“VHS, 1986” by Adam Pype & Viktor Kraus.
“[A] friend gave you a box of blank tapes, but it seems like he gave you the wrong ones. [A] short horror game about tapes you [should not] be watching.”
Once more, the jams initiated by The Haunted PS1 prove to be the birthplaces of amazing jam submissions. With “VHS, 1986”, a multilayered puzzle horror game was created in this context. You play as a person who just got handed a poster and a box with seemingly blank video tapes. Although, as you decide to give them a quick look nonetheless, you realize that they are not empty. But no takes from a horror movie, no gore-splatter-amateur scene and no snuff film can be seen here.
That is not the horror you face in “VHS, 1986”, as the content of all tapes is harmless. For example, you will see someone strolling through a city, looking at some flowers, suddenly interrupted by news story snippets about tobacco ads. However, your friend who just gave you the tapes, calls and begs you to return them as soon as possible, as the original owner wants them back.
It is now your turn to find out what the secret behind these tapes is. What I can assure you for now is that even the solution to the ‘main puzzle’ inside the game will not completely explain it all. With a pair of sharp eyes for details, a Quick Response code scanner and some interpretation skills you might be able to figure out the meaning behind the mystery. Even if you do not, you can always just enjoy the still beautifully designed surface of “VHS, 1986”. [PLAY]
