In The Horror of Oz, the Tin Man, Lion, and Scarecrow all have a bone to pick with you, and will relentlessly chase you through twisting mazes.
Dorothy left her former friends in Oz a while ago, but things haven’t been going too well in her absence. The Wizard disappeared, and a nasty sorcerer has taken their place. That sorcerer has made things a bit bleak for the denizens of Oz, and the Tin Man, Scarecrow, and Lion blame Dorothy for what’s happened. They’re a little resentful that they never got actual courage, brains, and heart that they’d wanted from their past journey, and they aim to take those items from Dorothy instead. So it’s just wonderful that Dorothy now finds herself back in Oz amongst these murderous old pals.
To deal with your old gang, you’ll have to run through mazes while avoiding their deadly intentions. You need to collect all of the colored orbs in the maze to escape it, which means a thorough exploration. That’s difficult, as your friends are very persistent, and their presences so terrifying that the screen will blur and tremble when they get near. Their presence is a drain on your sanity, which can result in a panic state if it gets too low. That’s on top of them just trying to hurt and kill you. When you have to fully explore the mazes while also dealing with a presence that weakens you just from being near it, it makes for a frightening, brutal chase.
There’s only one chapter of The Horror of Oz available at the moment, pitting you against the cruel Tin Man. Even that is pretty impressive in its ability to terrify, making me feel like the full game is going to be staggeringly scary. Assuming I can ever survive against this hateful metal jerk.
The first chapter of The Horror of Oz is available now on itch.io.
