Welcome Home, Child.
- There are things known.
There are things unknown.
In between
Lie the doors of perception.
—Opening Text
Albino Lullaby is an episodic Psychological Horror game for PC, developed and published by Ape Law. It is about the protagonist suddenly finding themselves in an underground city haunted by the mysteriously deformed Grandchildren, and seeking to escape, or at least find out what's going on.
The first episode launched on September 15th, 2015, and it is Virtual Reality compatible. Two more episodes have been signposted on Steam, but as of 2021, both of them are still TBD. In October 2023, after 8 years of radio silence, the developers announced that episode 2, Alice's Lullaby, would be released "soon".
This game makes use of the following tropes:
- Arc Symbol: Narwhals.
- Apocalyptic Log: There are plenty of notes scattered around for you to find, many of which detail the strange and often unsettling thoughts of the Grandchildren.
- Black Comedy Cannibalism: Enjoy your souvenir slice of Grandmother.
- Body Horror: If the Grandchildren themselves don't count, those who are halfway through the process of turning into Grandchildren definitely do.
- Creepy Good: Piotr, the only character not hostile to the protagonist, is horrifically disfigured by his slow transformation into a Grandchild, but he's friendly nonetheless and gives the protagonist the key they need to get to Buck and initiate their escape.
- The Dreaded: To the Grandchildren, Buck is clearly this. The underground's various mechanisms and doors are specifically designed to not function unless Buck is contained, and when one of the Grandchildren suggests siccing Buck on the protagonist, his sibling angrily snaps that Buck is far worse than the player character.
- Dunce Cap: Buck wears something similar.
- Dug Too Deep: Some of the notes later in the game indicate this; Whatever the strange, black ghosts that inhabit the depths of the underground are, the Grandchildren apparently let them loose while building their homes.
- Eldritch Abomination: The Grandmother.
- Twist Ending: You (the player character) have begun undergoing the process of turning into a Grandchild, like Piotr.
- Underground City: The Grandchildren live in a sprawling Victorian-style mansion, located in an underground cavern.
- Was Once a Man: The Grandchildren, Piotr, and you.
- Weakened by the Light: Blue light can be used to ward off the Grandchildren.
- World of Ham: Almost everyone overacts.
