EEK3 Showcase kicks spooky season off early


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EEK3, a spooky twist on the professional game development conference E3, returned on Aug. 27 for its third annual showcase of lo-fi horror and experimental indie games. The event premiered on The Haunted PS1 YouTube channel, a community centered around low-res horror games. 

Alongside its annual EEK3 showcase, The Haunted PS1 operates a Discord server with nearly 3,000 members. Users share resources and collaborate with one another, either through online mentorship, game jams or casual discussion of low-poly games — especially horror. 

With the “horror games” tag currently ranking No. 1 on itch.io (a popular website used by independent game designers and artists to upload their games and art), over 5,000 games tagged as “horror” on the Steam Database and the striking popularity of games like “Five Nights at Freddy’s” and “Bendy and the Ink Machine,” it’s no wonder that a community centered around creepy thrills and indie aesthetics was formed.

Despite several delays due to coronavirus concerns and technical difficulties, this year’s hour-long virtual showcase made a strong debut to its live chat audience, featuring an explosive animated introduction from The Haunted PS1’s iconic giant purple Skully the Skeleton and 42 games from indie creators.

Interspersed with live-action parody energy drink ad segments along with commentary breaks hosted by the show’s producers and spotlighted Twitch streamers, EEK3 aired trailers for a multitude of diverse and bone-chilling games. Low-res does not mean low-quality, and this year’s games proved their worth through some truly unique mechanics and visual styles.

“Smush Bois,” created by Blake Andrews, is a 2-4 player fighting game where you duke it out as critters resembling tomatoes, dinosaurs and just plain weird little creatures. Winning means crushing the other players — literally, since you defeat competitors by jumping on their pixelated heads. The high-intensity movement, bright colors and bizarre graphical effects make “Smush Bois” a definite one to watch. An early demo displayed at Wonderville in 2019 featured the arcade game on a CRT TV, although the EEK3-exclusive trailer stated that a newer version will be released soon.

For a more relaxing experience, “Sauna2000” entices players to let go of their worries with a blast to the past: the year 2000. Playing as an elderly Finnish man, players go about their daily routine of trying to heat up a traditional Finnish sauna, only to be faced with complications from their neighbors’ own preparation for the midsummer festival. Charming low-res 3D graphics and a fully Finnish script  — with English captions — encapsulate the rural Scandinavian aesthetics. Created by Moya Horror, the game is in active development after raising over $15,000 on Kickstarter, but you can still play an earlier demo on The Haunted PS1 2020 Demo Disc.

“Security Booth: Director’s Cut” fully embraced its low-res horror concept. Though brief, the trailer featured a glitchy, extremely pixelated environment and a haunting “system failure” auditory alarm. Developed by Kyle Horwood, you play as a security guard employed by a mysterious science lab called Nova Nexus in the year 1996. However, this night at the lab is a very important, busy and mysterious event. The gameplay is reminiscent of “Papers, Please,” as you must ensure that all visitors are properly registered for entry. This version is the director’s cut edition of the original “Security Booth” game, meaning additional endings, controller compatibility and other extended content.

These are only three of the incredible games presented at the EEK3 showcase, leaving nearly 40 other eerie and delightful indie games to delve into, as well as extra content from the producers and hosts of the show and The Haunted PS1 community.

18 of the selected games are available to play online via The Haunted PS1 Demo Disc 2022: Spectral Mall, a virtual snowed-in mall that players can walk around and explore by trying out the games for themselves.

The full EEK3 showcase is available to view on The Haunted PS1’s YouTube channel, where you can also be on the lookout for the release of The Haunted PS1 2022 Madvent Calendar on Dec. 1, a collection of 24 games to play leading up to Christmas.