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Three doors, one escape, an endless psychological horror game

Key Takeaways:

Introduction

Being a kid in the mid-90s allowed for the chance to experience the transition of 2D to 3D graphics in horror games. Most of these horror games meant you played them on PlayStation or PC, and a lot of the standout ones had psychological horror.

Unfortunately, not having the money to buy games often from FYE or Toys “R” Us meant missing out on them at the time.

Now, I’m catching up on horror games within different genres that are easy to access or of low cost. One of the games I recently played is a psychological horror game on Steam Three Doors: Labyrinth of Fear.

Note that I played this game on an Xbox controller via a gaming laptop after downloading it from Steam. I found it functions quite well on the controller.

So, horror buffs, let’s gear up for a creepy psychological horror game, Three Doors: Labyrinth of Fear, and plunge into a nightmarish challenge that’s not for the faint of heart.

Overview

Three Doors: Labyrinth of Fear is a free, first-person psychological horror on Steam, developed and published by DaveB Production. Released on November 4, 2024, the game combines elements of exploration and action.

It’s a dark, immersive, psychological horror game designed to test both your wits and your ability to maneuver in unknown situations.

The Story

Trapped in darkness, you play as a guy and must face thirty sinister rooms, each offering its own deadly twist that reflects upon the man’s fears. In front of his fears, you as the player must make a simple yet terrifying choice among three doors.

However, only one of them is a way out. Make the wrong choice, and you’re done for! Or, as the game says,

“One door leads to life. The others are death.”

With each room, the tension builds as you decide your fate, and navigating these thirty rooms will provide more about the story.

Spoiler

In room 1, our protag sees a scene from the past, where Katie seems to be waiting, with another guy, for our protag to show but never did. She leaves notes for us to find that are from her diary entries.

At the very least, it appears Katie is giving us clues on how to navigate the labyrinth and select the right door, by providing clues in the notes or in the environment.

As we progress, we learn that our protag’s fears are holding him back from experiencing life. They keep him from interacting and spending time with Katie, like going on fishing trips.

It is hinted that his past haunts him, either from some trauma or dire incident. For example, in room…, we see briefly an ax in the head of a buried skeleton, which might be symbolic or a moment in the protag’s past that is eating away at him.

By room 5, we see Katie, who walks by us with some monster/demon following her. In fact, there might be two monsters, a pale one that kills us if we fail and an ashen one that occasionally confronts us.

The pale one, I think, represents the embodiment of protag’s fear since it often says “You re mine”. Meanwhile, the ashen one might represent our protag’s fear coming at him, as we see it in several rooms.

By room 12, we learn that the protag is steadily conquering his fears by facing a high peak, where you need to hop from platform to platform and input a code (Hint: notice the four shapes at the bottom of the room).

Likewise, in room 14 and 15, we learn Katie has been through a string of jobs. We also learn that at some point Katie and our protag separated and that Katie went back to her passion for art. Despite the separation, she still wishes our protag could be with her.

In room 16, we get the impression that our protag, though still grappling with his fears, is learning to control them instead of being controlled by them.

For room 17 through 19, we learn that Katie goes to visit her brother. However, at some point her brother got arrested for possibly a hit-and-run and she must bail him out.

By room 21, Katie seems to have found out that our protag works at the lumberyard, making her eager to see us again. Although, she was unable to find us there. She then started to take up activities to enjoy herself like bungee jumping or gardening, which made her happy.

As we progress, we understand in room 25 that Katie is shaking with anticipation at the possibility of seeing us, as her brother might have seen us. Then by room 26, we begin to get blank notes and need to navigate through our fears without Katie’s notes.

However, we are told that our fears are no longer in control of us. Once we reach room 29, we face a mirror door with Katie on the other side. Once we figure out the code, we can get through and reunite with Katie, conquering our protag’s fears.

Spoiler end

The Gameplay

The core of Three Doors lies in its puzzles and the crucial decisions you must make. From my gameplay, the puzzles were not too difficult after observing your surroundings and reading the clues hidden in the notes.

Nevertheless, the puzzles do provide a challenge from time to time and adds to this psychological horror game. It took me a bit to figure out in room 18 which door was hinted at, and room 24 I died on at first because I missed the clue.

Running, jumping, and crouching do serve purposes–albeit crouching has the least usefulness. It was necessary at times to run and jump at times, which performed smoothly. This was clear by room 12, where I needed to do a sprint jump to escape the room.

This psychological horror game taps into your survival instincts and ability to make smart choices under pressure. There is also some minor platforming to spot clues or progress.

The added twist of Katie’s storyline in the latest update brings a new depth to the gameplay, enhancing the overall narrative and player engagement.

Graphics and Audio

With its chilling visuals and haunting audio, the game sets a perfect horror scene. The graphics are stark and effectively spooky, pulling you deeper into the unsettling world of this psychological horror game.

The sound design complements the visuals with eerie echoes and whispers that heighten the tension in every room. The screaming and crying from some rooms did surprise me, not to mention the unexpected whispers in your ear.

Highly recommend playing with headphones or a headset for the full effect of the atmosphere experienced in this psychological horror game.

Performance and Technical Aspects

Three Doors runs smoothly across various platforms including Windows, Mac, and Linux. It’s optimized well, with recent updates improving load times and fixing minor bugs that enhance the player’s experience without breaking immersion.

The game also provided periodic checkpoints to help save your progress after significant moments in the story.

Now, I preface this by stating that the following issue may be something finicky with my laptop. One minor issue I faced was that some rooms caused my game to crash with an error. This was not a big deal as it turns out I needed to close my browser while playing.

Length and Replayability

This game might not be the longest psychological horror game on Steam, clocking an average of 1 hour to complete. Its replay value isn’t too high, but you can replay the game for several reasons.

You can see how fast you can get through the labyrinth, or you can see if you can remember all the right doors in one session. Kind like a survival mode for a psychological horror game, to see if you can beat the labyrinth without dying.

Closing Thoughts

Overall, Three Doors: Labyrinth of Fear delivers a solid psychological horror horror game experience that’s both fun and dread inducing. The fact you are sometimes unsure if you picked the right door instills the right amount of apprehension.

It’s a brilliant blend of mind-bending puzzles and narrative elements, wrapped up in a darkly inviting atmosphere. If you’re into games that challenge your intellect as much as they do your courage, this is one you shouldn’t miss. Plus, you can’t beat free!

If you want more suggestions for free indie horror games, check out my 10 Fun & Free RPG Games Online or my Free and Unique: 5 Must-Try Indie Horror Games for Gamers.

So, how many rooms did you complete? What other psychological horror game on Steam are you playing? Share your thoughts and comments below.