Slender; it made me sweaty, in all the wrong ways.

Slender is so scary it makes grown men cry. If you don’t believe me, google it.

Horror games in general are problematic for me: either they’re not scary enough, or they’re simply too damn scary and I don’t want to play them. Slender is definitely the latter.

How is Slender scary? Download it, and boot it up. Within 30 seconds you’ll understand.

Everything about the game reeks atmosphere. The heavy fog, the looming woods and impenetrable darkness instantly make you regret playing. This feeling never quite leaves you: as the game progresses and your fear cumulates the urge to simply quit, erase the game from your hard drive and pretend you never saw it builds and builds, at which point you either do give in and quit, or you’ve been taken by the Slenderman and are screaming expletives wildly and slapping your monitor.

Okay so maybe you’re brave, maybe you’re super tough and you’re not even afraid of anything. Don’t go expecting Slender to be a cakewalk. Oh no, sorry Mr. Toughguy. Slender is hard. Most playthroughs will result in your death, no matter how afraid you were.

That being said I’d think it pretty impossible not to be scared by Slender. I have, and would still liken playing the game to running a marathon – even though I haven’t ever run one, get real – it’s challenging, it’s exhausting, but damn satisfying; providing a profound sense of achievement upon its completion.

Slender is more than just an example of well constructed atmosphere though, it’s also a painfully effective mix of gameplay ideas which deconstruct, and re-assemble the usual customs of a ‘survival-horror video game’ – without it’s player ever even realizing. The flashlight: a staple of horror gaming that’s existed about as long as the genre itself manages to take on new life in Slender; it’s battery life is finite; and an over-reliance on it results in death. Sure, light lets you see (oh wow, really?) thus alleviating some of the pent up tension that Slender manufactures in spades, but it’ll be the end of you should you fear the dark too often. Adding layers of depth to this are a number of elements such as that seeing The Slenderman gives you a short speed boost, though looking at him for too long results in your death.

Like the tall, malnourished, faceless man that Slender owes its name, Slender is brutal, merciless and will haunt you long after you’ve seen him.