Phantoms in the Camp
is an Explorer Horror game by Axel Vejar Dossow, made for the 13th RPG Maker Horror Game Jam, inspired by 1980s horror films.
In 1982, Sandy was just an ordinary girl who attended summer camp with some friends. She ended up the Sole Survivor of a horrible massacre. Two years later, Sandy, now a college student who befriended a man named Chris, has decided to go with him and return to the ruins of the camp, hoping to confront the horrible memories of what happened that day.
While they are there, Sandy gets pulled into a strange alternate dimension with horrible monsters. It turns out the perpetrator of the massacre is in control of this dimension and wants to drag the one who got away from him into it...
This game contains examples of:
- Antagonist Title: The titular phantoms, particularly Junior Hendergast, are the antagonists haunting the camp and going after Sandy.
- Big Bad: Junior Hendergast is the perpetrator of the 1982 summer camp massacre of which Sandy is the Sole Survivor, and now is a phantom that wants to pull her into his dimension so he can make her and Chris his next victims.
- Dark Is Not Evil: The phantom forms of Mark and Cindy have the same dark-green color palette as everyone else, but they are the only ones who did not lose their minds to Junior, instead guiding Sandy in saving them.
- I'm a Humanitarian: Junior Hendergast eats the victims of his murders, from his own parents to the summer campers.
- Love Triangle: Chris is revealed early on to be in love with Sandy, who likes him back — unfortunately, Chris was already dating Anne at the time and so cut off contact with her while lying to Sandy that they broke up. Anne has pretty much lost interest by the end, but no concrete resolution is made, and the subplot isn't given focus outside two scenes anyway.
- Multiple Endings:
- In the bad end, Sandy becomes possessed by Junior and kills Chris and Anne.
- In the good end, Sandy successfully frees the phantoms from the hexes of Junior and comes back to Chris and Anne.
- Plot Coupon:
- In the first half, Sandy has to find the three pieces of the stone and place them at the Altar to open the gate to the Hendergast mansion.
- In the second half, Sandy has to find the four chants inside the mansion and take them to the Altar to get the endings of the game.
- Retraux: The graphics and art style are pixel-based to give the impression of a retro horror game, and the plot is inspired by 1980s horror films.
- Token Romance: The Love Triangle between Sandy, Chris, and Anne is only featured in two scenes; one near the beginning and in the ending. Chris and Anne play no role in the story otherwise, and the focus is on Sandy grappling with her trauma being the Sole Survivor of the massacre of her summer camp and fighting the spirit of the perpetrator.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: The camp director is stated in a note to hate cats, so the only way to stop his possessed spirit from killing Sandy is to bring a cat along, after which his fear will override the possession and he will flee.
