One of 2024’s best horror games is less than $5

Though there’s no shortage of big-budget horror games to play through in 2024, not everyone wants 20 hours worth of scares. Fortunately, one of the year’s scariest games is short, sweet, and less than $5.

As has always been true of the horror genre, sometimes the best experiences you can have are low-budget and brilliantly simple. Some of the most famous horror games of all time are extremely basic and barebones, exemplified by a game like Slender: The Eight Pages taking over the internet despite being the sort of game you could make in a few days.

No, I’m Not a Human is keeping that spirit alive in 2024 as a proof of concept crammed onto a horror game collection in a dark corner of Steam, a short glimpse at one small dev team’s brilliant game concept.

No, I’m Not a Human

It conveys a desperate struggle where you play gatekeeper to what is the only safe haven for people trying to escape the dangers of the outside world. If they’re real people, that is.

Sure, it’s just a brief demo that can be completed in around 30 minutes, but the game’s multiple endings are just begging for repeat playthroughs. You’ll get a lot of mileage out of this game if you know where to get it.

How can you buy No, I’m Not a Human?

If you’ve heard of No, I’m Not a Human before reading this, it’s probably because you’ve seen a YouTuber play through it. If you’re going into it blind, consider yourself lucky. Discovering this game’s secrets is a treat. However, one of No, I’m Not a Human’s biggest secrets is how to actually play it.

Finding this game is a bit of a challenge, as its official Steam page doesn’t tell you how to buy it. The publicly available version of the game is merely a playable proof of concept, even if it feels more feature-complete than a typical game demo would.

VHS

In order to play this, you’ll have to buy Violent Horror Stories: Anthology on Steam. It’s only $3 and comes with three other horror games, giving this unrivaled value if you’re looking for some Halloween scares without breaking the bank.

A novel take on the horror genre

So, what is No, I’m Not a Human about? What makes it so compelling?

It’s a visual novel that has the player stuck inside their house. The sun approaches ever-closer to Earth, to the point where people outside begin melting during the day. And, while nighttime is “safer,” there are things out in the open that you won’t want to run into: Guests.

No, I’m Not a Human

These are unknown alien entities parading themselves around as humans. Some are more obvious than others, such as the shirtless “man” above. Most of these Guests, however, are a lot more innocuous.

The game will deliver sets of clues to you over the course of your playtime that’ll help you determine who’s human and who isn’t, allowing you to make more informed decisions about who to let into your house and who not to – or how to figure out if one of them is already among you.

Letting in Guests is a mistake that can lead to the death of yourself and everyone else in the house, though they won’t kill you immediately. You’ll have the chance to investigate them and determine whether or not they’re really human.

This may keep you from wanting to let anyone in at all, but having no survivors with you will ultimately get you killed via other factors that you’re better off discovering for yourself.

That delicate balance creates a gameplay loop where you’re forced to risk letting someone in at night, hoping they’re not a skinwalker out to kill you. During the daytime, you get to investigate the people staying in your house in order to determine whether or not they’re a Guest or human.

No, I’m Not a Human

If you think they’re a Guest, you can shoot them on the spot. But you’ve got just as much of a chance of killing off a human on accident if you don’t guess correctly.

However, you’ve got a limited amount of energy to investigate others, requiring you to carefully weigh your options to determine who’s worth keeping alive.

It’s not like this game is all doom and gloom, though. Some of the people who show up at your door are so ridiculous that you’ll want to let them in out of curiosity alone, regardless of if they’re trying to kill you or not.

There’s a lot more to discover than I’m letting on, but spoiling that would ruin the joy of playing the game for yourself. Considering you can get it for less than it costs to get a cup of coffee, it’s worth your time.

Though it’s great to see games like Silent Hill 2’s exceptional remake and other great takes on the horror genre like Alan Wake 2 that have a huge budget, it’s important to remember that not every game has to be some massive, AAA blockbuster.

If you’re willing to spend a few dollars on a short experience like No, I’m Not a Human, you’ll be rewarded with a refreshing take on the horror genre that’ll stick with you despite its run time. It’s hard not to be excited for the game’s full release considering how good this small slice is.