Clown in the Woods

“I'm the evil clown that kills people in the woods. These are the woods. You're a person. Solve for X.”



This week’s recommendation is Clown in the Woods, a short comedy-horror visual novel created by Hidden Object Guru. In the game, you play as 5 friends reuniting at a cabin in the woods a year after the death of a mutual friend. As each member of the group is stalked and killed by the titular clown, the player is given two options: ‘run away’ or ‘don’t run away’. The game is free, and a playthrough can be completed in under an hour. Subsequent playthroughs can take under 5 minutes if you’re skipping dialogue you’ve already seen.

CitW is a satirical take on the slasher genre and ‘Choices Matter’ games such as Until Dawn and The Quarry. It seems to be poking fun at Until Dawn in particular, with the plot being very similar and the general flow of the VN playing on common criticisms of the game.



The main appeals of the VN to me were the dialogue and the plot, both being light-hearted with a clever sense of humour present throughout. I won’t spoil too much, but I enjoyed seeing how the choices you make during the VN correlate to the ending you reach, and how they play out.



A prequel teaser to the game, Take the Job, was released in 2017. It has a similar comedic tone and is about 5 minutes long. Interestingly, Take the Job refers to Clown in the Woods as Don't Run Away, which seems to have been a working title.

Clown in the Woods can be played at the Hidden Object Guru’s Itch.

As can Take the Job.

Hidden Object Guru also has a YouTube channel, which you can find here.