Hollowmere

Seven houses. Eight lamps. A census that has been waiting for you.

You arrive in Hollowmere as the census-taker. The villagers are expecting you — they have been expecting you for rather a long time. Knock on every door, write down what they tell you, and try not to think too hard about why the counts never quite add up.

Hollowmere is a short folk-horror walking game (10–15 minutes) whose haunting reaches out of the game and into your real life:

• It only moves when you aren't looking. Something follows you down the lane — and it advances only while this browser tab is hidden or unfocused. Switch apps, check your phone, come back: it is closer, and it stopped the instant you looked.
• It knows tonight's actual moon. The moon over the village is rendered at its real current phase, and the lamplighter will greet you by it.
• It remembers you. Sign the census and Hollowmere keeps your name. Come back another night and the villagers, the maps, and the ending all know exactly how many times you've been counted.
• It watches your behaviour. Hesitate outside a door, and the widow will tell you — to the second — how long you stood there.
• More than one ending, including one for those who never look away at all.

Every visual is painted procedurally from a seed that is yours alone, and every sound — wind, knocks, whispers, bells — is synthesized live. No two visitors walk quite the same lane.

Best played with sound on, alone, at night.

Controls: arrow keys / A–D to walk, E to knock (desktop) · hold the screen edges to walk, tap the middle to knock (mobile) · M or the corner toggle to mute.

Open source under MIT: github.com/chrisjz/hollowmere