This review contains spoilers
(If you haven't played Anatomy, don't read yet!)
Surprises me how nobody mentions that this game works perfectly as a representation of trauma, which I think was Kitty's intention. And considering it does so using a house as an analog, it's done really well.
The House lashes out violently at you, its "Intruder", in a fit of rage so strong that the House's own reality begins to distort. We never know if the part you play is one of malicious intent, but the House thinks so, and so it hurts you. I think the reason it does is revealed in the epilogue, where it mentions the House being abandoned by its builders once it was no longer of use. In its lonesome, ever-wondering why that was and if it was its fault or theirs, the House builds a toxic mental place by building "shadow puppets" molded by its experiences, reliving the past and hurting itself over its own memories. I think the man that's "breaking and upsetting things", that the House leaves down in the basement (never to be dealt with) is one of those puppets. Feeling wrong, and wronged at the same time, makes it grow bitter and violent, and so it lashes out at subsequent occupants, the people that try to get close to it ("if my own builders were capable of hurt, then what it awaits me?"), creating a cycle of self-harm and self-hatred that in its mind validates the decision of the builders of hurting it because it's evil. Succumbing the House into its dark thoughts, and corrupting it more and more.
Admittedly, I wasn't expecting much from this game, mostly because of watching a few playthroughs of Kitty's works and them not impressing me, but this was incredible both as an artistic experience and as a horror game. Amazing.
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I'll leave the epilogue here if you want to read it again:
"What happens to a house when it is left alone? It becomes worn and aged. And its paint peels and its foundations begin to sink. It goes for too long unlived in. What does it think of? What does it dream? How does it regard those creatures who built it? Who brought it into existence only to abandon it when its usefulness no longer satisfies them. It may grow lonesome. It may stare for long hours into the darkness of its empty halls and see shadows. Its heart may jump as it thinks, "here, here is someone again, I am not alone." Each time it is wrong. And the hurt starts over. It may haunt itself, inventing ghosts to walk its floors, making friends with its shadow puppets, laughing and whispering to itself at the end of some quiet cul-de-sac. It may grow angry. Its basement may fill with churning acid like an empty stomach. And its gorge may rise as it asks itself, through clenched teeth, "what did I do wrong?" It may grow bitter. It may grow hungry. So hungry and so bitter that its scruples dissolve, and its doors unlock themselves. While a house may hunger, it cannot starve. And so in fever and anger and loneliness, it may simply lie in wait. Doors open. Shades drawn. Hallways empty. Hungry."
Surprises me how nobody mentions that this game works perfectly as a representation of trauma, which I think was Kitty's intention. And considering it does so using a house as an analog, it's done really well.
The House lashes out violently at you, its "Intruder", in a fit of rage so strong that the House's own reality begins to distort. We never know if the part you play is one of malicious intent, but the House thinks so, and so it hurts you. I think the reason it does is revealed in the epilogue, where it mentions the House being abandoned by its builders once it was no longer of use. In its lonesome, ever-wondering why that was and if it was its fault or theirs, the House builds a toxic mental place by building "shadow puppets" molded by its experiences, reliving the past and hurting itself over its own memories. I think the man that's "breaking and upsetting things", that the House leaves down in the basement (never to be dealt with) is one of those puppets. Feeling wrong, and wronged at the same time, makes it grow bitter and violent, and so it lashes out at subsequent occupants, the people that try to get close to it ("if my own builders were capable of hurt, then what it awaits me?"), creating a cycle of self-harm and self-hatred that in its mind validates the decision of the builders of hurting it because it's evil. Succumbing the House into its dark thoughts, and corrupting it more and more.
