Greed Stays Home is a short and sweet indie horror game recently released for PC. It was developed and published by Yellow Basement Games. The game tells the story of a far too dedicated historian and treasure hunter who dreams of striking it rich by discovering artifacts from centuries past. However, as the story normally goes in horror games, the characters’ adventures land them in a heap of haunted trouble. But just how scary is this short experience actually capable of being?
The Pros of Greed Stays Home
The Chilling Setting
After a bit of prologue text, the Greed Stays Home drops you into the muddy and dilapidated village that you’re meant to be exploring. It’s dark and foggy, and it features deep mud that makes a wet sound with every step the character takes. Almost immediately, whispers from the village’s haunted past can be heard before one gets close to the physical threshold of the house. The instant eerie feeling sets the tone for what players will experience while enjoying this indie horror experience. It certainly got me looking over my shoulder, not even a couple of minutes into the game.
The interior of the house is no better with its dust-covered furniture, broken boards, and dark corners that anything can be lurking in. The ambiance of the game just gets even more eerie before the real scares even begin, which successfully provides a sense of dread. This feeling is what many horror fans seek when playing these types of games. That, of course, includes myself.
The Effective Scares
As the game continues, the scares that Greed Stays Home offers accompany its evil-feeling ambiance perfectly. Of course, the game starts players off easy with a few rats causing some rodent-appropriate havoc. However, they quickly ramp up as this horror-filled walking simulator goes on. Without getting too much into spoiler territory, there are very well-placed jump scares throughout the game. They are brought to the player by the very spirits that threaten the main character’s sanity and physical being. As an avid horror enjoyer, I can say that a few of these scares did make me jump a bit in my seat.
Jump scares are not the only scares that Yellow Basement Games decided to include in this experience. There are also drawn-out scares that can make players feel helpless, which is one of the most important factors in making something actually terrifying. Although some may not enjoy slower scenes, I found my heartbeat jumping as I found myself in a dire situation where I could find no escape.
The Only Noticeable Con
A Lack of Buildup
While I did enjoy Greed Stays Home during its entire short playtime, there is one aspect I found the game to be lacking. As I mentioned before, the beginning of the game includes a couple of blocks of prologue text, which is enough to give players the gist of what they’re meant to be doing in the game. However, the intro would have been better if there had been an actual cutscene of some kind in the game. It wouldn’t have to be a long one to get the same point across. It would also help players get more immersed in the story that the game is meant to tell.
Final Thoughts
Greed Stays Home is a short but effective horror walking simulator, just like the headline of this article states. Several moments caused me to let out a gasp or a small shout of fear. Many more moments caused hairs to metaphorically stand up on the back of my neck. While the game only lasted an hour, it’s still one of the best indie horror games I’ve played in the past few months. I say that’s pretty good for a game that I only spent about $4 on. That is saying something because I play a lot of them. A few of those can even be found on Total Apex Gaming.
Score: 3.5/5
Spooky Score: 4/5
