Please Answer Carefully

Please Answer Carefully is an effective, realistic horror piece. A seemingly innocuous survey about Internet habits turns into an obsessive interrogation. The smooth interface does a really good job of emulating actual research surveys, and increases the dissonance of the increasingly intrusive questions. As someone who used to volunteer to complete research surveys and is wary of digital privacy, the slow, creeping dread stayed with me long after the game ended.

Please Answer Carefully is a very, very short game. And yet, in a few passages and very few words, it manages to pack a heavy punch. I remember this game being my introduction to litrouke's catalogue, leaving me pretty sick at the end (my review on itch at the time: So creepy. I felt nauseous at the end even. Great game!). It is a great example that you don't need much to make something impactful.

The survey starts pretty tame, with some very boring questions about internet use and communication habits. The UI is very simple and smooth, with fancy poll-like animation (the question cards disappearing when answered). Until...

(Spoiler - click to show)... a glitch appears in question 5, showing a probing personal question that should definitely not be there. It soon disappears, replaced by the expected question card. Further down the survey, you are given an extra option (I'm being watched right now), a strange dummy question asking about forgiveness, and further live-reaction to your answer. Soon, you lose your ability to answer anything else than what the "survey" gives you.

By question 7, it should be clear you are being stalked by someone, to the point they have found a way to break into your device and contact you through a simple survey. No matter how you answer, they are there watching you, trying to get to you.

On its own, PCA is very creepy. But as a woman on the internet having lived adjacent situation, the game truly captured that unsettling (at best) feeling...

It is a very effective psychological horror game.