Survival horror Blind Boris releases on Steam

Blind Boris is chilling survival horror where the main character is blind.

Imagine: you’re a vulnerable patient trapped in a hospital. The staff have all gone, unseen figures are besieging you and trying to enter the building, and worst of all, you are blind. It’s a bone-chilling prospect and the perfect conceit for a horror game. But right about now, you may well be pondering a very valid question. How do you make a game centred around a blind character?

Is Blind Boris just an audio-based game where the HUD is nothing but a black screen? Or does it follow in the footsteps of Perception, which had its blind progatonist use echolocation to see her surroundings through sound? Well, no, it’s a lot more subtle than that. In Blind Boris, although the display is manifested by traditional 2D platformer visuals in a pixelated style, it is actually based on a combination of hearing, touch and smell. As a result, the player experiences a minimalist and highly distorted version of reality, with enemies capable of appearing with virtually zero warning.

Since much of Boris’ perception is based on memory and limited senses, what the player sees on screen is not necessarily a reliable depiction of the environment. The architecture of the building is unstable, and changes over time as Boris forgets aspects of it. The building is large and confusing and the soundtrack is minimalist and eerie. The game includes a variety of resources which can be made into useful items, including traps for self-defence purposes. The aim is to avoid by stealth, or defend yourself against, enemies, and eventually escape the hospice.

Blind Boris is produced by Eastern European studio Marginal Act, who previously produced a roguelike called Line. If you want to buy it then head over to Steam, where it’s currently on a -30% deal. However bear in mind that the developer is relatively unknown and early reviews have criticised some bugs and aspects of the level design and gameplay, despite praising the creepy atmosphere created by the visuals and audio. Nevertheless it’s a very interesting concept which, pending some work from the developer in ironing out the bugs, could be a fun and interesting game.