Slender: The Eight Pages

"Slender: The Eight Pages" (formerly called "Slender") is a free-to-play indie-developed 1st-Person survival horror video game released in June of 2012 as a Beta for Microsoft Windows and OS-X created by Parsec Productions, using the Unity Engine. Developed by Mark J. Hadley, the game is based on the quasi-folklore meme figure known as the Slender-Man, who is depicted as a tall humanoid creature wearing a black business suit and red necktie with pale white skin and a completely featureless face. The character is known for the ominous abduction of countless children in dark mysterious settings such as dark forests and abandoned buildings.

## Gameplay:

"Slender: The Eight Pages" takes place in a dense forest during the middle of the night, and is played from a 1st-Person perspective. The player's objective is to collect all 8 pages located in various areas of the forest while avoiding the Slender-Man. As the player collects more and more pages, the fog in the forest grows thicker, and Slender-Man appears closer to the player's character, though the character's sprinting speed slowly increases as well. Slender-Man moves by teleporting and creeping around the player, but only from a certain distance. The player is equipped with only a flashlight to see in the dark (its battery life is limited and will eventually shut down permanently if left on for an extended period of time). The player's character has the ability to jog, which will eventually tire out the player's character and make them wheeze if forced to go on for too long, causing slower walking as well. Slender-Man will occasionally appear in the player's field of vision, accompanied by a loud piano-slamming noise and/or static on the screen. This then allows the ability to sprint to become available to the player. Sprinting allows the player to move faster than jogging does, but will also decrease the maximum stamina available for jogging and sprinting. A "Game Over" occurs when either the player has taken too long to find a page, the player stares at Slender-Man for too long or if Slender-Man comes into contact with the player, which will force them to turn around and end the game. The Game Over screen shows Slender-Man's face up close and blinking static pulses. Once the player collects the 1st page, a repetitive stomping sound can be heard echoing in the distance. As more pages are collected, the ambience will get more ominous. It will update to a low, droning noise (Pages 3-4), a loud and strong wind (Pages 5-6) and then a mysterious and unnerving beeping sound (Page 7). If the player manages to collect all 8 pages, the spooky sounds will fade away to silence, and the player will be allowed to walk around the forest for a few seconds in complete quietness. However, they will inevitably be taken by Slender-Man, thus transitioning to the end credits.

## Game Modes:

Until Version 0.9.4 was released, the player was only allowed to explore the woods collecting pages at Nighttime. Once the player had collected all 8 pages, they would be allowed to walk around the forest for a few seconds in complete silence until getting caught by Slender-Man, ending the game and rolling the end credits. In Version 0.9.4 there is a Daytime Mode that can be unlocked. To unlock this mode, the player must beat the game on Normal/Nighttime Mode, in which the ending shows the player's character waking up in the daytime after collecting all 8 pages and being caught by Slender Man. After waking up, the player can walk around in the Daytime for a few seconds before the end credits roll. Daytime Mode is simply during the day and without a flashlight. If the player beats Daytime Mode, the ending will be the same as before, only the player wakes up at night. After the end credits roll, the player will have unlocked "$20 Mode". In this mode, the gameplay is the same as Normal/Nighttime Mode, except that if the player sees Slender-Man, a song called "Give Me $20" by American Rap artist Ron Browz starts playing. This is a reference to a fan-originated meme about Slender-Man, stating that if a person gives Slender-Man $20, he will leave the person alone. Version 0.9.4 is the only version of the game in which the Player selects these modes in the "Options" portion of the menu screen, and this is also the only version in which the 2 hidden modes can be played at the same time (Daytime Mode and $20 Mode). There is also an "MH (Marble Hornets) Mode", viewing the gameplay as a "Marble Hornets" entry. The creepy sounds and page collector have both been removed, and there are static bars on the top and bottom edges of the screen, and the ending is slightly different. The "$20 Mode" has been absent since Version 0.9.7; the accompanying readme advises "One game mode removed - it was only a matter of time as it contained copyrighted material", referring to the Browz track that's used in that mode.

## Changes from versions:

The game was 1st released in Version 0.9.0 as "Slender". Originally, when the player would be caught by the Slender-Man, the game would quit and return to the desktop. It remained this way until version 0.9.3 (the 3rd update), and the player now has the option to either try again or to quit. From version 0.9.7 on, there is an ambiance during the main menu screen, as well as portions of the 8 Pages being shown. There are also now links to the Slender-Man Mythos Forums and some popular web series based on the Mythos such as the Marble Hornets and the TribeTwelve. As of this version, the game was officially renamed to "Slender: The Eight Pages" to avoid confusion with its sequel "Slender: The Arrival". $20 Mode was also removed from this version due to copyright issues. "MH Mode" was renamed to "Marble Hornets Mode" (simply the unabbreviated version of the title). Two new light sources became available: a glow stick with almost no light and almost no range at all, and a crank lantern with a wide range, but a short amount of light which must be replenished by cranking the lantern. The player also gained the ability to pause the game by pressing "Escape" on the keyboard, but only when there is no static on the screen as to not allow the player to quit in response to being frightened.

The game was given a backstory in its sequel "Slender: The Arrival". It was confirmed that the name of the character controlled in this game is Kate, also known as "The Chaser" in "Slender: The Arrival".