of being stuck in-between, disconnected from the normal world and surrounded by the eerie and the unknown.
Pareidolia monsters exist solely through the player's perception. These creatures take form only when the player looks directly at them — a curse that torments their every step. No other character in the world can awaken a Pareidolia, but they too are at risk, becoming victims of the ever-present monsters. This creates a terrifying isolation, where the player is the only one who can see the horrors around them.
To survive, the player must gather objects and use their inventory to rotate and combine them in creative ways to create friendly Pareidolia — helpful allies formed from the very environment itself. These new creatures serve as companions, each one born from the player’s own ingenuity, providing aid and protection against the monsters lurking in the shadows.
Monstrous Pareidolia come in many forms, each with unique behaviors and attacks. Some attack on sight, leaping from the walls like demonic predators. Others wait in the dark, ambushing the player from behind. Some hide in plain sight, blending seamlessly with the environment, only revealing themselves when they blink their eyes, dealing devastating zone damage. The player must constantly be on edge, balancing the need to explore and gather while avoiding becoming a victim of their own mind.
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