History VideoGame / DreadXCollection

* KickTheSonOfABitch: [[spoiler:Once the young protagonist completes the ritual and summons their "true love" they are given powerful telekinetic abilities that allow them to murder the entire village, and seeing the amount of horrible things they have put the protagonist through, it's definitely easy to say that they had it coming]].

* {{Retraux}}: If the name wasn't a giveaway, it's based on old shooters and hunting games from the ''UsefulNotes/Nintendo64'', the intro even shows off an Expansion Pak. There's also shades of {{VideoGame/Turok}} as well.

* CoolGuns: Your only firearm in this game is the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Springfield_model_1873 Model 1873 "Trapdoor" Springfield]] rifle. The game simulates every step of reloading it just like its real life counterpart. The game's "Trapdoor" Rifle also comes with [[https://img.itch.zone/aW1hZ2UvOTk3OTAxLzU2Nzg1NjIucG5n/original/zMXrp5.png a leather rifle bullet loop attached to the stock]] that helps you carry ammo. However, that also means you can only carry a finite amount of ammo.

* {{Backtracking}}: The second half of the game has you escaping the building through previous levels.
* DeadGuyJunior: [[spoiler:You're actually the son of Winston, the man who created the Pony Factory, rather than Winston himself.]]
* DeliberatelyMonochrome: The environments are predominantly black and white, with exploding enemies and some lights providing occasional splashes of color.
* DemBones: The main obstacle is a legion of what appear to be unicorn skeletons.
* GoneHorriblyWrong: As the description indicates.
* VillainProtagonist: The [[WhamLine ending text]] reveals you as this.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Mahelyk - Outsiders]]
From the creator of ''SCP: Blackout''.

As someone that's just awoken inside of a strange house, try to learn the truth about not just it, but also the Outsiders that are responsible.
----

** At the end of the first act, [[spoiler:the game files are permanently corrupted right before the development deadline. **"Shit."**]]

* MurderousMannequin: A pair can be found in the attic. [[spoiler:They play out the scene of a murder as you navigate to find the last key, and presumably attack you if you activate the attic's hidden panel before doing the other five first.]]

* DaylightHorror: The game's events take place in broad daylight.

* ActionBomb: Interestingly enough this is how the Squirrelbears attack you, by charging down on you and exploding taking about 80% of your health off.
* AnAesop: PlayedForLaughs. The Artist story, as found in notes scattered across the map, ends with an abrupt GainaxEnding and the brief line "Art will eventually destroy the artist. The end." [[spoiler:This could qualify as foreshadowing towards the ending.]]
* BearsAreBadNews: One of the two enemy types is a Squirrelbear, a cross between a squirrel and a bear that's attracted to gunshots and loud noises in general, can take a minimum of 2-3 hunting rifle shots to put down and can take off about 80% of your health bar if it explodes on you.
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: You can find notes telling you the story of a painter who pays an old witch to bring a painting of a woman he painted to life. Problem is, he never painted her from the waist down, so she comes out with no lower half (and thus nothing to keep her entrails inside her) and spends the rest of the story screaming in pain until the painter puts her out of her misery.
* BlatantLies: The Squirrel Facts start out as legitimate, banal facts about squirrels, progress to ridiculous nonsense ("Squirrels use chemosensory hairs on their legs and feet to identify food and track it with their front antenna"), and eventually become progressively-less-subtle threats.
* FaceDeathWithDignity: [[spoiler:If you try to get back into your cabin once the countdown to "God" arriving starts, the protagonist will refuse, simply stating he must meet God. The note from the first day indicates he knew the Goat of the Wood would punish him for stapling squirrels, and he chooses to meet his punishment head on.]]
* {{Foreshadowing}}: Right out the gate, you get two strong signs something big is going to happen eventually: a NoteToSelf that God will come in five days, and a torn page with a commandment from "the Goat of the Wood": thou shalt not staple squirrels.
* GainaxEnding: It may be foreshadowed from day one, but the ending is still out of left field.
** The ending of the Artist's mini-story, as told through notes. [[spoiler:After killing the half-woman, the Old Woman and the Artist decide to ''make soup out of her meat'', which kills them both because it was poison. "Art will eventually destroy the artist. The end."]]
* HellIsThatNoise: [[spoiler:As the timer for God winds down, chanting that "God is coming" can eventually be heard, growing in volume. When the timer hits zero, the chanting becomes shouting and is mixed with wordless screaming.]]
* ILoveTheDead: Implied, as the corpse that the squirrel bodies are being stapled to is referred to multiple times as the protagonist's "wife."
* InsaneTrollLogic: The protagonist comes to the conclusion that, by covering his (dead, skinned, beheaded) "wife" with dead squirrels, she'll become just as beautiful as they are, rekindling their romance.
* MysteriousNote: The forest is full of notes with "Squirrel Facts" that go from genuine facts about squirrels to nonsensical BlatantLies to thinly veiled threats.
-->'''Note:''' Squirrels are capable of hating you.
* OffscreenTeleportation:
** As the days go by, the corpse you're stapling squirrels to appears in other locations than your bedroom, such as at the dinner table in your house, stapled to a random tree in the woods, just hiding in the bushes, or somehow standing up out in the open.
** [[spoiler:The Goat of the Wood jumpscares you by appearing directly behind you, immediately after you hear him running towards you at incredible speed even though you can't see him anywhere by looking around.]]
* {{Retraux}}: The game is presented in ''VideoGame/{{Quake}}'' [=/=] [[UsefulNotes/{{Playstation}} PS1]] style graphics. Which isn't surprising considering the developer.
* RodentsOfUnusualSize: As the days go by you will encounter squirrels that are much larger than the norm. Like almost the size of a raccoon or even a full-grown dog. You are also required to hunt them down to complete a level.
* StalkedByTheBell: [[spoiler:Played with. Once you have killed all the enemies, a timer begins which says "God is coming". There's no way to slow or stop the timer, and it is essentially an extended cutscene until "God", the Goat of the Wood, jumpscares you from behind.]]
* StylisticSuck: The sleeping screen features a zoomed-in, pixelated picture of a squirrel with the caption [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin "you are]] [[CaptainObvious sleeping."]]
* VillainProtagonist: The unnamed protagonist goes out and kills squirrels so he can staple them to a corpse that he refers to as his "wife." He also probably killed and skinned her.
* WhatTheHellHero: Courtesy of your "wife".
--->'''Corpse:''' I don't want squirrels. I want skin. Give me back my skin. Or give me yours instead.

