Content warnings: gore, violence, murder, disturbing imagery, child abuse, cultism, cannibalism. All games rated 16+
“Love” will eat you alive, sometimes quite literally.
In these three surreal horror games, relationships fester behind locked doors, portable consoles become haunted moral conflicts, and fine cuisine comes with a side of murder. Whether it’s surviving on your neighbor’s corpse, crashing your family car under spiritual influence, or discovering that your boss has a taste for heartbreak, you’re left questioning if it’s really love.
OF COURSE I played them like a freak (god forbid a woman has hobbies) — review time!
Dead Plate (by Studio Investigrave, on Itch.io): You play as Rody, a guy whose ex-girlfriend dumps him for being unprepared for a relationship. He ends up working as a waiter in a run-down restaurant, because, let’s face it, he
can’t cook to save his life. The good news? His boss is hot. The bad news? His boss is a half-cannibal who snacks on raw lemons for comfort, and has an unhealthy obsession with cooking love infused-food. Mainly human meat. As you juggle serving daily customers and dealing with that creepy boss, you’ll realize there’s more than just the usual restaurant drama in the kitchen.
The best part? It’s a free RPG with choice driven storytelling and engaging gameplay along multiple endings. Each decision could lead you closer to the boss’s twisted secret or become an idiot sandwich. I enjoyed the gameplay; it had me multitasking like a stressed out waitress in hell. Try not to end up on the menu though.
If you like this game, I recommend Elevator Hitch and Married in Red by the same developer.
The Deadseat (by Curious Fox Sox, on Steam): You are Caleb, a little kid in the back seat on a long ride back home while your parents keep actively arguing. You retreat to a handheld console (the “Game Kid”) to escape the emotional damage caused by that unstable environment. However, the game you’re pl
aying mirrors reality, meaning your actions start to affect the real world inside it. The narrator in the handheld game promises the kid a loving family in the so-called “happy cave”. As a result of being under the narrator’s manipulation, it leads to a fatal car crash on a haunted highway in real life. Making you the only survivor, and soon resorting to your parent’s corpses for days to survive before returning to the handheld game.
I suggest playing both hard and normal mode to uncover the whole story, especially with how the gameplay becomes progressively harder in each level. What I love about this game is its spiritual symbolism and metaphors of those children with unresolved pain reshaped into false happiness.
If you like this game, I recommend Bad Parenting, Little Misfortune, and Yumi Nikki.
The Coffin of Andy and Leyley (by Nemlei, Kit9 studio on Steam): As if the previous games didn’t have terrible parents already – here we go again. The coffin of Andy and Leyley is known for being very controversial. You are playing as two siblings stuck in an apartment together during a parasite outbreak, Andrew and Ashley. SURPRISE!
their parents abandoned, starved, and neglected them. Soon, they discover a dead demon-worshiping neighbor. One thing leads to another, and…cannibalism! But it keeps them going. After cutting a deal with a demon for a dreamcatcher (thanks to the failed neighbors’ ritual), they murder their way to freedom only to be hunted by assassins; because they weren’t supposed to make it out alive. Later they escape to their parents’ new house. Just imagine how horrendous it is already when the lovesick murder sister and the isolated yet cold brother develop a twisted love-hate relationship, what a reunion. Chat…it’s messed up.
Currently three episodes are available so far. While I enjoyed the puzzles, unserious dialogue, and various ending routes, I understand why some people dislike it. The dark themes and humor aren’t for everyone, and most of the controversy comes from its incestuous elements or how it’s portrayed, leading to many players interpreting it differently.
If you enjoy horror games both psychological or survival, here’s a list to try: Fran Bow, Miside, Slay the princess, Dead Space, Amnesia: The Dark descent, Project kat: paper lily prologue, Who’s Lila?, PARASiTE FLOWER, Without a Dawn, Mouthwash.
