“If the dog dies, I quit”: Blair Witch and the problems of contemporary psychological horror games

• Authors: Katarzyna Marak
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

This paper highlights the manner in which contemporary psychological horror games rely on repetitive storylines and plot twists, resulting in predictability of new titles, and the way in which this negatively affects immersion and players' emotional investment. Through examining the game Blair Witch (2019) developed by Polish studio Bloober Team, and its inclusion of an animal companion, the article demonstrates how shifting the players' affective identification from the avatar to the companion character can cause the players to overlook the shortcomings of the game. At the same time, by juxtaposing Blair Witch with other similar digital game texts, the paper showcases how linearity and reliance on predictable tropes in a game can be masked by the effective inclusion of an interesting companion with appropriate mechanics.

Keywords

EN

Blair Witch; contemporary psychological horror games; psychological horror games; Digital Games; companion character

• Publisher: Akademia Górniczo-Hutnicza im. Stanisława Staszica w Krakowie
• Journal: Studia Humanistyczne AGH
• Year: 2021
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 57-70

Dates

published

2021-03-31

received

2020-10-25

revised

2020-12-20

accepted

2020-12-21

Contributors

author

Katarzyna Marak

• Katedra Kulturoznawstwa, Instytut Nauk o Kulturze, Uniwersytet Mikołaja Kopernika w Toruniu, Polska

Identifiers

DOI

doi.org/10.7494/human.2021.20.2.57