Slender – The Eight Pages

Vorlage:Infobox video game Slender is a free indie-developed horror video game released in June 2012 for PC and Mac. The game is based on horror meme, Slenderman. Warning- Scariest game ever.

Gameplay

Character

Slender begins with the player controlling an unidentified female character. The player views the game in first-person through a handheld camera that the woman is holding. The player is equipped with a flashlight, with a battery that needs to be conserved, and can run for short amounts of time before they run out of stamina (signaled by heavy breathing).

Setting

The game takes place in a dark forrest that is surrounded by a chain link fence that cannot be crossed. There are various landmarks scattered throughout the woods including vehicles, buildings, a giant tree, huge rocks, wooden walls, stone pillars, a tunnel, and old fuel tanks. Multiple dirt paths reveal ways to travel from landmark to landmark without getting lost.

Objective

The goal of the game is to find a total of eight notes hidden throughout the woods (one on each of the different landmarks). After the first note has been picked up, eerie music begins to play, and the Slender Man will start to stalk the player.

Slender Man

The Slender Man is an evil entity that is trying to follow and kill the player. He looks like a tall, skinny man dressed in a dark-colored suit with a featureless white face. Slender Man walks slowly at first, and proceeds to walk faster with every additional note that the player collects. He can also teleport over short distances to catch up to the player, and may even fully disappear from view at times. Nowhere is safe, as he can show up anywhere at any time, though he is usually found trailing slightly behind the player. As the Slender Man gets nearer, the camera's recording will start to become distorted. If the player gets too close, the screen will fade to complete static, and the game will end.

Completion

If the player manages to collect all eight pages, the game does not end instantly. The player continues walking around the forest until the Slender Man finds them, whereupon the game ends and the credits roll.

Development and release

The game was created by Mark J. Hadley, known on YouTube as AgentParsec.

Slender became viral, after YouTube user PewDiePie uploaded a viral video on July 1 featuring his gameplay and commentary over the game; in a single week, the video reached over 1.2 million views. The official website crashed after a flood of people tried to download the game, leading to subsequent mirror downloads on Reddit and later MediaFire.

Reception

Some publications noted the effectiveness of the game's minimalist horror approach, contrasting it with many action-based survival horror games of the time period, such as the latest Resident Evil titles. Gaming website IGN called Slender "pure horror", claiming "few horror games thrust you directly into the heart of fear".