It’s not unusual for games to take inspiration from each other. In Rental, the cuteness of Animal Crossing combines with the uncanny creeps that come from being trapped in a house that just has something off about it. It’s safe to say that cute meets creepy in this free Animal Crossing-esque indie horror game.
Rental is a free, short game available on Steam. While the art style feels similar to Animal Crossing, paying Tom Nook isn’t the frightening aspect here. Instead, you get trapped in the new house your family is about to rent by yourself when you try to get the keys from the rental man. Except the rental man has been trapped in that house for weeks. And, of course, you need to carry out a ritual if you want to escape.
Gameplay mechanics are simple and straightforward. You move around and interact with objects. But stationary cameras reminiscent of the original Resident Evil games make it difficult to see items you might need. I found that to be a core part of the experience as you end up needing to backtrack. Then, make sure you picked up every item before the next pathway opens.
Overall, it’s a short and interesting little game, and since it’s free, there’s no reason not to give it a shot. Hopefully, enough support will lead to the developers creating more games that blend cute with eerie. I wouldn’t be opposed to a game that blends a cozy game with the horrors of franchises like Silent Hill or Amnesia.
But this is one cute meets creepy free Animal Crossing-esque indie horror game that takes up less than an hour of your time. I feel that this horror style has a lot of untapped potential, especially for something like a life simulator. From here, however, check out more horror content like the demonic reference hiding in Amanda the Adventurer or the best order for playing Five Nights at Freddy’s.
You can download Rental for free from Steam now.
