Darkwood devs on choosing dread over jump scares

The developers of Darkwood wanted to give players an experience that had them shaking in their boots. To really get under a player's skin, you have to offer up more than jump scares. In an interview with Gamasutra, dev Gustaw Stachaszewski explains why the team didn't want to take the easy route for cheap scares.

“When we were starting work on Darkwood, the overwhelming trend in cinema and games in the horror genre was using jump-scares as the tool to make the audience feel fear. The reaction to sudden auditory or visual stimuli is a very basic survival mechanism shared by all species that have to protect themselves against predators, and as such is accompanied by elevated heart rate and an adrenaline rush.

Jump scares are effective and entertaining to experience yourself or to watch someone else react to them, especially your favorite streamer, but to us, the overuse of such tactics feels shallow. Darkwood was made by three people, and we're all scaredy-cats with pretty wild and vivid imaginations. We find it much more engaging to experience horror that stimulates our imagination and lets our minds fill in the blanks, instead of just having it thrown at our faces. So when we saw the potential in our game to create a unique atmosphere of dread, we pursued it.”