This Creepy New Horror Game Has Made Me Terrified of My Neighbors

There are many indie horror gems since 2020 that have handled the disturbing darkness that appears around seemingly ordinary people. From home invasion to cosmic horrors where you must determine whether the person at your door is a human or an imposter—I’ve got too many reasons now to not go outside or interact in small talk. Stranger danger, am I right? I’m still telling couriers to leave parcels and food at the door, long after the pandemic. I need to touch grass, but how can I when there’s fake humans, crazed killers, and freaky neighbors out there? But maybe life isn’t exactly what indie horror has taught me.

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In the midst of all the eerie content—there’s a wide-eyed, unnaturally moving, forever creepy cartoonish character inviting me to have dinner at his place. I’m new to the neighborhood, I just want to fit in. We all need a community, right? I don’t want to judge on first impressions or someone’s appearance. But…have you seen that neighbor? His name is Theo. There’s something very wrong with him. I can’t place it, but there’s an uneasiness in the air, an uncomfortableness. His conversations make the hairs on the back of my neck stand. His eyes pierce my soul, climbing in to remove whatever confidence I had built up just to be here. There’s a darkness in him. Emanating from the basement. A darkness I can’t escape from.

Thanks Eli Stevens—I Hate It

This is Discussion Over Dinner, a free-to-play horror game by Eli Stevens that has put me off being a dinner guest ever again. You’re new to the neighborhood and friendly Theo wants to invite you over for dinner and a chat. He’s obsessed with conversation, you see. Like a strange mix of Morty after going through the detox machine in Rick & Morty and Salad Fingers, Theo says some very strange things. He’s very particular and forces you to listen to his likes, dislikes, hobbies, and strong views.

There’s not much to like—in fact—there’s a lot to hate. But Theo can’t know any of this. Because upsetting Theo will only get you thrown into his basement, where the rest of his “pets” dwell. Claustrophobic, starving, and afraid—that’s the fate that awaits you if you don’t endure dinner.

Everything is Telling Me to Run

So what is it about this game that has me so on edge? I’ve played horror games since adolescence, but few have managed to make me as uncomfortable as this game. If you’re a socially anxious person that sucks at small talk like me, it may be how Discussion Over Dinner perfectly captures the anxiety behind forming coherent sentences without coming across as “weird.”

Or maybe it’s Theo’s gaze, how it stays on me at all times, how he leans in and ignores mypersonal space that makes me want the Earth to swallow me up so I don’t have to deal with this man a second longer.

The Uncanny Valley

Discussion Over Dinner‘s cartoonish art design is fitting, as many popular entries like Bad Parenting and Baldi’s Basics use this simplistic appearance to trick us into thinking it’s friendly and harmless when they’re far from it. His large head, massive ears and eyes, small lips, and spindly legs paint an unnatural and uncanny image; as if Theo isn’t human.

You’re on edge the moment he greets you and remain in that space, your body tense for impact as if this man might lunge at you any moment. You’re forced to not only stare at the horror, but have to risk averting your eyes from the danger so you can choose your words wisely, for misclicking could get you killed.

The Mystery, The Horror

It sounds strange but the ferocious banging from the basement of past victims screaming for help isn’t what unsettles me. It’s that Theo made you steak, but he’s not eating. What kind of meat are you eating? How are his eyes that big, and why do his pupils expand when he shakes your hand? Is this all about control? Does Theo just get off on all this? There are so many questions, and I don’t want the answers to any of them.

For a moment I think to myself: is this about how we perceive others, or perhaps, how our greatest fears of what could go wrong stop us from truly being able to connect? But then I remember Theo’s friendliness is just a façade for the wickedness that’s bursting inside him, wanting so desperately to get out.

Discussion Over Dinner is more than feeling awkward, it’s more than being uncomfortable; it’s pure anxiety. Balancing conversation, eating, and managing distractions, this game is the ultimate anxiety and stress simulator and is one I may not get over. At least people aren’t actually like this… right?