As anyone who knows me and hasn’t been living under a rock for the past umpteen years knows I am not a fan of the horror genre. It’s not the premise of horror that’s the problem, and there are horror settings that I love. The issue is all the stupid jump scares. I play games to relax and needing to go into a new game with a fresh set of underwear at the ready isn’t my idea of a good time. This being said, I can get along quite happily with psychological horror. This type of creepy storytelling makes me just the right level of uncomfortable that it has the desired effect and scratches the proverbial itch. This is where today’s title comes into play. We’re going to chat about DEAD LETTER DEPT. a new entry to the psychological horror library that’s due to appear on your screens at the end of the month.
DEAD LETTER DEPT. is going to be appearing on your PC monitors via Steam come January 30th, and I have to say the premise has me more than just a little bit curious. In this horror romp, you will find yourself taking the role of a temp worker at a postal warehouse. It will be your job to look after all of the undelivered mail that hasn’t been able to find a home for a myriad of reasons. Bad handwriting is going to be the least unusual reason for these dead letters landing on your desk.
In DEAD LETTER DEPT. Your job is simple. All you have to do is retype words and addresses on mail that hasn’t gotten to its destination. This should be the most basic form of data entry. Should is the operative term as you start to realize some disconcerting patterns forming amongst the disparate mail. You can’t be certain but you start having the niggling feeling that some of these messages are aimed at you.
Stuck alone in a dingy warehouse, completely cut off from anyone else, you only have the mail you’re reading through to give you any real connection to the outside world. The longer you spend doing the job the more questionable and dreamlike the situation becomes. Strange stories begin to emerge from the letters and you just can’t shake the feeling that you’re being watched. Paying your rent is important but is this job going to be worth your sanity?
DEAD LETTER DEPT. is a typing adventure that will see you entering various prompts into your computer in an attempt to decipher damaged images. In doing this you’ll get a glimpse into the lives of the people who have lost their mail and dig up a bunch of buried secrets as you go. This is a game where no two playthroughs will be the same and the amount of mail for you to sift through is massive. Is the voyeurism going to be worth the skin-crawling feeling you’re getting though? That’s for you to decide.
If reading someone else’s mail sounds like fun to you then DEAD LETTER DEPT. will be appearing very soon. If you want to get a feel for the game there’s a demo available over on Steam now. If you’re like me and would just rather wait for the entire thing you’ll only have a few weeks until its arrival.
