Slender: The Eight Pages

Popular programs in Action

What is Slender: The Eight Pages

Slender is an atmospheric horror game that pits you against a villain whose mythology comes strictly from the chatrooms and message boards of the Internet: Slenderman.

The story of Slenderman is a strange one, and it would not be possible without Internet forums, Photoshop and Youtube. Starting with a series of Youtube videos, the paranormal force of nature was seen by many online and quickly considered 'cool'. People started writing their own Slenderman stories, including digitally inserting ghostly, slender figures in suits into photos both old and new. Soon, Slenderman was all over the Internet, as its first 'home-grown' horror icon.

Naturally, people began saying they were going to create games about Slenderman. The first of these games, Slender: The Eight Pages, starts with a fairly simple premise/ It's night-time, and you are in a forest. There are eight pages of paper scattered throughout the forest. You have a flashlight and you need to find the pages. Oh, and Slenderman is hunting you, and he can teleport. If you see him, you need to run quickly. If he touches you, the game is over.

Slender is obviously an amateur effort. That said, while the graphics and sound obviously aren't professional quality, they have a certain heart and charm of their own. After all, Slenderman is the creation of amateur writers all over the world. Shouldn't the games about him be the same way?

In a way, Slender represents something new, not just in its choice of antagonist, but in its gameplay. You have no weapons and you have no way to fight. You simply run. You have three speeds: Walking, jogging and a sprint speed that can only be turned on if you see Slenderman -- but this will reduce the amount of time you can run. You need to decide how important it is to run, and for how long. Likewise, your flashlight only has so much battery power. Leave it on for too long and it will die.

In the end, you can blame Slenderman all you want, but it is your own choices, resource management and ability to keep your head under pressure that will get you killed.

Pros

--Played with the lights out and headphones on, this game can be extremely scary

--Innovative running mechanics

--Not so long that you lose interest

Cons

--Not that scary if you don't know the Slenderman mythology

--No plot beyond what the player makes up themselves after seeing the pages

--Obviously not created by professionals

--No replay value