[[folder:Akabaka – Sucker For Love]]
From the creator of ''[[https://store.steampowered.com/app/1003900/CHROMATOSE/ CHROMATOSE]]''.

As someone enamored by eldritch beings, summon and try to score with a {{Cthulhumanoid}} with the power to end all of reality. Here's an [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEhQa7_wn48 announcement]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jj9Qr8yYAzA teaser]] trailers for ''First Date''.

For tropes concerning the original [=DreadX=] version, as well as the later expansion, please go to the ''VisualNovel/SuckerForLove'' page.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Bathysfear Labs – The Diving Bell]]
From the creator of ''[[https://rabbitrungames.itch.io/photogeist Photogeist]]''.

Your submarine is stuck at the bottom of the ocean, and the rest of your crew is dead. Can you escape before the madness, and the machinery, consumes you?

* ApocalypticLog: A huge chunk of the gameplay consists of the player writing a mission report from the submarine. It quickly becomes clear something went very, very wrong one day down there.
* NeverMyFault: The protagonist repeatedly insists, to the point of MadnessMantra, that it is not his fault his crewmembers died. Whether or not this is true is somewhat up to the player. The visions that keep taunting him sure seem to think he did it, though.
* SurvivorsGuilt: The protagonist has this about an event that cost his other four crewmembers their lives, but is in deep denial about it. The events on the sub don't let him stay in denial for long.

[[folder:Panstasz – The Thing in the Lake]]
From the creator of ''VideoGame/WorldOfHorror''.

Having been drawn to an abandoned summer camp in Eastern Poland where numerous murders have occurred, try to uncover the mystery hiding in the nearby lake's murky depths.

* ManiacMonkeys: A great ape chases after the player character in both the first and final chapters. With intent to kill.
* ShoutOut:
** One of the available color schemes for the game is DeliberatelyMonochrome, and it's outright called ''VideoGame/WorldOfHorror''.
** Akin to ''World of Horror'', there's a ''Franchise/SilentHill'' reference consisting of a ritual involving a blue gem [[spoiler:which leads to a joke ending in which you are abducted by aliens]].
* SimultaneousArcs: You occasionally can spot other characters walking around near you when you go exploring, but just out of sight of what the character would be able to see. [[spoiler:Often these are actually the protagonist of other chapters going about their own storyline.]]
* SlasherMovie: The game starts out as this, as you play a group of young people gradually getting picked off by a killer (or the ape) around an abandoned summer camp / resort. This starts to change about halfway through however.

[[folder:'''Mahelyk''' – The Toy Shop]]
The remnants of humanity have become literal playthings of a greater power, contained in toy dioramas managed by being known only as The Shop Keeper. However, one of their Toy Soldiers is defective, and is starting to question whether or not to remain a mere pawn.
----
* ToBeContinued: The game ends with one, as the protagonist takes a train into Toy City [[spoiler:while unknowingly transmitting all of their thoughts to The Shop Keeper, who smiles because everything is proceeding as planned]].
[[/folder]]

* BadassBaritone: The playable character speaks in a very low and gruff voice.

* PsychoKnifeNut: The the townsfolk that don't use axes or rifles make use of kitchen knives instead. Just like the axe-wielders, they aren't afraid of throwing them.

