Tattletail

Tattletail is a short, story-driven first-person horror game built around a fictional cursed toy from the late 1990s. The setup is appropriately specific: it's Christmas 1998. The world's most annoying toy, Tattletail, has just come out, and you opened yours early. Now he won't stay in his box. Can you keep him out of trouble until Christmas morning, or will Mama Tattletail find her baby and hunt you down first?

The gameplay is virtual-pet horror in its rawest form. Tattletail makes constant mischievous demands — feed him, brush him, recharge him — and ignoring them means he won't shut up, which attracts attention you don't want. Shake your flashlight to charge it, but be careful: someone might hear. The basic verbs are caring for the toy and trying not to make loud noises in places that loud noises shouldn't happen.

The central rule is repeated for emphasis: do not wake up Mama Tattletail. DO NOT MAKE LOUD NOISES NEAR MAMA TATTLETAIL. The horror builds around managing the small noisy companion in your possession while staying out of the bigger, much less friendly version of him that's roaming the house. Game-over scenarios are sudden, brutal and committed to the bit.

The whole project is Waygetter Electronics' first game, made with the kind of singular tonal focus indie horror specializes in. Reference material is sparse — the original version of the toy, Mama Tattletail, was supposedly recalled years before the events of the game, and figuring out why is part of the story. DLC content is included with the Steam version, extending the original campaign. Short, specific, and one of the most distinctive small horror games of its era.