Survive the night: would you survive a horror movie?

Five friends, one flashlight, one figure at the tree line

The Cabin at Black Pine is a short choose-your-path horror game for adults, and it asks one question: could you survive the night? Anyone who has watched a horror movie thinks they know the rules. Don't split up. Don't open the door. Don't go into the basement. This game puts those rules in front of you one at a time, at one in the morning, with a friend arguing the other way, and finds out whether you keep them.

You and four friends have rented a cabin on Black Pine Lake for the weekend. At 11:40 on the first night the power goes out, and Wes's car won't start. Someone in a rain slicker is standing at the edge of the pines, facing the cabin. Twenty minutes later, they still haven't moved. The nearest neighbor is across the cove. Dawn is at 6:10.

You make eight decisions between midnight and first light: what to grab first, whether anyone goes up to the car, what to do about a knock at the back door, who goes down to the basement, whether to trust the man on the phone, how to light the dock, what to do when the figure comes closer, and how to leave.

How this episode plays

Two meters sit above the scene. Flashlight shows how much battery is left, in three bands: Steady, Low and Dead. It is the only light in the cabin until someone gets the power back on. The figure shows how close he is: At the trees, In the yard, or At the door. Shining a light at him pushes him back and costs battery. Saving battery usually lets him come closer. Most of the night is deciding which of the two you can afford.

On the first screen you take one of three things. The owner's logbook explains who the figure is and what he does, and reading it in the dark costs battery. A road flare drives him back once. The keys to the owner's old truck give you a way out by the road, but you have to step outside to reach them, and he sees you do it.

Reading never costs anything. There are no timers, and the line under each choice tells you what it costs before you pick it. At the end, the meters and the people still with you decide which ways out work. Each way out has a condition, and the last screen says what it is. Some of the old horror movie rules hold at Black Pine Lake. At least one of them doesn't.

Who you meet

Dev booked the cabin and feels responsible for everyone in it. Lena is not going to sit in the dark because of a man in a raincoat, and she says so. Wes drove, and he is sure his car is only flooded. Tess is quiet, frightened and usually right. They are ordinary adults on a weekend away, and each of them has a plan that sounds reasonable at the time.

Ray Dunmore lives across the cove and looks after the cabin for its owner, June Ambler. June is not there, but her logbook is: thirty years of notes on the cabin, the lake and what to do when the lights go out. The figure at the tree line is a local story. People around the lake call him the Warden. The logbook and Ray can both tell you who he was, if you give them the time.

The five endings

Final Group, Final Two, Sole Survivor, Sequel Bait and Credits. In the best of them, all five of you see the sun come up. In two, you get out but not everyone does. In one, you get away and he doesn't stay behind. In the last, you don't get out of the cabin.

Every ending names the decision that made the difference, as "your one right choice" on a win or "your one wrong choice" otherwise. From the result page you can rewind to a turning point instead of starting over, and the endings you have found are saved on this device.

What kind of story is it?

A horror story told straight. The tension comes from the dark, the distance and the people in the room, not from shock. The figure never touches anyone on screen. People who go out into the dark go missing, and most of them are found the next day, cold and unable to say where they were. The stakes are still real inside the story: the worst ending is a cabin with its front door open at dawn and nobody coming out.

There is no gore, no jump scares and nothing graphic. Black Pine Lake, the Warden and everyone in the cabin are invented, and the game is about decisions under pressure, not advice for a real night in the woods. It is written for adults who like a short, tense game with a plain voice and a real choice on every screen.

Who you meet

• You. You have seen enough horror movies to know the rules. Tonight you find out which of them hold.
• Dev. Booked the cabin and feels responsible for everyone in it. Keeps saying it's just some guy.
• Lena. Not going to sit in the dark because of a man in a raincoat. Likes a plan, especially her own.
• Wes. Drove everyone up. Sure his car is only flooded.
• Tess. Quiet, frightened and usually right. Stays closest to you.
• Ray Dunmore. Lives across the cove and looks after the cabin. Knows the lake, and knows the story.
• June Ambler. The cabin's owner. She isn't there, but her logbook is.
• The Warden. A figure in a rain slicker at the tree line. A local story, as far as anyone will say.

Questions

How long does The Cabin at Black Pine take?

About five minutes for one run. There are eight decisions, and most people play it a few times to find more of the five endings.

Can you die before the last decision?

No. Every run reaches the last choice at five in the morning. Friends can go missing along the way, and earlier choices decide which ways out still work, but you always reach the end of the night.

Is it scary? Is there gore?

It is tense rather than gory. There is no blood, no jump scares and nothing graphic. The worst ending is serious, and it is told plainly, from a distance.

Is it free, and does it save?

It is free, with no sign-up. Your current run and the endings you have found are saved in this browser, and nothing is sent to a server.