* HellIsThatNoise: [[spoiler: As the timer for God winds down, chanting that "God is coming" can eventually be heard, growing in volume. When the timer hits zero, the chanting becomes shouting and is mixed with wordless screaming.]]

* ApocalypticLog: You can find a few notes detailing what's been going on with previous residents before Thomas visits. The writers of these notes have already perished [[spoiler:The exception is William, sort of.]]

The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haNqom4y28I OST]] was provided by Music/PatriciaTaxxon.

* AnAxeToGrind: According to the Witch in the Artist's story, it's her reserve "spell" for situations like what she and the painter are facing. Namely, a screaming woman who's missing the lower half of her body. The painter makes use of it to put the woman out of her misery.

* AnAxeToGrind: The shotgun has an attached axe [[BayonetYa bayonet]].

* BayonetYa: The Protagonist's shotgun has an attached [[AnAxeToGrind axe]] bayonet, used to defend himself when he is out of ammo or when the enemies are too close.

* AnAxeToGrind: Thomas' melee weapon of choice is an [[https://img.itch.zone/aW1hZ2UvOTk3OTAxLzU2Nzg1NjEucG5n/original/NG%2F3JK.png axe]] that was previously used to bar church doors. He's not the only one that makes use of axes as weaponry; some insane townsfolk even throw them!

* AwesomeMcCoolName: Melissa's father has the most 90's action hero name you can think of, '''Butch Killington'''.

From the developers of ''The Mortuary Assistant''.

* RodentsOfUnusualSize: Well, technically Squirrels of unusual size, but as the days go by you will encounter squirrels that are much larger than the norm. Like almost the size of a raccoon or even a full-grown dog. You are also required to hunt them down to complete a level.

* ActionBomb: Interestingly enough this is how the "Squirrelbear" attacks you, by charging down on you and exploding taking about 80% of your health off.
* AnAesop: PlayedForLaughs. The Artist story, as found in notes scattered across the map, ends with an abrupt GainaxEnding and the brief line "Art will eventually destroy the artist. The end." [[spoiler:This could qualify as foreshadowing towards the ending of ''Squirrel Stapler'']].
* AnAxeToGrind: According to the Witch in the Artist mini-story, it's her reserve "spell" for situations like what she and the painter are facing. Namely, a screaming woman who's missing the lower half of her body. The painter makes use of it to put the woman out of her misery.
* BearsAreBadNews: One of the two enemy types is a "Squirrelbear", a cross between a squirrel and a bear that's attracted to gunshots and loud noises in general, can take a minimum of 2-3 hunting rifle shots to put down and can take off about 80% of your health bar if it explodes on you.

* BlatantLies: The "Squirrel Facts" start out as legitimate, banal facts about squirrels, progress to ridiculous nonsense ("Squirrels use chemosensory hairs on their legs and feet to identify food and track it with their front antenna"), and eventually become progressively-less-subtle threats.

** The ending of the Artist's mini-story, as told through notes. [[spoiler:After killing the half-woman, the Old Woman and the Artist decide to ''make soup out of her meat'', which kills them both.. because it was poison. "Art will eventually destroy the artist. The end."]]
* HellIsThatNoise: [[spoiler: As the timer for "God" winds down, chanting noises can be heard, growing in volume. When the timer hits zero, the chanting becomes incredibly chaotic and is mixed with screaming.]]
* HorrifyingTheHorror: Squirrel Stapler wastes no time in establishing that our protagonist is a psychopath, and yet that doesn't stop him from being haunted by the ghosts and predators of the forest.

** [[spoiler:"God" jumpscares you by appearing directly behind you, immediately after you hear him running towards you at incredible speed even though you can't see him anywhere by looking around.]]

* StalkedByTheBell: [[spoiler:Played with. Once you have killed all the enemies, a timer begins which says "God is coming". There's no way to slow or stop the timer, and it is essentially an extended cutscene until "God" jumpscares you from behind.]]

* WhatTheHellHero: Courtesy of the corpse.

The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haNqom4y28I OST]] was provided by Patricia Saxxton.

* AtopAMountainOfBodies: [[spoiler:While exploring the club floor, it suddenly gives in and you fall down a near-bottomless pit with only other screaming clubgoers accompanying you as you all fall down. But once you finally hit the ground, you are greeted by a pretty horrific sight: a mountain of bodies surrounded by a pool of blood...and if that wasn't enough, more and ''more'' people continue to fall down, making the blood pool even bigger and making the corpse mountain ''rise''.

%% [[caption-width-right:350:some caption text]]

* AnAesop: PlayedForLaughs. The Artist story, as found in notes scattered across the map, ends with an abrupt GainaxEnding and the brief line "Art will eventually destroy the artist. The end." [[spoiler:This could qualify as F oreshadowing towards the ending of ''Squirrel Stapler'']].