Overview & Gameplay
In This House is an intriguing mix of exploration, storytelling, and combat set in a darkly themed house on the night of the protagonist’s parents’ tragic death anniversary. Players take control of Bianca as she explores her grandfather’s home to survive the zombie outbreak created by a rabies virus outbreak while dealing with the spectral visions of a ghost girl who knows secrets about her family.
- Exploration: A top-down perspective allows complete freedom within the house, with various interactions that provide insights into characters and their world. Some interactions only unlock at specific times.
- Dialogues & Relationships: Each character has unique dialogue screens; players make choices that impact Bianca’s relationships as well as the plot.
- Hidden Object Screens: Key items needed for progression are hidden, leading to mini-games with graphics showcasing the limits of the Game Boy hardware.
- Combat: Aims to show how intense it can be to combat zombies on a handheld console, emphasizing realism and tension.
- Visual Novel Elements: Hand-drawn pixel art illustrations will enhance the cinematic experience.
Release Schedule & Demo Availability
The game is set for release in May 2025. However, you can already try out the demo on your original Game Boy hardware, Analogue Pocket, or PC by visiting their itch.io page (see original article for link).
Do you think this game’s limited graphical capabilities will add to its eerie atmosphere?
A new game? Amazing.
I wonder if there are more games being created for the older handhelds! (Or consoles).
Yes there’s a whole community making new games for retro consoles (played on emulators). There are original ones and modified ones (called romhacks) where they change and implement QOL fixes to classics. Like Pokémon has a whole set of romhacks, such as Pokémon Emerald Seaglass. Gameboy in particular has a ton. A $30-40 Chinese emulator can run it all.
Extra scary when there’s a power outage and your screen isn’t backlit 😱
