When you think about horror, most people think of horror movies and video games, or maybe even books. The two types of online media have cultivated a large community of people who enjoy the genre, and have made it easy for essentially anyone to enjoy. If you feel like watching a horror movie, you can find one really anywhere.
This is how it is for a lot of things in the online world. Internet access has made it a lot easier to come by many things for lots of different people. Some games and movies are more intense, and are for a select few, while other games and movies are easier to digest.
One of the games that might be easier for horror fanatics to play or enjoy is I’m On Observation Duty. Of course, like with anything, the game is not for everyone—but it provides a cool experience for some who may enjoy playing it. The creator of the game goes by Notovia online. The game was originally released on December 14th, 2018, and since has had five other games released in its wake (the sixth just released on the 1st of September of this year).
Many people might not have heard of the game series, because it has not become mainstream yet. It’s labeled as an indie game and is among some others that people online probably haven’t heard of (indie is defined in this case as “not belonging to or affiliated with” a major game creation company). I’m On Observation Duty, so far, has gained most of its popularity from content creators who play the games and have millions of views. The creator of the game only has a few thousand followers on any social media platform.
The game is simple enough. It shares similar qualities to Five Nights at Freddy’s (FNAF), its predecessor. Some might say it even has similarities to Mandela Catalogue, which came a few years after the first game’s release. You play as a person monitoring a bunch of cameras throughout a certain location, like a house or a supermarket. It starts off normal, but soon you’re made aware that several “anomalies” have been reported in your area. It’s your job as the one monitoring to detect these anomalies, and stop them before they completely take over.
The anomalies can be anything from moving furniture to figures standing in front of the camera. There are all sorts of things you can find, you just have to do it all in time.
All 6 of the I’m On Observation Duty games are relatively cheap on Steam and don’t require a lot of storage to play, so they’re pretty accessible for anyone with a computer to play. The first game has a complete 10/10 star review on Steam, with over a thousand reviews giving it many compliments. All of the games after it don’t have quite the perfect review, but they all still hold up very well. Even though the graphics of the game aren’t considered to be the absolute best, it doesn’t really matter when the gameplay itself is fun and interactive.
How has this series really benefited the community, though? When putting it up against something like Five Nights at Freddy’s, it might be hard to see its impact.
I’m On Observation Duty was pretty monumental in the way that it has many different elements in its gameplay. There are anti-escape mechanisms, body horror, jumpscares, recurring elements, uncanny atmospheres, among other things. You can’t let the time pass by very easily, because doing so means you will lose. There’s no way to survive the night without taking actions into your own hands. This keeps the player feeling uneasy, while also keeping it from getting too boring. You never know what might appear in the span of a few seconds.
However, unlike the first game the Spartan Scoop covered in this series (FNAF), I’m On Observation Duty does not necessarily have a big lore to it. The storytelling element is about as simple as any viewer could make out of it. This in itself may be part of the reason why the game never became a massive hit. Without something to theorize about, some people may not talk too much about it past the gameplay itself.
Is this a bad thing? Does a game need a large plot to get players?
Not necessarily. Many games have done well without big stories behind them. A game doesn’t need a big storyline to be scary or worthy of being played. And, seeing as how well-received the first game was, it didn’t need the story element.
Looking it up through a search engine like Google shows little to nothing in regards to news or theories about the game. The fandom presence online is nowhere near as large as several other games. Looking the game up on sites like X (formerly known as Twitter) and Instagram provides little relevant posts. The majority of enjoyers watch YouTubers like Markiplier play the games, and rave about it in the comments sections.
Indie games have always been a large hit among the gaming community. It helps bring new creators, new stories, and new elements to light. Some examples of indie games that made it big are Stardew Valley, Hollow Knight, and Undertale.
I’m On Observation Duty is no different. It has its unique qualities that have brought attention to it. Indie games have always held a special place in the community. That is why many people might regard it as important, and why it has found a place among this serial.
It’s important to take a look at everything under the surface of horror games. Just taking a glance will give you the big games, like FNAF, Resident Evil, The Evil Within, et cetera. When you dive deeper, you find little hidden gems like this game series. They might not make as loud or large of an impact as some of the other more famous games, but they each do their own thing to contribute and keep people entertained.
