Learn what inspires an indie horror game developer, what challenges he faces, and how to create a good jumpscare!
Vidas Salavejus, aka Vidas Games, is an indie horror game developer with a very abstract, nightmare-ish style. Today, we're looking at some of his scariest games – and he was nice enough to give us an interview!
Vidas Games' Scariest Works
Theater Unrest
Run time: ~30 minutes
Play the game: itch.io, Steam (available in collection)
Inspired by a creepypasta, The Theater, your main character just wants to see a movie at the cinema – over and over again. Every attempt to do so gets more terrifying, and at some point, you wonder if what was just supposed to be a fun trip is actually a never-ending nightmare.
Cave Of Illusions
Run time: ~25 minutes
As you try to investigate the disappearance of your former best friend who vanished at 8 years old, this game traps you inside a fear-inducing fun house (if your definition of "fun" is lots of adrenaline). Can you escape the game master who can't wait to get his (literally) twisted hands on you while the Cave of Illusions combines nightmare-ish horror with childlike innocence?
Martyrdom
MartyrdomMade by: @VidasSalavejus https://t.co/jClgUaUiph pic.twitter.com/5xUaBe8uUe
— Horror Games Community (@horrorvisuals) January 31, 2021
Run time: ~20 minutes
Can a horror game be narrated from the perspective of a villain and still be terrifyingly scary? Yes, absolutely! This is proven by Martyrdom, a game that makes you torture a woman locked in your basement without telling you why you're committing these heinous crimes.
As your character's mental health progressively deteriorates and makes you feel like you're trapped inside a horrifying fever dream, you just want to know: W̸̔ͅẖ̸̕a̷͉͗t̶̪͝ ̴̗̉i̷̙̒s̸̡̛ ̸͓̀ṱ̵͆ḧ̴͎́e̶͇̕ ̵͔̋p̷̠̎ạ̴͂ŝ̴̩s̷̳̊w̴̡͝o̵̭̕r̸̘̈́d̵̲͋?̴̫̈́
DIA
Run time: ~10 minutes
Play the game: itch.io
"There is nothing scary ahead. No sudden noises. No flashing images. No one will follow you. Welcome to Dia."
This game has a super simple and yet terrifying concept. You walk through an abandoned city that has one special feature: It has monitors where the town's population count is portrayed. But, as mentioned, the city is abandoned. You're the only one walking through it, so of course the population count is 1... until it suddenly jumps up to 2...
Smile Simulation
SMILE SIMULATION TRAILER pic.twitter.com/Aen2JOvTM8
— Vidas - Mr. Timore (@VidasSalavejus) June 17, 2024
Run time: ~1 hour
Play the game: itch.io, Steam, Nintendo Switch
Smile Simulation is a surreal horror game set in a perilous labyrinth of rooms and corridors where monsters and curses lurk, waiting to kill you. Your task: find and "Desmile" eerie, grinning pictures on the walls to restore them to normal.
As you explore, you'll uncover voice logs from Brian, a past explorer who encountered this simulation at the Lacrimosa facility. A mysterious voice, Vivian, guides you, but her true motives remain unclear.
Survive the unique behaviors of each creature, master the blinking mechanic that intensifies the terror, and piece together the dark secrets of this sinister world.
Parasomnia Verum
Nightmares in Parasomnia Verum#horrorgames #madewithunity #indiegames #horrorgame #indiegamedev #steam pic.twitter.com/fRgt7bNNJH
— Vidas - Mr. Timore (@VidasSalavejus) May 28, 2024
Run Time: ~30 minutes
Play the game: itch.io, Steam, Nintendo Switch
Parasomnia Verum is an atmospheric horror game exploring the terror of a recurring nightmare.
You play as Maddy, haunted by the same dream night after night. Seeking answers, she turns to Professor Wilbur, an expert in dream research. But as they delve deeper, they uncover something far more sinister. With each experiment, the line between reality and nightmare blurs more – until Maddy begins to question if the dream is even hers to begin with.
Vidas' Multi-Part Video Game Series
Aside from the games shown above, Vidas Games also has some horror game series that consist of multiple parts:
The Timore Series
This is Vidas' longest-running and best-known horror game series. With crazy visuals, occasional fighting mechanics and a creepy atmosphere, this series explores the horrors of human minds.
It consists of the following games:
- Timore (Game Jolt); Timore Remake (Steam)
- Nox Timore (Game Jolt); Nox Timore Remake (Steam); Nox Timore Remake (itch.io)
- Timore Avaritia: Game Jolt
- Timore Inferno: Steam, itch.io, Game Jolt
- Timore 5: Steam, itch.io, Nintendo Switch
- Timore 5 The Flood DLC: Steam, itch.io
- Timore 6: Steam, itch.io
- Timore Solum: itch.io, Game Jolt
- Timore Redo: Steam, itch.io, Nintendo Switch
- Timore Narhelma: Steam, itch.io, Nintendo Switch
The Sorrow Asylum Series
A (so far) three-part series that Vidas calls one of his scariest works! In this abandoned asylum, you find yourself trapped inside your own terrifying mind – can you escape the creatures that lurk in such a place?
