I loved it - it develops into something not at all what you'd expect from the beginning, becoming a beautifully poignant tale with great writing- it gets a bit flabby in the middle (Spoiler - click to show)around the maze section as the story doesn't really develop there, and some might not even realise how far it goes, with some of the early possible endings.
I agonised over whether it was a 4/5 star piece- there are a couple of puzzles you'll need to use the hint system for-
But it has some really wonderful insightful and affecting writing- was surprised how young the author was when he wrote this, from the supporting documentation! Really beautiful, although much is still left very ambiguous.
The title may not sound an obvious one for an eerie and evocative tale, but it's a really resonant & archetypal one.
Taking you back to an age of childhood sleepovers, perspectives and rumours, you begin immersed in simple, mundane decisions and tasks... The beauty of the game is its iconic simplicity, not overcomplicating itself as the magic of its underlying and original story creeps into the fore.
I've always found that eerie stories with a childhood setting well-told can really effectively regress you to a mindset when things that might be unbelieveable now seemed all-too credible, of the schoolyard lore and the folklore of youth.
It's short to run through once, but you've barely uncovered any of it by then - you'll keep coming back to discover the others endings.
A simple, iconic and really original eerie tale.
www.somethingmovingunderthebed.com
Great, tense writing that maintains throughout the story, despite it being quite lengthy. Many horrors fall down when it comes to characterisation, but the characters here are likeable, relatable and competent, and you come to really invest in what happens to them...
Everything is impressively thought out and with a vivid level of detail and ongoing consistency - It might require a stronger warning that 'intended for mature audiences' though - it's genuinely pretty harrowing!
Really draws the reader in, often for much longer than they intended to be reading... for a pretty exhausting experience.
Some have criticised the degree of interactivity, but this tends to vary between IFs - And I felt the act of having to decide how to proceed next made me *feel* tense and as if everything hinged upon the next decision... with characters I had really come to care about hanging in the balance.
Really well written original horror experiences can be hard to find!
www.somethingmovingunderthebed.com
I really enjoyed this story- it's a small neat package, but all the better for it.
Really flexible, and well implemented, it reacts correctly to a variety of things you might try to do... And most importantly, it has some really descriptive creepy ideas ;)
Didn't feel linear/constrained, and was a real experience especially on the first playthrough.
A couple of minor guess-the-verb issues, but otherwise great.
Only managed to find endings A, B & C myself, no idea how you get D etc- I'd be interested to know all outcomes!