Spooky season had just arrived and, as a resident scaredy cat, I thought it might be fun to dip my feet into a relatively mild horror game. Yomawari: Lost in the Dark reminded me of the classic RPG horror games I played as a teen—Corpse Party, Mad Father, Ib, The Witch’s House—so I thought ‘I can handle this, right?’ No, I was wrong, because for most of the 10-hour playthrough of Yomawari: Lost in the Dark, I was chased by terrifying spirits, jump scared by scarecrows, Slenderman’s and cursed dolls, and on the verge of tears every time my flashlight ran out.

Yomawari: Lost in the Dark is the newest 2D horror game in the Yomawari franchise that is not to be underestimated. Developed by Nippon Ichi Software and published by NIS America, Lost in the Dark will have amateur horror game players terrified but also unable to put the game down because of the intriguing narrative that follows it.

As a newcomer to the franchise, I was surprised to find out that each Yomawari game is a standalone experience within the same universe. Yomawari: Lost in the Dark follows a young girl, who, after a brutal bullying sequence in the introduction, looks up at the sky from the school rooftop and suddenly finds herself in a cursed alternate world. The beautiful and bright town she once lived in is now shrouded by darkness and overcome by dreadful spirits. What’s worse is the girl has been cursed. And the only way to break it is by finding her lost memories scattered across the town.

Yomawari: Lost in the Dark leans heavily into the now common survival-horror mechanics that I’ve come to both love and hate… stealth. The young girl cannot fight the spirits that plague her, instead, she has three options: to run, to sneak, or to close her eyes. The last mechanic is an interesting addition, because in Yomawari, if the girl doesn’t look the spirits in the eye, they will pay her no heed (mostly). The screen will turn black and red clouds will appear instead of spirits, which the girl can manoeuvre through to safety. And all the while a loud heartbeat blares into your headset reminding you that death is imminent if you open your eyes.

Despite repetitive mechanics, Yomawari: Lost in the Dark is still a wonderful world to explore. As each area is brought to life through the Japanese folklore subtly woven into it.

During my playthrough, I arrived at an ominous cave with a talisman above it. To unlock it, I had to walk through a spirit-infested mountain field placing scarecrows on shrines. Next to them were hundreds of stacked stones that toppled when I did. Ominous, maybe? In Japanese Folklore, stacked stones are created by the souls of children who have died before their parents. Every day, yōkai (demons) knock down these stones in hopes of hunting the spirited children. In Yomawari: Lost in the Dark, the Yōkai are represented by scarecrows, who break the remaining stacked stones once the cave is unlocked. And you can guess what happens next…

Full of symbols and imagery, Yomawari: Lost in the Dark allows players to look for deeper lore in the world. There are hints around every corner, and the consistent mystery keeps you engaged.

Take the mansion in the bamboo forest, for instance. There are Hina dolls scattered throughout, which, traditionally, were displayed by families of young girls to ward off evil spirits. Yet in another room of the mansion are regular ningyō dolls, which, in Japanese Folklore, can become ensouled. The main boss within the mansion is a child doll that, I can guess, died in the mansion, was ensnared by a doll, and forced to wander its halls for eternity.