Can Mascot Horror save itself?

[@thecluckster3908]

I like seeing kiddie horror as a gateway to actual good horror. Once kids grow out of it, they’ll look for actually good horror and I think that’s a major positive for indie horror.

[@cyd_hunter99]

@T1ger.MP4 yeah, exactly. Either they grow tired of the slop, or they see what good horror can be and look for more. The issue with the way people view things like this is they operate under the assumption these kids are gonna stay kids and their tastes will never change. It feels that way because there's always more kids replacing the ones growing up. They WILL grow up, their tastes will change, and they're either gonna move on from horror entirely, or go looking for better versions of it.

[@Jobroski47]

Thank you for giving me a more calm way of looking at it

[@MrIrdatlan]

I only looke for the porn, never for the scary part

[@Mark6O9]

Most kiddie horror back then was Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Dead Space, or anything else that didn't seem scary but was scary to children. Nowadays it's just badly made horror games made by shitty devs of either greed, or reusing a scenario again and again

[@damongambuti]

im probably in the kiddie horror to analogue horror pipeline

[@trevorswims5754]

I think what made Fnaf 1 good back then was not just the fact that Scott Cawthon took something from our childhoods and made it scary, but it was also because he had it placed in a creepy destination with a creepy atmosphere. When you go to a kids pizza place, you don't expect it to look like an old, abandoned, run down building with low quality cameras and poor electricity. The chuck e cheese animatronics were creepy enough, but image the restaurant they were in looked just as unsettling? The pizzeria in fnaf didn't look like a place where children would want to play or eat at. There's also the colors and shading of everything. While the fnaf 1 animatronics don't look that scary in regular light, their colors aren't too bright or colorful, making them look as if they hadn't been cleaned in years which of course, adds to the creepiness of it all. The darkness of the pizzeria at night and dark colors of the building amplify the scariness as well as the noises you hear through the night. Poppy and BanBan on the other hand, take place in environments than are too colorful and lack what made FNAF scary, especially banban. Huggy wuggie just looks like a plush toy with some teeth glued in it's mouth to make it scary, and Jumbo Josh is literally play doh with eyes and a mouth. Edit: One thing I'd also like to note is that the stories in these newer indie horror games always involve souls or dead bodies of children being stuffed inside of the monsters which is the reason why the monster is alive in the first place, and sometimes it's the dead body of a past employee of the facility you're exploring and it's getting really old and repetitive.

[@Mark6O9]

Don't forget Huggie was made by devs who cyberbullied a minor because of animations they reviewed when they went under that name Animation Sins, supported NFTs to lock lore behind it, and did other sketchy shit that I would rather not talk about at the moment. But Fnaf was just that game we all played and got scared by and gave us nightmares as kids. Sad we went down this path

[@Pulapaws]

Play dou is beyond scary if you have kids and carpet…lol

[@cryololphosaurus]

@@stanfisher2450 absolutely true

[@hop9193]

@Stan Fisher facts

[@CabezasDePescado]

fnaf sucks

[@VengeanceGD]

Bendy and the dark revival released a few months ago and TheMeatly knows that BATIM wasn’t that good of a horror game. Yet he put passion into this release, and confirming that BENDY will be taking another direction and will have more gore than before, making it mature. I do hope they get out of this trend of horror games.

[@noodlebro6983]

Bendy as much nostalgia and love I have for it was far from a good horror game. Chapter 3 was the “scariest” merely because Bendy could attack you at any given moment but even then it was just tense. BATIM is a tense game more then a horror game.

[@hilariousskullnamedcatzo647]

Considering the fact he made fun of the mascot horror genre, i think they're already out of it

[@johnk9727]

It’s really neat watching devs improve over time

[@charlieg3819]

@T1GGA.09yeah, he is saying the first game was bad but dark revival was good

[@zallyboii]

Yooo Vengeance wsg my G

[@text1016]

I am the type of person who really just liked watching people play these games instead of actually wanting to experience that horror. As a kid it was too scary for me but now it seems dull. Jumpscares really arent new but I feel empathy towards developers because honestly I cant think of stories that are scary by themselves, the only way to scare people like me and many others seems to be this cheap trick. Makes me wonder how good horror is in the first place.

[@TheCursedJudge]

I honestly think that brand recognition in general really hurts a horrors games scariness, because people tend to have a set of expectations and of how far the game is gonna go. One thing I like about a lot of indie horror is how it could have been made by anyone, and anything can be in it. I think a lot of good horror comes from feeling truly vulnerable, so if you've played 5 fnaf games, the 6th isn't likely to really surprise you with how it goes about stuff. The jumpscares just become a punishment, and not the end result of all of your anxiety and fear.

[@kagemushashien8394]

@@TheCursedJudge I Got It! I remember some psychological thing I heard or read, the more senses the game makes you feel, like sight, sound, etc, the more immersed you feel, basically if I make a game that hits as many senses, it will bring true horror for a game. Also making the person feel like they're vulnerable is also a neat tactic.

[@superadambomb5834]

@@TheCursedJudge I agree with what your saying but there is one thing that I’d like to say. While jumpscares are often just a punishment there can be a really good jumpscare that instills true fear. Take fnaf pizzeria sim for example. The office sections of that game rely on how much noise you are making so you have to be as quiet as possible however you need to complete tasks that make a crap ton of noise. When you hear something in the vent that’s right next to you, you don’t know if you can get them to leave or if you’ve already lost. Fnaf is such a great horror game series because each game is different and unique and has their own reasons to be afraid of each.

[@ftb282]

Phasmophobia is my favourite horror game and ive never really enjoyed any others. When you do finally get jumpscared its not that bad. It is pretty damn scary setting everything up especially on higher difficulties, but most of the time its just the tension and level of risk that keeps you on edge rather than the fear of a jumpscare

[@Dailyfiver]

Horror movies have always been a huge bore for me because I feel like it’s always like “watch this person get chased and killed!” