It's Halloween, and this week's Friday Games will be a history lesson in gaming horror.

Horror games depend heavily on *atmosphere*, on creepy sounds and visuals that draw you into an unsettling world. Video games from the 80s and early 90s--in other words, before so-called "immersive" 3D graphics and digital audio--had very limited means to create mood. Today we'll look at several games that attempted to do so, and discuss what it means for a game to be "scary" or simply just a collection of horror-themed tropes.

Be in the GAMBIT lounge at 4pm. There will also be a room dedicated to Left 4 Dead multiplayer for those of you who just want to shoot zombies.

Game List:

- Metroid/Super Metroid (inspired by Alien, about being alone)
- The Silent Debuggers (also inspired by Alien, prefigures "survival horror")
- Castlevania II (day/night cycle)
- Splatterhouse (early use of gore)
- Uninvited (haunted house adventure game)
- Sweet Home (haunted house RPG)
- Clock Tower (psychological state as gameplay)
- Shadow of the Comet (Lovecraftian adventure game)
- Zombi (inspired by Dawn of the Dead, prefigures Resident Evil)
- Resident Evil Gaiden ("reverse engineering" of survival horror)

NOTE: We will not play the text adventure classic The Lurking Horror because there is a special Halloween event organized around it Sunday at MIT.