Not to be confused with the Eastern RPG of the same name, or another indie horror title released in the same year, Mother is a retro-style, first-person Psychological Horror video game about a single mother who must protect her two children from paranormal beings that stalk her apartment complex. The game was developed by Irwin Segarane
.
Mary, the titular mother, is a widow who has recently lost her husband. Struggling to cope with his death, she must raise their two children, Kyle and Kayla, whilst dealing with her insomnia and perhaps other mental issues. Soon, strange things seem to start happening around her apartment, from various objects seemingly moving by themselves, to a strange "friend" that her children made that she can't see. She takes it upon herself to protect her children from whatever danger is around them, even if it means losing her sanity in the process.
Mother is played in a first-person perspective, having the player go through Mary's daily tasks such as taking her prescribed pills, urging her kids to go to bed, and even successfully falling asleep. The game features Permadeath albeit not for the player, but instead the two children. If either kid dies, they stay dead for the remainder of the playthrough. Two otherworldy creatures serve as the game's enemies, one is a tall, lanky humanoid, hinted to be the spirit of Mary's husband Jack, and the other a bipedal creature the kids named Tommy. They each stalk the apartment attempting to attack the kids while your attention is turned elsewhere, and you only have your phone's flashlight and a single pistol for defense.
Due to the short playtime for the game, all spoilers will be unmarked; The game is available on itch.io.
Mother contains examples of:
- Action Girl: Mary doesn't cower at the sight of the monsters, but rather goes up close to scare them away and defend her kids from them. She only later decides to truly fight back by retrieving her husband's gun after his spirit finally appears inside her apartment and using it against the monsters.
- Accidental Aiming Skills: Due to the pistol having a very short range and no reticle, it can make the player accidentally hit the kids if they're near the creatures as the player is shooting, or if the kids manage to unintentionally spook the player as they run through the apartment.
- Child Eater: Both of the creatures will always try to hunt for the kids, but won't hesitate to run towards Mary once spotted. The beast-like creature will kill the kids by eating them alive.
- Failure Is the Only Option: The doctor prescribes only certain amounts of pills per color for Mary to take, but the player is forced to take all pills per bottle.
- Gross-Up Close-Up: The loading screen when Mary successfully sleeps shows the kids' wellbeing percentage over a close-up of Jack's mask-face.
- Jump Scare: Several, some notable moments include:
- The kids' cymbal monkey toy going off on its own, and later showing up banging its cymbals in front of Mary in the while she tries to sleep.
- Getting too close to the creatures damages Mary with a jump scare, reducing her available stamina.
- Mama Bear: Mary doesn't hesitate to get up close to the creatures just to save her kids from danger. She also takes the time to set up defenses around her apartment for extra safety.
- Monster Delay: Played with. The stalkers aren't seen by Mary until they start attacking her kids and her neighbors halfway through the game, but can be seen lurking by the player in cutscenes.
- Monstrous Humanoid: Jack is lanky, pale-skinned, and has what can be described as a theater mask for a face. He towers over humans such as Mary and her neighbor whom she witnessed getting attacked outside her door.
- Never Sleep Again: The creatures lurk around the apartment at night and peeps at the kids while they sleep. Mary herself has to be manually put to sleep by the player because of her insomnia, albeit at the risk of the creatures attacking her kids while she attempts to sleep. The player has to constantly wake her up to check on her kids.
- New House, New Problems: The family had just moved into a new apartment a week after Mary's husband died, unaware of the dangerous beings nearby that hunger for the kids.
- Ominous Television: While Mary attempts to sleep, "Tommy" turns on the TV while being watched by the kids. They are able to see him while Mary can't, and repeatedly turns the TV on when Mary turns it off.
- Permadeath: As stated above, the game features permanent deaths not for Mary, but for the kids. If either Kyle or Kayla die, Mary must continue protecting the surviving child. If both children die, Mary fails and dies not long after.
- Protect This House: Invoked by Mary after a suggestion from Karen, one of Mary's friends who regularly messages her. She can board the vents and windows, as well as set up an intruder alarm on her front door (not that any of these actually hinder the creatures, rather they emphasize her increasing paranoia).
- Stalker Shot: Several moments show the creatures stalking around the apartment from their perspective, notably while Mary is either asleep or focused on doing certain tasks.
- Survival Horror: Aside from the psychological horror theme of the game, the player must also survive nightly attempts of getting hunted by the creatures that roam the apartment complex. Each night can only progress if the children are asleep before Mary herself is put to sleep by the player.
- Trapped-with-Monster Plot: Bordering on
Fridge Logic, considering Mary won't just move somewhere safer, especially during the daytime since the creatures only seem to stalk late at night. - Unseen Evil: Played with. Jack is initially invisible to Mary, but can be seen by the player in cutscenes and is later fully visible when Mary succumbs to paranoia. Tommy is initially unseen, but only because it's stealthily lurking around the apartment.
- Video Game Caring Potential: While putting the kids to bed as a haggard mother is already a wholesome, motherly act, Mary can also give them cookies (notably left near the vents by the kids for "Tommy") to raise their wellbeing.
- Video Game Cruelty Potential: Once Mary acquires the pistol, there is no stopping the player from simply aiming at the kids and pulling the trigger. The kids will indeed die from doing so.
