Do you miss the days of physical magazines packed with demo discs? Would you like to see it perverted in sinister ways? PC Cursed 98 will give you the whole experience you’ve been looking for, it’s free, and it’s available for PC now.
PC Cursed 98 is a compilation of short indie games in the framework of the sort of demo disc that came with magazines in the ’90s and ’00s. This makes it adjacent to Haunted PS1 and its variety of PS1-styled cursed demo discs. What makes PC Cursed 98 a bit different is that it comes packed with an actual magazine. I’m not even talking about a short pamphlet, either. It’s 52 pages of articles and twisted advertisements. That’s commitment. It’s even set up in such a way that you can have it professionally printed out. On top of that, there are even covers for a CD case for the demo disc.
The (free) demo disc contains 21-ish shortform horror games from a slew of creators. From the list, I only really recognize Jacob Jazz, who made the Baobabs Mausoleum games. But that’s kind of the point of these compilations: you get a glimpse into the minds of a variety of small, indie developers. Maybe you’ll like what you see and will form a brand-new parasocial relationship with them!
The games are supposedly all horror-themed, but their style runs the gamut between lo-fi, jank pop, and retro-inspired. Typically, for these jams, a lot of the included games are very experimental. As such, some of them fail. Others might make you wish you could unsee them. But a few may echo in the darkest recesses of your soul. It’s worth a look. Jam games, I guess you could call them.
PC Cursed 98 is now available for PC through itch.io. It’s free, so it probably doesn’t hurt.
