Horror as a genre, even outside of videogames, is a different type of animal to other stories. One iconic villain, a brilliant use of practical effects or a depiction of something truly indescribable can make a horror film or game common knowledge, even to non-horror fans. We’ve all heard of IT and know what Jason’s mask looks like.

This is where the term Mascot Horror comes from – horror games built around iconic and strangely likeable characters that form the backbone of the experience. Of course, the reason they’re so beloved is because they can plumb the depths of your adrenaline reserves when you run the f*$%k away, but alas.

None of that sounds like a problem, but in recent years there’s been a fixation on mascot horror that only really focused on the former. Games like Poppy Playtime are so emblematic of the genre, but start to forget to really forage around for something unique, or even re-interpret what’s already established.

So, when Dark Pals offered a short, linear narrative with unsettling undertones and over-the-top mascots in a twisted brainwashing facility – I was curious.

Don’t Overstay Your Welcome

Changing gear completely to talk about a narrative visual-novel-esque cosy game I played (It will link back, I promise!). I recently played Pluarlys, a valiant attempt to give us an Undertale or Freebird Games type experience where player choice shapes the world, and the world is weird and wonderful. The main problem it had, which I couldn’t put my finger on until after the fact, was the length.

Undertale can be beaten in a matter of hours, Freebird Games experiences never last more than 4 – 5. In the genre, games tend to not drag themselves out for “content”. Pluralys overstays its welcome, reaching double-digit playtimes due mostly to an incredibly tedious walking pace and world design, rather than because you’re engrossed in the dialogue or gameplay.

Horror is the same; a game needs to know what its got and, if that’s just one central gimmick, it needs to pace itself accordingly. It’s certainly fine to make a horror game that only does 1 thing and does it well, but it shouldn’t be trying to stretch that over an 8 hour campaign just because that’s the “expected” length of a narrative experience.

Dark Pals is comfortable with what it is. The devs know what they have. They know they have the opportunity to explore the themes and gameplay elements they want to and still wrap up the experience in under 3 hours. During that time there’s even a variety of puzzle types, with the only repeated mechanic that you can switch paint colour for your adorable plushie paint gun friend.

Deeply Unsettling Design with Wild Characterisation

This is a mascot horror. Let’s get to the mascots.

There’s various toy-inspired animated freaks around – from wooden dolls to plushies and origami dragons. These elements are mostly puzzle or environmental though, with only 2 main mascots for the horror segments. Given the short length, those 2 carry the atmosphere beautifully, however.

Firstly, there’s a giant plushie dog. This is one of those “Push the teeth and don’t get bitten” toys that I absolutely loved when I was a kid. Many were the days I’d get a plastic shark or crocodile and challenge my mum to a game. But, I digress.

The dog’s huge round eyes and playful movements, contrasted with some gnashing teeth at times, fill the screen with character when it’s present. There’s classic stealth and chase sequences, but then the game flips that pace on its head and has you puzzle out which order to click the beast’s teeth in to safely “disarm” it.

This is a nice little way to actualise the thematic potential of the mascot. It’s easy to make a giant toy dog chase the character, but Dark Pals actually takes the time to introspect and ask “What does this dog being a giant toy mean ? How does that affect the puzzles and gameplay when it is around? How does it affect story beats?“. The fact the devs have thought about these world-building and gameplay-informing issues is evident, and makes the short 3-hour experience brim with ghastly, unnerving soul.

Secondly, there’s Binky. Binky is, as you might imagine, a mascot based on a “pacifier” (Dummy for us Bri’ish lot). As unsettling as that core premise is, what with the undertones of child brainwashing and the connotation of that, it’s once again what Dark Pals does with the mascot that matters.

Just like with the dog, it would be easy to slap some eyes on a dummy and call it a day. The Dark Pals devs are better than that though, they go further. Binky is actually an amalgamation of two elements: The dummy itself with it’s little eyes and high-pitched squeaky “voice”, and the bulbous, gargantuan stomach below. This stomach has the crushing maw of the beast, and will frequently lunge at food or cause destruction while the dummy wails in fear and loses control.

Jekyll and Hyde type monsters aren’t uncommon, but seeing one so vividly animated and uniquely designed was a treat.

Even if one steam reviewer didn’t think so…

“While I did enjoy what I played, the two things I HATED the most was when the monster was sucking on his on pacifier-head with the sounds (like seriously, did that have to be so obnoxious and loud?) and then the Omelette Man song”

Ah, the classic steam review of “The artists’ intent with the game wasn’t what I personally wanted.”

Do these people genuinely not realise that hating those moments, and feeling discomfort, and having an annoying song stuck in your head (In a game about brainwashing) is maybe, perhaps, perchance the damn point?

