Indie horror game developer Ruled are onto a nice little spree with their shortform Itch.io releases – seemingly, they are skipping from phobia to phobia. First there was Automatonophobia, a game that navigated the fear of subterranean golems, then there was Chrometophobia, a game dedicated to the fear of spending money, and also to the act of finding “grimbo” gibs for a delicious pie. What’s next on the menu? Ah yes, scarecrows.
In Formidophobia, which can be downloaded for free, you are a farmer trying to make it across a hazy lofi cornfield. Your dad told you never to go in that field. His dad told him never to go in that field. Neither of them are around anymore, however, and your wife needs medical attention, so off you trot with your bolt-action rifle and exactly one shell. With luck, you’ll find more shells along the way.
The rifle is a stubborn, slothful broomhandle of a weapon that wobbles drunkenly at stomach level and often gets caught on other objects, dragging behind you in a way that makes me empathise for the weary arms of my character. The principal challenge and source of dread in Formidophobia is reloading it in a punctual fashion.
The starting area is a ring of scrawly signposts that illustrate the process of pulling back the lever, tugging a shell from the holder, and closing the gun up again. The utility of those signposts isn’t that they tell you how to wield your gun, in my experience – it’s that other things can’t walk through them.
I enjoy the grubbiness, stodginess and overall inhospitability of this game. Don’t come expecting “polish”, do come expecting a briskly unpleasant meditation on the rasp of stems and the crickle-crackle of bones, deep in the mist.