Minecraftis a psychological horror game. I know, I know, it sounds weird, butmandoes this game know how to get into your head, under your skin and have you looking over your shoulder, watching every dark corner with intensity.
Minecraft will always hold a special place in my heart. To many, it is a playground for the imagination; an open-world sandbox with millions of ways to play it. Some players enjoy the thrill of gathering in a squad and attacking hostile mobs, or banding together to defend a village against an illager attack. Others enjoy concocting complicated but creative redstone mechanisms. Me? I enjoy a peaceful vibe as I till and harvest the surrounding land. In peaceful mode, I know I’m alone. I don’t have to worry about a creeper sneaking up behind me and exploding, or getting sniped by a skeleton. Even if I see a hostile mob, at least I can confirm its existence. Iknowit’s there, and its appearance isn’t as frightening.
We’ve all had the sensation of being watched when we’re alone. I especially felt this when the sun set over the blocky land and the only thing illuminating my house were the various torches I had set up. As ore was smelting in the furnace, I looked out the window, only to be greeted with pitch darkness. For a dreadful moment, my vision turned to third-person, and I imagined something looking atmeas I was looking at my screen where my Minecraft avatar was looking out the window.
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At least in my Minecraft house, I have the safety of familiarity, but this sense of security is all but shattered whenever I go spelunking into the mines not far from my house. As if diving into a dark cavern wasn’t enough, Notch decided to add the infamous ‘cave noises’ to hammer home that uncanny feeling. The cave noises in question are not the dripping water or the echoes of footsteps, but rather akin to the slow, menacing breathing of some wicked creature. The noises vary, from the whooshing of demonic wind, to the hissing of some kind of nefarious machine buried deep underground.
This is where the psychological horror is cranked to its highest. For every individual torch I placed, at least three pathways opened up, and as I continued my descent into a rabbit-hole of intertwining passages, my original goal ofwhyI was there started to dissolve.
The deeper I went, the worse things became; I discovered even more tunnels, , and all the torches I placed started to either lead into a dead end, or loop back to a previously-visited area. While being assailed by hostile mobs would have made my situation even worse, at least I wouldn’t bealone.The isolation, claustrophobia and not knowing where the hell I am was gnawing at me, chewing on my nerves piece by piece.
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As if all this wasn’t enough, my mind tricks me into thinking something is behind me every time I go to mine an ore, or collect other resources in the dark. No matter how many torches I place, they can’t all possibly light up the vast darkness within each and every corner of the cave. This indomitable fear keeps me on the edge, always ready to turn around and face a threat that is not in fact there.
Sure, there are horror games that encapsulate this feeling too, but what makes Minecraft’s mind-melting scariness so effective is how unexpected it is. I’m not at all anticipating this feeling from such a light-hearted game. While Five Nights at Freddy’s and Spooky’s Jumpscare Mansion were intentional horror games under the guise of a kid-friendly/or premise, only to bombard us with jumpscares and other horror themes, Minecraft is designed as a friendly game for folks of all ages.
And yet, Minecraft has the ability to bubble up my deepest fears right out of my subconscious. The mineshafts that the game derives its name from are a horror storyteller’s paradise. Why were they abandoned? Who worked here before, and what led them to just upping and leaving? I have way more questions than answers, in the same way a single torch opens up multiple paths in the cave.
By removing all intentionally harmful elements (aside from lava, drowning and fall damage) from the core gameplay, Minecraft becomes infinitely scarier. I do not need jumpscares to pop up in my face, or be charged at by murderous monsters, or even bombarded with nightmare-fuel images. Minecraft’s simple design, paired with a phenomenal musical score and atmospheric sound design are the canvas that my mind paints on, conjuring up a scenario as scary or intense as any horror movie.
