Games worth discovering

World of Horror is the closest thing to a Junji Ito story in game form, and it's finally almost done

6K View2023-10-09

We're always looking for the perfect game for the Halloween season, and it doesn't get much more perfect than World of Horror. In the works for years now, World of Horror is like a love letter to everything about the horror genre—but with a special focus on the unsettling body horror of manga artist Junji Ito and the unspeakable cosmic horror of author H.P. Lovecraft.

What's most amazing about World of Horror is what it accomplishes with so little, though. The visuals are extremely lo-fi—in fact, the game's black-and-white art was literally created using MS Paint! Despite those humble tools, though, solo developer Panstasz has created some memorable and truly disturbing imagery.

The actual gameplay of World of Horror plays out as a mix of visual novel, adventure game, and roguelite RPG, where players can choose from a number of different mysteries to investigate. Panstasz has slowly added new mysteries since the game launched in early access way back in 2020, but it's finally almost complete.

The full 1.0 version of World of Horror will be launching for Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5 on October 19, 2023. Though it will primarily be available digitally, limited physical editions will be released online for Switch and PS4. The game will cost $19.99, which is the same price as the early access version costs now.

Want more details? One of TapTap's editors has been checking out World of Horror and will have a quick review before the 1.0 launch, so check back in with us soon. And stay safe out there. You never know what kind of insanity-inducing creatures are stalking through the shadows.