Nyctophobia

Nyctophobia (Yoru kyōfushō 夜恐怖症) is a Garry's Mod horror trilogy created by ALX. The series centrally revolves around a lone 16 year old boy named Ivan Soloviev forced to endure the harsh winter of Siberia for several days and a group of malevolent beings known as the Bauermeisters that have begun to haunt his nightmares.
A collaborative passion project between ALX and Emnu, Nyctophobia features a sequel duology named Frozen Winter, an official soundtrack by Grey Reality Studios with heavy inspiration from the Silent Hill franchise and a claustrophobic, survival and psychological horror experience. Venturing deeper into Ivans dreams shown to him by the mysterious Bauermeisters, their true intentions begin to come to light as strange phenomenon begin to occur in the real world.
== Gameplay ==
The core gameplay loop of Nyctophobia consists of short day time explorations of Ivans home and traversing the nightmares that befall him upon nightfall, many of which the player must seek out light sources to prevent them from being enshrouded in darkness. It's important for players to use information gathering in order to solve various puzzles and to take full advantage of their environments throughout the story.
Nearing the finale, the player is freed from the grasp of the enshrouding darkness, but is however forced into a cat and mouse scenario in which they must lure the Bauermeisters into traps and survive against their monsters as the rusted metal environment turns to flesh and ignites around them.
== Story ==
Finding himself in a padded cell and following the sounds of a child gasping down through a dark void, the protagonist Ivan awakens to find his families countryside home empty, still awaiting the return of his grandmother after gathering water in the woods. Spending the rest of the day tending to himself, Ivan rests as darkness once again overtakes the land, finding himself in a loop of awakening to his secluded, lonely home during the harsh winter and dozing off, appearing in a long well lit hallway with four doors.
Opening the first door, Ivan finds himself in the storage room of an old, abandoned pitch black bunker, using flares to venture deeper in as he is stalked by a strange shadowy figure. Powering the gas generator as the bunker is bombed, Ivan acquires a flashlight and progresses through the halls and ventilation ducts before being chased by the shadowy figure in a maze of generators. Forced to evade the figure, Ivan collects several keys throughout the sector and activates the generators, scaring off the figure and allowing him to wake.
Opening the second door, Ivan appears in the supply room of a dilapidated hospital overrun with the reanimated corpses of the patients and several infected soldiers, having to evade and lure them into several spike traps present. Restoring power to the door as the lights go out, Ivan is flashbanged by several soldiers that burst into the hospital, his vision going blank before awaking.
Opening the third door, Ivan approaches a police investigation of a home invasion. Upon investigating a corpse revealed to be his family members, the mysterious entity haunting his dreams marks him as its next target and begins to warp the frozen soldiers around him into monsters, showing him several surreal and metaphorical images before Ivan wakes.
Upon his final appearance in the well lit hallway, Ivan enters the last of the four doors coming to a dark forest and an ominous metallic doorway leading to a red, fleshy realm controlled by the mysterious entities known as the Bauermeisters. Coming to their realm, Ivan is forced to battle against various nightmarish creatures and the Bauermeisters several times before he is unceremoniously freed and yet again awakes in a cold sweat. Believing the nightmares are over, Ivan approaches his bedroom door before being swiftly killed by a Baeurmeister.
== Trivia ==
* Various notes can be found throughout the environment detailing Ivan's previous life with his brother Bernhard prior to moving in with his grandmother, having grown up in a government related family struggling through the economic collapse of Siberia and the brothers school life.
* Collecting a key hidden within the psychedelic hallway of Ivan's third dream will unlock a hidden room at the back of the well lit hallway. Said room has the word DIE scribbled across the walls and bloodied floors, with a medical gurney and note at the back.
* If the player were to noclip into the inaccessible attic, there is oddly a gravestone present in the back. It is currently unknown if there is any way to access the attic, or what the relevance of the tombstone is.
* Similarly, there is a room that can be seen beyond the Exit in the well lit hallway, presenting a bloody tiled room and turned over medical gurney.
* While the Darkness mechanic is a unique concept introduced for Nyctophobia, there are times where the Darkness is still capable of enshrouding the player, even in light sources, the introduction or outside of their dreams.
* Originally posted on 2016, Nyctophobia and its successor series Frozen Winter were removed from Steam due to poor reception, (Namely the frustrations with difficulty, the lackadaisical progression and the confusing plot) the game was later reuploaded on 2021 by Soviet Human.
* Nyctophobia and Frozen Winter 1-2 would also go on to inspire the horror series The Village Trilogy made by the Garry's Mod horror content creator, Zana, using the same sound ques and setting.