The series consists of:
Interview With Vidas Games
Vidas kindly gave us an interview! Find out more about his inspirations, upcoming projects and game development in general:
- EarlyGame: Out of all the games you’ve made so far, which ones are your favorites and why?
Vidas' answer: I think the Timore series as a whole is my main thing, but a few more favorites of mine would be Dia, Smile Simulation, Parasomnia Verum.
- EarlyGame: Which of your games do you think is the scariest one and why?
Vidas' answer: Sorrow Asylum games are most likely the most tense and creepy, also Smile Simulation with its survival horror nature and unpredictability.
- EarlyGame: Are there projects you are currently working on that you can already tell us something about?
Vidas' answer: Yes I'm working on a big project called Vermilion Arcade - Horror Collection, it's a collection of horror games that I'm making myself in various horror themes and approaches to horror.
Another game that is coming soon is called Clown Is Hungry, which is a comedy horror game about delivering a pizza for a scary clown. It has fun gameplay, jokes, but also some serious horror.
- EarlyGame: Your longest-running video game series is Timore, are you planning to continue it? If yes, how? If no, why not?
Vidas' answer: Yes I like finding new creative ways to continue the Timore series, I always have many ideas, the most recent addition was Timore Narhelma, it's like a spin-off game to the series, but a nice addition to the lore.
The future will probably bring new characters and some recurring ones along with new creatures and gameplay, but at the same time reinventing the mannequin that's been tied to the series for a long time.
- EarlyGame: Where do you get the inspiration for your games?
Vidas' answer: Generally I try to come up with new things without drawing inspiration or trying to copy something else, but I do play other horror games, watch scary movies and read horror books, or dive into different genres to find new ways to make horror in video games.
Silent Hill, Resident Evil and various indie horror games probably have an impact on me, as well as other games that I enjoy, even if they're not horror games (like Devil May Cry series). I read Junji Ito's work, some more classic work too, anything that I find to be interesting.
Also I've made games that are holiday-inspired: Dye The Bunny and Dye The Bunny 2 (Easter horror games), some Christmas horror games, a Valentine's Day horror dating sim called Samantha demo, even a Thanksgiving horror game called Gratiarum (the full games of Samantha and Gratiarum are coming to Vermilion Arcade).
I also made a short game called Insomnis Experiment, which is inspired by a short story, the Russian Sleep Experiment Creepypasta. This game is also going to be developed further and will be part of Vermilion Arcade.
- EarlyGame: What are some of the biggest challenges you’ve run into when making games?
Vidas' answer: Learning new things is always hard, mostly programming or 3D modelling, it was a long process to get to where I am now, and I have a long way to go too.
It was very challenging to learn how to port my games to Nintendo Switch, the process is quite complicated, but I've learned a lot by now and published quite a few games on that platform.
The biggest challenge is most likely marketing a game to be successful, it's always a struggle for indie game developers.
- EarlyGame: How does a good jump scare work (contrary to cheap jump scares)?
Vidas' answer: A good jumpscare has to give a feeling that "it's worth it", there has to be a good atmosphere build-up, reasons for the jumpscare to happen story or gameplay-wise, otherwise it might feel cheap.
I like when they're not traditional, when there's no sound (maybe there's just someone standing in a place where you don't expect) or a very weird unconventional sound is used in a jumpscare that surprises the player.
Another great method is to lead from a jumpscare into a chasing section, so the scare is also a danger that the player has to deal with (run away, hide, fight, etc.).
- EarlyGame: In comparison to other horror games, your games typically have a very abstract, nightmare-ish vibe, how do you achieve that?
Vidas' answer: Creating weird environments or stories, dialogues, characters that don't make 100% sense, something that's not real usually gets people into that mindset of a dream or a nightmare.
I also like supernatural and psychological horror the most, instead of slasher/intruder horror or dangerous real life situations, so there's always something unnatural in the story to begin with.
- EarlyGame: Have you ever used one of your own nightmares as inspiration or do you just come up with creative ideas while you're awake?
Vidas' answer: I haven't made a dream into a game yet, I don't think so, Parasomnia Verum was inspired by a dream, but it was someone else's dream and we collaborated to make that game.
Other than that all the games are planned while I'm awake haha. I do have nightmares that inspire me to work on horror games in general, I did have one interesting nightmare more recently that I might make into a game some time.
These are some of Vidas Games' scariest games and some insights into his game development processes! Have you played one of his games before? Which one is your favorite?