Flemish Horror game Brukel really is based on a true story

Reality is scarier than fiction.

Horror games so often love to tell us that events are based on a true story, just to ramp up that spook-factor. But then they throw in a poltergeist or green slime and that suspension of disbelief is totally wrecked. We feel like fools. Brukel, however, is a very different kettle of fish. It actually is based on a true story, and nothing is quite as scary as something terrible that really did happen.

In Brukel, which is entirely spoken in Flemish but does have English subtitles, you are trespassing in an abandoned home. Because of course you are. Fascinated by the tales of your 92-year-old grandmother, who’s childhood home this was, you are here to record the scenes of her stories, in the hopes of sharing them with the online world. Armed with only a smartphone as a recording device and a torch, you’re about to get a bit more than you bargained for.

This first-person exploration game is based on the memories of Bie Verlinden, the grandmother of the game’s designer Bob De Schutter. The stories the player hears (or reads) in narration are her real childhood memories, but as the tale goes on, this emotional trauma takes on its own life within the lost house. The ghosts of the past are hard to control, and the spooky atmosphere here serves the purpose of both scares and allowing the player to see just how horrific some of these experiences were.

This is just a short game, but it is sure to be an experience that sticks with you. Check out Brukel on itch.io, where it is available to buy now.