This isn’t just a click bait title. I truly mean I made a bad horror game. Still, it is a great game. I don’t mind boasting that either. But why is The Crypt Has Opened a bad horror game? Because the characters are too powerful, too capable of dealing with the horrors of the Crypt.

As I’ve dug into the genre over the years through various mediums one aspect became very clear to me. The more limited a player’s resources are, the more you remove their ability to fight back, the more horrific the circumstances are. A perfect example of this is the video game “Amnesia: The Dark Descent.”

TAKE IT ALL AWAY

The developers of this game made decisive and bold choices to enhance the sense of dread. Chiefly, they removed your ability to fight back. It was as simple as that. Your only item to help combat the growing darkness around you was a single lantern. A lantern with a finite power source.

You’re constantly on the lookout for fuel. Unfortunately, having your lantern out draws the attention of the twisted denizens in the mansion to your location. Now you’re balancing your sanity (keeping the light on) versus not being eaten.

That experience completely changed my perspective on the genre. Games like Resident Evil felt as if the characters were too much in control. Too competent and capable of facing the oncoming challenges. Yes, RE and similar games have their way of instilling dread through atmosphere and limiting your resources. These are also good levers to pull on. But to really adds that sense of hopelessness. Just take it all away.

When you’re alone in the woods, with nothing but a flashlight, and you hear that whistle in the dark or someone calling your name (no you didn’t), you’ll wish you had a weapon, something to help defend yourself.

That, is horror.

A BAD HORROR GAME

And in that sense, when looking at the practitioners for The Crypt Has Opened, the game is a bad horror game. With access to spells a practitioner can potentially solve any problem, take care of any cryptid, and be a badass in the face of the most dangerous situations.

Which means I must rely on other methods to drive home the horror. Through the shared fiction, through themes, and how the Stress mechanic works. All of which I plan to write about in future articles. Specifically, I want to contrast the type of horror found in this game versus Call of Cthulhu.

A GREAT GAME

All the same, after six years of playtesting and a six-month campaign I can confidently say it is a great game. It is mechanically sound with a great game-play loop. It works for both one-shots and campaign length. There is variety in the character options that help make everyone unique. Being able to play just minutes after the Night of the Open Grave to decades after changes the tone of your game, opening up your table to different campaign loops.

You might even want to pair this with Microscope and play a multi-generational town!

I hope you’ll follow the crowdfunding campaign so you can get your hands on The Crypt Has Opened and start your bad horror journey with a great game.