Some horror games have made us literally jump out of our chairs, but modern titles that can reproduce that fear on a screen are almost nonexistent. According to the people behind Night Terrors, much more is needed, starting with augmented reality. A dark house and a smartphone are the keys to experiencing firsthand the direct equivalent of a horror movie, with all those primordial scares that fill us with dread.
The "found footage" format exploded in the world of horror cinema after one film, The Blair Witch Project, swept the box office, grossing more than 200 million dollars when its budget was only 22 thousand. The film manages to generate fear through a chronic lack of information, the irregularity of each recording, and the growing desperation of the characters. In other words, it appeals to that ancestral terror we feel toward the unknown, darkness and night. Now imagine reproducing those feelings on the screen of a smartphone or tablet, enhanced with the help of augmented reality. What seems like a normal house can be turned into a nightmare full of ghosts, strange creatures, and the occasional long-haired girl whispering our name. Interested? If so, you should take a closer look at the Night Terrors project.
According to the data published in the official presentation, Night Terrors is a survival horror game with augmented reality that we must play with our home in the dark, using headphones for greater immersion. The game seeks to take advantage of all available hardware resources on the device, including camera, microphone, and internal sensors, creating a virtual map of the environment as the game progresses. This ability is fundamental to generating the movement of the monsters, which depending on the situation will seek to turn our blood to ice, or worse, begin chasing us through the house.
Night Terrors is making its rounds on Indiegogo, and the developers have 40 days to raise the 70 thousand dollars they need. Initial support reaches iOS devices, and if everything goes well, Night Terrors will have dedicated versions for Android and Windows Phone. There is a possibility that the project will become the most powerful example of augmented reality in video games, but first it must improve its crowdfunding rewards. Getting a copy when it is finished requires a payment of just 5 dollars; however, asking 75 dollars for beta access is expensive even under the typical parameters of "early access".
