I Am Prey

This game’s concept feels like it shouldn’t work as interactive fiction. A core mechanic of running, hiding, and escaping from an enemy? Can a turn-based text medium build enough tension to make that work?

In this case, absolutely. You spend most of your time exploring a futuristic facility, trying to escape it while avoiding (or sometimes provoking) the “Predator” who is hunting for you. Getting around the facility is an adventure on its own. The size of the map is daunting at first, but a “map mode” makes it easier to get your bearings while learning the layout, and ultimately the large map makes the experience much more enjoyable: the movement and exploration mechanics are perhaps the strongest feature of this game. You can scramble through secret passages, leap across furniture, and duck into hiding spots. There are automatic doors which can clue you in on the location of your opponent (or alert him to yours, if you’re not careful). You can peek through doors and around corners to check for danger. You could spend a long time searching out all the secret accesses and rooms, of which there are a surprising number. It’s just plain fun.

The Predator himself is menacing - the writing is quite effective in building a character who is both frightening and fascinating. After a couple of playthroughs, I found myself trying to interact with the Predator more, and was occasionally rewarded with new dialogue or character tidbits. In that vein, I highly recommend playing at least once in “cat mode”, where you can wander freely as the Predator’s pet cat. You learn more about the history of the facility and its inhabitants, and get a very funny narrative perspective.

I’m not generally an action or survival horror fan, but I’ve spent multiple hours playing this game and had an absolute blast throughout. The replay value is through the roof. My only criticism would be that some of the mechanics could be fleshed out more, particularly the “tricks” one can use to manipulate or deter the Predator. However, judging from the source code, the author is still adding to the game; I’m very much looking forward to future updates. In the meantime, there is plenty to explore here.