Hide works on atmosphere. It is a nightmarish atmosphere that is eerie and dark: the player character pants as they trudge through snow, a siren wails in the background, and spot lights shine into the sky. It heavily obfuscates things in the distance with an ultra lo-fi style, making the environment become a mishmash of darkly toned pixels. One feels lost but not unfortunately so. As the search for signs spread across the environment continues, lights appear. Even despite not being able to see what it is, the game makes it clear they are not something to pursue, but rather something to, as the name implies, hide from. Hide mostly obscures the facts with its aesthetic and that is what makes it so very alluring.
Mainstream horror games are great, but some of the scariest games available are free indie titles you can download and play right now, columnist Jake Magee writes.
