Instead it is a philosophical game holding a mirror up to our humanity. The game isn’t meant to terrify you through bodily threat or atmospheric oppression. We are playing an adventure game and as such are playing puppet master, viewing the character’s fate from a distant outside perspective. ![]() There is no real, immediate danger to the characters that would transfer to the player. I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream isn’t a scary game in the traditional, emotional sense. ![]() We mean the term as a description of how the work makes us feel, yet we use a word that describes the work itself. Whereas ‘horror’ is an intense dislike, an abhorrence or painful feeling of repugnance. Often what we mean in context is “terror” - a strong feeling of fear, a cause of anxiety. We toss around the term “horror game” rather liberally as a genre, but we don’t often stop and consider what we mean by the “horror” in “horror game.” As a genre we attribute the title to anything we might find that attempts to be scary, but that isn’t what horror means. The game also brings another issue to the forefront of my mind. That alone sets I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream apart from everything else. They may be included in them as a historical detail or plot point, but with most games, the focus is never directly on these concerns. Few games since have really dealt with these as themes as themes. In doing so he wanted to explore mature, controversial themes like guilt, rape, and the Holocaust. The writer of the game and the original short story, Harlan Ellison, didn’t think much of video games, but regardless wanted to make a work in the only medium that he hadn’t yet tried his hand at. I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream has been re-released on Good Old Games and Steam, so go check it out if you haven’t already. This post contains spoilers for I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream.
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