Untangle the lies of the witch
Daemonologie is a free 2D horror video game wherein you play as a witch-finder hired to suss out a dangerous witch. Developed by katanalevy, this indie game is an interactive fiction of a surreal adventure that features historical references of real-life witch hunts. It’s a bit short as it was made for the “HPS1 Halloween Jam 2020.” However, it’s still a great horror game for any fans of investigative games.
Live in the folklore
Daemonologie was inspired by the Scottish witch trials—specifically the North Berwick Witch Trials—and tells the story of an isolated small village that’s being plagued by a witch. As a witch-finder, you were commissioned to discover which of the six locals is the real witch. You have to do so by either speaking to them or torturing them. By the fifth day of your stay, you must choose who to hang.
The controls are simple: left-click to interact with a person or a location on the map, right-click to return to the map, and the Esc key to quit the game. You start off by choosing a location in the village. Each one has a character connected to it, such as the blacksmith living in Smith’s Abode. You can only either talk or torture so you must keep interrogating other people to glean new information from them.
The game uses pixelated black and white charcoal painting art style, sketching such grotesque figures of the characters, environment, and the dreams you get every night. The language used is in old English or rather old Scottish, so the strange spellings give the game extra charm. Best of all is its sound design—however, this can be a bit annoying as the scenes transition quite slowly, especially for the ending.
A haunting tale
Overall, Daemonologie is an interesting game despite its abruptness. Some of the torture scenes can look disturbing, however, despite the lack of explicit gore. Nevertheless, the game employs brilliant atmosphere build-up, as well as the sad truth behind real-life witch hunts the more you replay the game. If you love pixelated horror point-and-click games, this is a highly recommended one.