Short but Crammed with Unforgettable Moments

The “obnoxious” sucking of the dummy and the implied annoyance at the Omelette Man song are exactly what make Dark Pals so good. In a short experience the game has carved such a unique identity for itself, and takes the conceptual idea of brainwashing to a whole new level: Actually getting an irreverant and weird song stuck in the players head.

Omelette Man is perhaps the best thing to have come out of the game. The song plays with live-action character Omelette Man prancing about the screen, and will loop until you finish a certain puzzle. Sound annoying? Yep, it is. But don’t worry, it comes around again…

There’s something inherently enjoyable about being stuck in a room doing a puzzle and hearing a song built to be annoying just loop over and over. You pick up lyrics, you learn the tune, and soon enough you’re singing along. The one part of the game that doesn’t have brainwashing “Buzzwords” like “Control”, “Consume”, “Submit” etc is actually the one part of the game closest to actual brainwashing. It’s a beautifully devillish bit of design.

The best Puzzle Design I Have Seen in Mascot Horror

The chase sequences in Dark Pals are chase sequences. They’re brought to life with the unhinged character design of Binky, but gameplay-wise you know what you’re getting.

It’d be easy (and expected) that in-between those segments you have to solve ever-increasingly difficult puzzles using the colour-change painting system. But, actually, no…

Dark Pals isn’t afraid to experiment, to diversify your puzzles and not get bogged-down with paint colours and navigational challenges. Instead, the game explores at least 4 different flavours of puzzle which keeps the intrigue fresh and the satisfaction for solving them high.

The Omelette Man puzzle is an exemplar of what a gameplay section like this should be like. Yes, the music is deliberately annoying. Yes, the room is garish and colourful, contrasted with a dingy meat-filled kitchen. Yes, you have to run around finding the right combination of 3 ingredients to progress.

And yet, it’s the best designed room in the game. Why?

There are, in my estimation, 5 different ways to solve the puzzle.

That might not sound like a big deal, but this is once again a demonstration of how well these devs know their stuff. If you lock someone in a room with Omelette Man singing at them, you need to ensure the puzzle will be solved in a short amount of time. Giving the answer on a silver platter is too easy, but if there’s only one single way to solve it and that way might elude some players, those players are gonna have a horrid time.

So, the game provides multiple ways to the same solution.

Spoilers for how to solve the Omelette Man puzzle ahead.

• Solution 1: The music video. As mentioned, the Omelette Man will be singing at you on loop, and that song has a music video. In the music video, various characters pop up on the screen. These characters can be found on posters in the room, and those posters have the 3 ingredients you need to progress. You need to spot the characters in the video, spot the posters, and put two-and-two together.

• Solution 2: The kitchen radio. Shortly into the puzzle Binky will guide you to the kitchen. There’s meat strewn about which is a red herring, as at the rear of the kitchen is a hidden radio. This radio will be playing a different song to Omelette Man. The song can be hard to make out, but it simply lists, over and over again, the ingredients you need to progress.

• Solution 3: The diner machine. The machine you have to turn the ingredients into will tell you which ingredients were correct, meaning you could just run around the area plugging them all in and win via trial-and-error pretty quickly.

• Solution 4: The diner trays. The ingredients you are collecting need to be deposited in a machine at the exit. This machine has the correct ingredients printed on the tray. Simply pay close enough attention. Many players won’t got close enough to see, as they’ll think “Oh that’s where I turn the tray in, cool” from a distance and never inspect it.

• Solution 5: Omelette Man. Yes, the Omelette Man song that’s so annoying, that’s so irrelevant…well it quite literally tells you the answer. After the second chorus a choir of other voices joins in the call: “Blueberry, banana, white chocolate”.

By providing 5 different ways to solve this relatively simple puzzle Dark Pals ensures that the segment is annoying, hilarious and short all at the same time.

If only one of those solutions was available the room would run the risk of making a player go too stir-crazy. Having backups upon backups with some visual clues (posters, tray) some audio clues (songs) and some logical clues (trial and error confirmation) every type of player can solve this puzzle quick enough to not overstay its welcome.

Regardless, you’ll be singing “Hey it’s me, it’s Omelette Man” for the forseeable future.

Oozing with Unsettling Themes and Worldbuilding

Over the course of the whole experience there’s overt themes of brainwashing and indoctrination. However, something like the conflicted nature of Binky will, as evidenced by that steam reviewer, go over some people’s heads. There’s so much depth to the caricatures here, with Binky forcing his dummy head into the stomach mouth to appease it, stopping it from eating you being just one example.

Mascot horror normally focuses on making the mascot iconic via jumpscares, screentime and attention-grabbing. Dark Pals does it by making the mascot actually iconic. Binky is an icon. An icon of “Gollum vs Smeagul” dynamics. An icon of “Massive mouth that wants to eat you” creatures.

With this experience being named “Dark Pals First Floor” I am, strangely, excited to see what happens next in this mascot horror series. That’s not something I’d have thought I’d ever say.

Blueberries

Banana

White Chocolate