IMSCARED: A Pixelated Nightmare

### Downloads

Gamejolt (2012): https://gamejolt.com/games/imscared-a-pixelated-nightmare/10058
Workshop edition (Gamejolt) (demo of 2016 edition): https://gamejolt.com/games/imscared-workshop-edition/96729
 Workshop edition (Steam) (demo of 2016 edition): https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=416110490
Steam (2016/2022):https://store.steampowered.com/app/429720/IMSCARED/
Itch.io (2016/2022):https://mymadnessworks.itch.io/imscared
Itch.io (2022 Test build): https://mymadnessworks.itch.io/imscared2022test

***IMSCARED: A Pixelated Nightmare*** (sometimes spelled Imscared or just IMSCARED) is a horror game created by Italian developer Ivan Zanotti using Game Maker 8, FL Studio, and MS Paint. The game is very complex and ambiguous, thus the plot can be difficult to understand. The game has a pixelated art style, and adds an "imscared" folder to the desktop which it later adds files into, required to progress.

## Summary

The original IMSCARED is about escaping a room. When you try to leave, text on the screen reads: "I need a Heart in order to open it". When you wander about and finally find the heart the text is talking about, a strange floating head jumpscares you and crashes your game by showing a fake BSoD (Blue Screen of Death). As the game continues on, more and more confusing events like the first happen.

## Story

*Note: There is currently no official story written by Ivan Zanotti. All stories are made up by fans of IMSCARED, using the content found inside of the game.*

Once someone made an entity known as White Face. It infected people's computers and played games with them. It was known to change forms, from ominous floating head to a slim woman.

IMSCARED starts with an unknown individual, who happens to be in a small room, with a door which requires a heart in order to be opened. After taking a key under a table nearby the bed, they open the closet, only to find blood in it and a key, and heads to some stairs behind him. The stairs take them to a large and ominous hall with many doors. The person opens one of the doors and finds two libraries and a key behind one of them. Later, the individual enters in a fleshy and bloody room, where they find the heart required to open the door of the first room. But as they exit the room, White Face comes in and causes a BSOD with subsequent crash of the game. Restarting, the entity asks you its name, and after putting it, the individual is sent to a car park, where he is chased by White Face. The person, eventually, gets to escape from White Face by taking an elevator, which takes them to a street with multiple white pillars holding crucified and bloodied corpses on them. They take a key behind the wall, and manage to open the gate. The player arrives once again to the ominous hall, and quickly heads to the stairs of the first room. Finally, they use the heart and open the door, seemingly escaping that nightmare... Only to find that they were tricked by White Face, who decided to trap and torture the person inside a cell. The game then crashes again, and restarting it, takes you to an enlightened room with doors with some numbers on them. In the end, the individual confronts White Face, in a black, unnerving room, with a chair and a noose on the ceiling. White Face explains to the anonymous that they are blocked with him for eternity, and implicitly indicates them that, the only way to finally escape is by committing suicide. So, the person gets on the chair and hang themself, only to be stopped by the Entity, who desperately needs them. The game "ends", and you get to restart all over again... or so it seems.

## Gameplay

You use the WASD keys to walk around and the mouse/touchpad to look around. You can crouch by pressing the CTRL button, and when crouching you can pick up most items using the E button. During the end of Chapter 2, you have a revolver, which you can shoot with using the left mouse button.

The game is quite dependent on jumpscares to scare you, albeit not necessarily as a crutch for atmosphere, which is done well. It also creates files on your desktop, though almost all of them are in its own folder on your desktop or in the game folder, depending on where you downloaded it from.

## Reception

When the game first released in 2012, it was a success mainly due to famous youtubers making let's plays of it on Youtube. What made the game unique was it's intentionally-pixelated graphics, and the way the game creates new files on the user's computer. It was even reviewed by a few video game reporting websites, such as Rock Paper Shotgun, who praised the game for it's unique graphics and scares. Currently, IMSCARED has a Very Positive review rate on Steam.

Any negative reviews of the game were mostly due to the overuse of jumpscares, the constant closing of the game (Market), or the various glitches and bugs. However, most of the negative reviews have been criticized by fans of the game, due to some of their points not making a lot of sense (Like how the areas of the game aren't "realistically connected").

## Characters

Protagonist

White Face (Main antagonist)

HER (Variation of White Face)

Restorer

## Locations

IMSCARED has many locations which won't be listed here. For a full list of the locations in IMSCARED, see Maps (general).

## Original Soundtrack

IMSCARED has an unreleased OST, comprising of mostly ambience tracks. The soundtrack can be listened to on Youtube, or Soundcloud. For more information, see Soundtrack.

## Requirements

*Note: These tables are taken directly from the Steam Store page.*

## Trivia

* Typing names too early into the "Do you know my name?" popup gives messages:
	+ HER - "Good thought, try later".
	+ Ivan Zanotti - "Are you in a hurry?".
	+ Take me to the door - "Too soon".
* Typing "Loneliness" as the name at any point in the game shows text "No, you don't want to".
* Buying the itch.io version also gets you a Steam key (excluding when you buy the game in a bundle).
* Pressing the Y key in the 2016 version, would play White Face's chase sound for a second, and then open the Steam overlay.
* You can still play the 2016 version after the 2022 Update.
	+ Steam - right click on IMSCARED, click properties, click "Betas", and select the 2016 branch.
	+ itch.io - download “IMSCARED 2016” from the itch.io page.
* The font used for the logo of IMSCARED is "**8 Bit Wonder**".

## Gallery

The elevator transporting from the car parkThe bookshelves where the rusty key is obtainedLocked gate in a hallway room, where White Face can be seen brieflyThe ominous "HELLO" file Imscared copies onto your desktop. It is completely blank.White Face holding a gunImage to promote IMSCARED for Steam Greenlight.The background for the Steam Store page for IMSCARED. If you look closely, the Restorer can faintly be seen in the center.
## References

1. ↑ Digital Horror: IMSCARED Breaks All The Rules.