Summary
Anomaly hunting games are like spot the difference for adults, but with much higher stakes. Players look for changes in an otherwise static environment. Some of these are relatively benign on their own, but some are violent NPCs and other threats which will attack if not dealt with quickly.
Horror anomaly games have taken off as a form of puzzle game in the past few years, and remain popular withindie developersas they can be less resource-intensive to produce than other games. As a result, there are a huge number of anomaly hunting games out there that use the mechanics of anomaly hunting in creative and novel ways.
9Platform 8
“Don’t Look At Me”
Platform 8is a train-based anomaly hunting game, and is the second anomaly game from KOTAKE CREATE. Not only does the player have to spot anomalies, but some of the anomalies require specific actions to survive that run through the carriage. This includes avoiding the reach of giant hands, backing away with eyes locked on the anomaly so it doesn’t move, andother mini-game elements.
Players must stay in the carriage until the anomaly stops or resolves itself. This involves not only identifying the anomaly, but working out when it is safe to leave. The game really shines as an anomaly game after the first run is completed and players are able to identify all available anomalies and scratch that completionist itch.
8The Stairway 7
No Kitty, Why?
The Stairway 7is set in a non-Euclidean looping stairwell, and the player must attempt to make their way up seventy flights of stairs. Every floor is identical, and players must look for any changes, no matter how minute. If they see something out of the ordinary, they must turn back. The anomalies in this game have a distinctly demonic touch, and apparitions begin to appear at intervals. The developer citesP.T.as an inspiration.
The game has a health system, and players take damage every time they make a mistake. Picking up consumable medicine along the way is an important part of the gameplay. The art style is interesting and highly detailed, which is crucial when players will be spending so much time walking through the same space. And perhaps most importantly, players can pat Ginger the cat.
7ATTA
“Welcome to Desper Hotel Room 1028”
ATTAis in early access, and tasks the player with walking through the floors of the Desper Hotel looking for anomalies. The unusual premise of this game is that this looping anomaly hunting location has been turned into a hotel attraction where people visit and participate in abizarre series of puzzle roomsof sorts.
Players must count the anomalies on each iteration of the floor, then proceed to the corresponding floor to progress. Although the premise takes some of the dread out of anomaly hunting, it does have a few spooks and scares.
6Alternate Watch
“Someone Has Entered The Home”
Alternate Watch,made by indie developer Tesseron, explicitly cites inspiration fromI’m on Observation Dutyand the YouTubeanalog horror seriesThe Mandela Catalogue. Building off the lore of the early volumes ofThe Mandela Catalogue, there are multiple kinds of intruders that can be identified by their stated characteristics.
It is a security camera monitoring game that requires players to cycle through the footage of a single suburban home. Players are, as always with these anomaly hunting games, looking for anything out of the ordinary. In this game, anomalies are called displacements.Alternate Watchhas audio only anomalies, and a more intuitive threat level indication system than many of the games on this list.
This isChilla’s Art’s foray into the anomaly hunting genre. The player must walk through repeating carriages of a night train in the hopes of getting to the conductor’s room at the very end. There is a young boy and his sister stuck in the loop too, and their story is part of the mystery of why space and time are behaving so strangely on the train.
The player must look for anomalies in the initial carriage — people missing, posters coming to life, inanimate objects moving on their own — and turn back if they find any. Things escalate from there, and it becomes a matter of life and death. It has that particular brand of creepy thatChilla’s Artis known for.
Exit 8popularized anomaly hunting games that moved the player out of a static position in front of cameras. The playeris stuck in a loopwalking through the same space over and over again, looking for differences. It has a simple white tiled subway aesthetic that still has just enough detail to trip players up.
The premise is that the player is trying to reach Exit 8, but can’t escape until they identify anomalies. If anything is different, the player has to head back the way they came; otherwise, they can proceed around the next corner. There is one other commuter for company, and he is not immune from being an anomaly.
3Death Watch
It’s In My Room
Death Watchadds an extra code breaking andghost huntingdimension to surveillance camera anomaly hunting. Unfortunately, these mechanics can be a little convoluted when starting the game. It is perhaps best suited to players who get bored in the downtime and careful observation of anomaly hunting games.
The environments are well put together, and it opens up the player to the additional vulnerability of their room being accessible. Rather than being a disembodied head behind a screen, the player is immersed in the world. It also uses creepy diagetic sound design to induce fear and paranoia.
2Cabin Factory
Did That Boy Just Move?
In this game, the player is an inspector of horror experience cabins. These cabins are designed to scare patrons in a safe and liability-friendly way. But some of the cabins appear toactually be haunted. The cabins should be absolutely still, and the player must mark the cabin as dangerous if anything at all moves.
The cabins come to the player on a conveyor belt and are designed to be uniform, a standardized grim diorama of pain and horror. It also deals with the emotional toll on the player character and the danger that she places herself in with every cabin she inspects.
It was always going to beObservation Dutythat took the top spot. When it first came out, it was a unique indie treasure and has inspired so many developers to make their own anomaly games.I’m On Observation Dutyis an established series that has worked to perfect the anomaly hunting genre. There have been a few missteps as far as new mechanics and difficulty levels, but the games remain engaging and spooky. There are seven installments in the series to date, and each time the mechanics and environments are improved upon in some way. That being said,I’m on Observation Duty 5is probably the best and most critically acclaimed game in the series.
It follows the surveillance and security camera format in which the player scrolls through camera footage of locations to identify and report anomalies. Recurring intruders provide a delightful continuity between each installment. The Huge Man, for example, is a fan favorite, a giant who turns up in the rooms under surveillance and will attack the player if they do not report him quickly.
