This makes me feel Afraid at an Individual but Shared scale
The Closing Shift
The Closing Shift is a Japanese horror game about a young female barista on a closing shift. The player views the world through the point of view of the girl barista. It is made by Chilla’s Art, a indie Japanese game company founded by 2 brothers specializing in short horror games.
The Closing Shift is a Japanese horror game about a young female barista on a closing shift. The player views the world through the point of view of the girl barista. It is made by Chilla’s Art, a indie Japanese game company founded by 2 brothers specializing in short horror games.
Contributor notes
What is surprising, refreshing, most interesting?
**Spoilers** Gameplay begins at the start of a new shift each chapter of the game. The player is required to go through the motions of getting up to commuting to the coffee shop as the girl and working the closing shift. The game world is set in dim lighting, with pixelated filters and simple 3D rendering for the characters and objects. This "non-refined"ness of the world plays into the dark and muddy feeling of the game. Weird events and strange characters visit the coffee shop during the girl's closing shift, and at the end of each shift, she discovers clues to someone stalking her living in the coffee shop's attic. There are also clues dropped throughout the game via characters' actions around her and dialogues that hint at a second stalker who is more violent than the attic man. The topic of horror is much more real world than fictional like curses and ghosts.
Key Insights? What can we learn from this?
Most of the gameplay is serving coffee to customers, with cheerful music in the background. The psychological aspect of the game is knowing that something will eventually happen but not knowing when. This makes the silent periods of the game (getting to work, cleaning up after the shift) all the more scary. The gameplay itself is basically a barista simulator, with 90% of actions required by the player to be making drinks and serving pastries. This gives a false sense of security and gives an experience that reflects the eerie feeling when noticing that someone is watching you throughout your daily activities.