Admittedly, I wasn't expecting much from this game, mostly because of watching a few playthroughs of Kitty's works and them not impressing me, but this was incredible both as an artistic experience and as a horror game. Amazing.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'll leave the epilogue here if you want to read it again:
"What happens to a house when it is left alone? It becomes worn and aged. And its paint peels and its foundations begin to sink. It goes for too long unlived in. What does it think of? What does it dream? How does it regard those creatures who built it? Who brought it into existence only to abandon it when its usefulness no longer satisfies them. It may grow lonesome. It may stare for long hours into the darkness of its empty halls and see shadows. Its heart may jump as it thinks, "here, here is someone again, I am not alone." Each time it is wrong. And the hurt starts over. It may haunt itself, inventing ghosts to walk its floors, making friends with its shadow puppets, laughing and whispering to itself at the end of some quiet cul-de-sac. It may grow angry. Its basement may fill with churning acid like an empty stomach. And its gorge may rise as it asks itself, through clenched teeth, "what did I do wrong?" It may grow bitter. It may grow hungry. So hungry and so bitter that its scruples dissolve, and its doors unlock themselves. While a house may hunger, it cannot starve. And so in fever and anger and loneliness, it may simply lie in wait. Doors open. Shades drawn. Hallways empty. Hungry."
In the psychology of the modern civilized human catgirl, it is difficult to overstate the significance of the Kitty Horrorshow.
Minimalist genius.
OAagghhhh I love this game so muchhh! The concept and it's executionis just so cool and good. The dread and spook of it, the atmosphere. I've played this game like 5 times, it's one of amy all time favourites <3
very spooky
this (definitely queer) kid at my college (i haven't asked them if they're queer i just know) saw this game on my computer in passing and they deadass recited the entire ending monologue then and there. so yeah anatomy is pretty good
My favourite tiny game, consistently makes me cry :}
I was playing fortnite when @nuthut was playing this sheit, muted. Didn't win any voctory royals. :(((
Deeply unsettling. Short and sweet. No actual jumpscares but a few audio spikes that startle.
The biggest jump scares were seeing limbs where there are none. Eyes and a face in a painting that bears no resemblance when looked at head on. Fumbling in the dark looking for instruction.
The only direction you receive being: The doors are unlocked
It h urts
The biggest jump scares were seeing limbs where there are none. Eyes and a face in a painting that bears no resemblance when looked at head on. Fumbling in the dark looking for instruction.
The only direction you receive being: The doors are unlocked
It h urts
One of the best games ever made. My home now feels super hostile and is forcing me to go outside and touch grass more often so that's nice.
Only game that ever really scared me.
I couldn't finish it. I'll try again some time, but damn, this is really scary
made me feel physically ill and left me paranoid for the rest of the night i played it. awesome stuff.
yeh i shit my pants, so what?
This review contains spoilers
kitty horrorshow games always and forever. god i love houses
In no other game are you such a spectre. Sure, thee house is haunted but how many houses have you haunted in various first person games? A floating camera scurrying about, drifting aimlessly in & out of rooms attempting to accomplishing an arbitrary/negligible goal.
Earns its place as perhaps thee absolute scariest game I've ever played. Not just yr typical chiller-thriller type jumps either, but a sickening sour in yr stomach, frozen fingers on yr keyboard. You could likely convince me that I saw my own breath once or twice while playing.
Earns its place as perhaps thee absolute scariest game I've ever played. Not just yr typical chiller-thriller type jumps either, but a sickening sour in yr stomach, frozen fingers on yr keyboard. You could likely convince me that I saw my own breath once or twice while playing.
I've played all of Kitty Horrorshow's Haunted Cities games, so I thought I knew what I was getting into, but I was not ready. Where those games are brilliant, little vignettes into these creepy themes and aesthetics, Anatomy TERRIFIED me.
The movie Skinamarink taps into a lot of similar primal childhood fears as this, of being alone in a really dark house, slowly moving through this space, hoping desperately for something to break the tension and dread. A lesser game would provide you with this cheap catharsis, a jump scare, a spooky little guy. But in Anatomy, the fear is so much deeper. The house is a living breathing organism, and you are a parasite haunting it.
Despite the stripped-down simplicity of this game, in which the only real mechanic per se is finding tapes and playing them,Kitty Horrorshow employs game-specific mechanics masterfully. She knows what you as a player are expecting from this experience, and repeatedly twists that expected catharsis away from you. In one moment, the tape narrates about a man entering the door, walking down the front hallway, towards the room you are currently in, and it's so much scarier peeking around that doorway and seeing that there is no one there. Another little subversion is that the first playthrough, so much of the fear is in the near total darkness, and yet when you can later turn on the TV and the lamp, the light is barely reassuring, relieving none of the dread of this house itself. And do I even have to mention the tape in the upstairs bedroom?
