''Don't Knock Twice'' is a first-person

survival horror Survival horror is a Video game genre, subgenre of Survival game, survival of the players as the game tries to frighten them with either horror graphics or scary ambience. Although combat can be part of the gameplay, the player is made to feel l ...

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...

developed and published by

Wales Interactive Wales Interactive Limited is a Welsh independent video game developer and publisher established in 2011 and based in Penarth, Wales. The studio, best known for '' Maid of Sker'', '' The Bunker'', ''Five Dates'' and '' The Complex'', have published ...

. The game is compatible with the

PlayStation VR The PlayStation VR (PS VR, known by its code name Project Morpheus during development) is a virtual reality headset developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, which was released in October 2016. It is fully functional with the PlayStation 4 a ...

HTC Vive VIVE, sometimes referred to as HTC Vive, is a virtual reality brand of HTC Corporation. It consists of hardware like its titular virtual reality headsets and accessories, virtual reality software and services, and initiatives that promote ...

and

Oculus Rift Oculus Rift is a discontinued line of virtual reality headsets developed and manufactured by Oculus VR, a division of Meta Platforms, released on March 28, 2016. In 2012 Oculus initiated a Kickstarter campaign to fund the Rift's development, a ...

virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), e ...

platforms. It was released worldwide in September 2017. A version for the

Nintendo Switch The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a tablet that can either be docked for use as a home console or used as a portable device, making it a ...

was released in October 2017. ''Don't Knock Twice'' shares the same name as the film and is loosely based on the same story. The player takes the role of a guilt-ridden mother who must save her estranged daughter by uncovering the truth behind the

urban tale Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of people ...

of a vengeful, demonic

witch Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have u ...

Gameplay

The player is free to explore a grand manor house in search of their character's lost daughter. In VR, they can teleport to move around and interact with almost every item. The player has a mobile phone, which guides through the house and leaves hints to what challenges or puzzles lay ahead. While searching for their daughter, the player is being haunted by a demonic witch,

Baba Yaga In Slavic folklore, Baba Yaga, also spelled Baba Jaga (from Polish), is a supernatural being (or one of a trio of sisters of the same name) who appears as a deformed and/or ferocious-looking woman. In fairy tales Baba Yaga flies around in a ...

, who is able to appear from anywhere at any time. There are some combat elements such as wielding an axe to chop down doors and creating flamethrowers by combining two items.

Plot

Loosely based on the film, the game follows guilt-ridden artist/sculptor mother Jessica Webb-Thomas, as she uncovers the terrifying truth behind the frightening urban legend of the vengeful, demonic witch

from

Slavic folklore Slavic folklore encompasses the folklore of the Slavic peoples from their earliest records until today. Folklorists have published a variety of works focused specifically on the topic over the years.See, for example, Kononenko 2007. See also * ...

in order to save her estranged daughter Chloe.

Development

The game was announced by Wales Interactive on October 24, 2016, with a free playable demo, which was released on

Steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporizat ...

for

. A following update included support for

with

Oculus Touch Oculus Touch is the motion controller system used by Reality Labs in their Rift CV, Rift S, Quest, and Quest 2 virtual reality systems. Three iterations of the controllers have been developed; the first for use in the original Oculus Rift, wh ...

controls. On December 12, 2016, Wales Interactive campaigned for a place in the VRDB "2016 VR of the Year Awards" and went on to reaching the final round of nominations after achieving a mention in the Top 50 list.

Reception

''Don't Knock Twice'' received mixed to negative reviews from critics. On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, the game holds scores of 56/100 for the PC version based on six reviews, 56/100 for the PlayStation 4 version based on seven reviews, and 39/100 for the Switch version based on five reviews. The game was nominated for the "Creativity and Heritage Award" at

The Independent Game Developers' Association The Independent Game Developers' Association (TIGA) is a trade association representing the business and commercial interests of some video and computer game developers in the UK and Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally con ...

Awards 2017, and for "Sound Design" at the 2018

Develop Awards ''Develop'' was a monthly UK trade magazine for the video game industry. Its online portal, complete with a digital version of the print publication, was active since July 2007. Develop 100 was an annual rating system for game developers produ ...

References

External links

*{{Official website, http://www.walesinteractive.com/dontknocktwice 2017 video games Horror video games Indie games Nintendo Switch games PlayStation 4 games PlayStation 4 Pro enhanced games PlayStation VR games Single-player video games Video games developed in the United Kingdom Windows games Xbox One games Wales Interactive games