DarkPark Vlaardingen: Stay In The Dark

We’re an experienced team that has played a good number of the highest rated horror games in the world, having taken a trip to Athens to terrify ourselves with the big hitters last year, so we weren’t expecting much we hadn’t seen before, but Stay In The Dark genuinely surprised us. With a stupidly vast space, and multiple styles of game to proceed through, the game surprises and immerses from the start with an actor greeting you in character, as they guide you from the meeting point in a car park to where you’re meant to be.

You’ll have moments of quiet tension, run for your life (literally) panic and even an exciting finale that I can only describe as a boss battle. It’s a combination that works in different ways to keep things interesting, and not overwhelm you with a constant horror. My favourite section came when we felt like we knew the ‘rules’ of the experience, and had a clear objective on what we were up to, mainly revolving around the titular action of staying in the dark. It’s effective and unique, only possible with such a large venue, and when you feel like you’re starting to understand it.

The best parts of it would be spoiled if I went into too much detail, but despite some real fear throughout, I absolutely loved it. There weren’t many ‘puzzles’, a necessity of the type of game it is (getting your brain working while you’re nervous of the slightest sound coming from around the corner is always a tough ask), but enough to be satisfying, and the story develops in a remarkably clear and effective way. Any lack of production quality was effectively hidden by the darkness, and the scale of the game giving us a great experience overall, and making this game a must play on our list.