Play this game, and make sure you check the read me to make sure you get the full experience.
The movie Skinamarink taps into a lot of similar primal childhood fears as this, of being alone in a really dark house, slowly moving through this space, hoping desperately for something to break the tension and dread. A lesser game would provide you with this cheap catharsis, a jump scare, a spooky little guy. But in Anatomy, the fear is so much deeper. The house is a living breathing organism, and you are a parasite haunting it.
Despite the stripped-down simplicity of this game, in which the only real mechanic per se is finding tapes and playing them,Kitty Horrorshow employs game-specific mechanics masterfully. She knows what you as a player are expecting from this experience, and repeatedly twists that expected catharsis away from you. In one moment, the tape narrates about a man entering the door, walking down the front hallway, towards the room you are currently in, and it's so much scarier peeking around that doorway and seeing that there is no one there. Another little subversion is that the first playthrough, so much of the fear is in the near total darkness, and yet when you can later turn on the TV and the lamp, the light is barely reassuring, relieving none of the dread of this house itself. And do I even have to mention the tape in the upstairs bedroom?
Play this game, and make sure you check the read me to make sure you get the full experience.
Decent body horror game, much like silent hill 4 it takes your safe haven.. Your house and turns it against you. Have fun!
peep... the horror
good moments of 'well they just told me it was scary NOW I have to go down there :/'
good moments of 'well they just told me it was scary NOW I have to go down there :/'
When I was a kid, being home alone at night terrified me. I would jump at even the slightest unexpected noise and need to turn several lights on just to make the short journey from my room to the bathroom, the familiar halls of my small duplex suddenly becoming frightening and dangerous to me. I knew there were no monsters in any closets or under any beds, no ghosts haunting the place, but my scared little kid brain couldn’t help but ask… what if?
Anatomy brought that old childhood fear back in a way no horror game I’ve ever played has done, doing so much with so little to create an intensely chilling atmosphere. Exploring this dark, shadowy home with nothing to keep you company besides the tapes found within its rooms, hypersensitive to any and all sounds, the trepidation about what, if anything, is hiding around each corner and behind each door. Just like when I was a kid, I know there’s no monster waiting to jump out of a closet and get me, but I still can’t stop thinking “what if?”
Anatomy brought that old childhood fear back in a way no horror game I’ve ever played has done, doing so much with so little to create an intensely chilling atmosphere. Exploring this dark, shadowy home with nothing to keep you company besides the tapes found within its rooms, hypersensitive to any and all sounds, the trepidation about what, if anything, is hiding around each corner and behind each door. Just like when I was a kid, I know there’s no monster waiting to jump out of a closet and get me, but I still can’t stop thinking “what if?”
Really love the concept of this game! I want to play it again, I feel like I didnt get the full experience because I had to go do something else midway through >:(
scariest game I have ever played.
What if houses had feelings?
Estou com medo de ficar em casa
Deeply evil game. There is nothing in this game that can actually do harm to the player character in an explicit or mechanical sense and yet the presentation creates such a powerful sense of constant danger and hostility that despite knowing going into it that I would never round the corner to find a Scary Guy waiting to bash my head in, I was gripped with indescribable dread throughout. There are some truly cruel moments in which the game forces you to do things you absolutely do not want to do in order to progress. Masterful horror. It also feels just deeply, intrinsically trans in a way I really can't put to words? Like I can't point to any specific thing about this game that is particularly trans other than maybe the bit that describes a home invasion in a way that feels more like a sexual assault, but just looking at this game and KittyHorrorShow's other output I was able to correctly guess that she's trans before I got confirmation that that was the case, there's definitely something going on here that I can't quite put my finger on but I feel it in my bones.
really good use of analogue and digital distortion to create an unnerving atmosphere. the ending monologue was a bit flat but you know monster house freaked me the fuck out when i was a kid so the rest of it worked on me
Masterfully builds tension. Ending didn't really pay off.
Effectively scary and meditative, until the narrator runs over themselves trying to impart poetry. Should have had more confidence in the imagery they had created.
What if walls could scream and you could hear them.
this is the scariest game ive ever played