Spooky's Jump Scare Mansion

Spooky's Jump Scare Mansion is a 2014 survival horror video game developed and published by Lag Studios. The player's objective is to traverse to the end of a mansion comprising a thousand rooms. Originally titled Spooky's House of Jump Scares, the game's title was changed to Spooky's Jump Scare Mansion in 2016 due to a copyright dispute.^[1][2]

Spooky's Jump Scare Mansion
Developer(s)	Lag Studios Albino Moose Games (HD Renovation)
Publisher(s)	Lag Studios Albino Moose Games (HD Renovation)
Engine	GameMaker Unity (HD Renovation)
Platform(s)	Original Windows HD Renovation Windows PlayStation 4 Xbox One Nintendo Switch
Release	Original WW: 2014 HD Renovation WW: March 1, 2017
Genre(s)	Survival horror
Mode(s)	Single-player

Gameplay

Spooky's Jump Scare Mansion is a first-person survival horror game in which the player is tasked with traversing through a mansion comprising a thousand rooms. As the game progresses, the player encounters multiple hostile enemies, referred to as "specimens". The player's objective is to reach the final room. The game gradually escalates in difficulty and horror intensity. It starts off with "intentionally tame" scares, which gain psychological impact as more unsettling horror elements are introduced.^[3][4]

Development and release

The game was developed by North Carolina-based^[5] Lag Studios. It was made using the GameMaker creation system, which is primarily intended for making games with 2D graphics. Because of this, authors of the game had to use elaborate techniques to emulate 3D objects.^[6] Its graphic design were described as "morbidly cute and simplistic art that is reminiscent of childish drawings and cartoons for toddlers".^[7]

The game was released in 2014 as a freeware, and in 2015 it was released on Steam.^[8] Two DLCs have been released for the game: Karamari Hospital (2015) and Spooky's Dollhouse (2020).^[9][10] A recreated version of the game, remade using the Unity engine, was released on Steam in 2017 under the title Spooky's Jump Scare Mansion: HD Renovation by Albino Moose Games.^[6] The remake was also released on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.^[11][12][13]

Reception

Reception

Review scores

Publication	Score
BagoGames	[14]
LevelUp	[15]
Relyonhorror.com	[4]

The game became an online success, comparable to games such as Doki Doki Literature Club!, Baldi's Basics in Education and Learning, and Bendy and the Ink Machine, with several notable YouTubers making videos on it.^[16] Various other content created by fans of the game, including a song by The Living Tombstone, further contributed to its popularity.

Griffin McElroy of Polygon described the game as a "weird hybrid of parody of the jump scare horror genre, and genuinely horrifying game".^[8] Ian Higton of Eurogamer praised the PlayStation VR version of the game's remake, writing that "you can almost feel [the specimens'] physical presence gaining on you as you try to escape". He compared the experience to "dropping acid and going to a Halloween Horror Fright Night".^[17]