Empty Head is an RPG Maker horror game inspired by The Cat Lady and Downfall (2009). In the small town of Elkedor, Arold Baker is a struggling lawyer and family man who has turned to alcoholism as both his career and marriage are failing. One day, he comes home to his wife and two kids when he begins hearing strange noises like children laughing. He also sees a shadowy figure flash before him. He tries to go to sleep, but wakes up after a nightmare to find his children gone. Finding a secret passage in a room on the second floor, Arold goes down to a dark basement and finds himself in a strange new world, and must now rescue the children from the shadow. In the process, he gains help from White Fox, a mysterious model in a kitsune mask, and Christopher Carter, a travelling artist.
Can be downloaded here
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This game contains examples of:
- Big Bad: ???, the smiling shadow, has kidnapped Arold's children, and he must venture through the strange world in the basement to find them. The shadow is revealed to be Arold's Literal Split Personality, the embodiment of the abusive husband and father he became thanks to his alcoholism.
- Last-Second Ending Choice: The three endings are decided by who Arold concludes is responsible for his children's disappearance, which is a choice only made at the very end.
- Multiple Endings: Three, depending on the choice Arold makes in the last scene:
- Bad Ending: "The End of Everything": If Arold concludes that White Fox, Chris, and the barmaid are responsible for his children's disappearance, he kills them all, but in doing so, ??? fully takes over while Arold berates himself for his decision.
- Neutral End: "A Fake Reality": If Arold concludes that Marcus De Von is responsible for his children's disappearance, the three reveal that it was actually his own fault all along. Arold is driven to the Despair Event Horizon and agrees to live with the three, who are revealed as aspects of his wife and kids, forever, but White Fox feels guilt for what she has done.
- True Ending: "A New Beginning": If Arold realizes and accepts that his abuse is what caused his children to disappear, and that he is ??? and Marcus De Von, then the three reveal that everything was All Just a Dream induced by his guilt. Resolving to become better, he wakes up and sees his family still in bed, and is ready to change.
