Dear prospective player,

At time of writing, the feud between night shift guard and animatronic robot spans nearly a decade. On one side of the battlefield, we see a man embittered by low wages and lower survival prospects; on the other, a shambling mess of wires and vengeful spirits. One would think that, in the game you are about to play, you assume the role of the former.

One would think wrongly.

In Spookin' Samuel, you play as the murderous animatronic, whose one and only desire is to terrify, and subsequently jumpscare, the hapless night guard. Stalk the halls, clatter pots and pans, and maintain your dwindling power supply as you wait for the right moment to strike...

The authors wish to make it plain that, for the sake of expediency, certain assumptions have been made about the scenario in play. For instance, we assume that the guard's name is Samuel.

How to Play

The ultimate aim of the game is to make your way to the guard's office and jumpscare him. (We have chosen to omit the jumpscare.) However, merely prancing in there would be somewhat underwhelming - you must set the mood appropriately before you strike!

The enterprising animatronic must be imaginative. Incessant laughing, or fiddling with the TV set, will do little to unnerve your target. You must vary your tactics: alternate between laughing, being seen on the CCTV cameras, and causing havoc in the siderooms, to effectively keep your target on his toes.

As you do so, however, you must consider your own situation. Your batteries drain quickly, and must be replenished using the pickups that spawn randomly. And watch out for the robot vacuum cleaner; it moves randomly, and will play havoc with your systems if it touches you!

Controls

Move with WASD/the arrows keys.
Press E to interact.
Press the spacebar to laugh.

Credits

Developed by Aaron Winter.
Art, music & sound by John Gabriel.

Spookin' Samuel was made for the GMTK Game Jam 2023.