Project Jump Scare

Project Jump Scare is a single-player survival horror game. You wake in an empty office lit by emergency lights, with balloons left from a celebration that never happened. Across the street is a building, while something enormous waits on the horizon in the fog. You leave safety to carry one critical item at a time and return before the woods change again.

Scavenge and restore

You gather food and water to keep hunger and thirst from ending the run. Parts are placed randomly, and you collect them one at a time to restore carnival rides, including a merry-go-round, Ferris wheel and tea cups. Your following drone lights the dark and can be thrown at threats.

Fight and escape

When your hands are empty, you attack enemies with click-to-attack close combat or throw the drone. Carrying a part prevents you from fighting: you must drop it, deal with the threat and pick it up again. Once the rides are restored, the illusion breaks and a cosmic entity emerges. You then face a timed escape as it grows.

Current content

The current single-player experience includes the office and building introduction, the drone reveal, forest crossings, full carnival restoration and the final escape sequence. It also includes the one-item carry rule, click combat, the throwable drone and survival meters. A smaller free demo remains available, built around the same loop of leaving safety, carrying one item, fighting when you drop it, returning and restoring.

Planned expansion

The planned Early Access expansion widens scavenging into more kinds of places, both during restoration and escape. Suburban neighborhoods, stores, malls and other areas may appear around the carnival; these spaces are not in the demo. The carnival is the first full step, with areas around it intended to be activated next. How far that expansion can go before it becomes unruly is something players will test, and the loop may change as its scope grows. Generation, balance, combat feel and content volume are expected to change, while the one-item rule, shifting forest and Old One remain central.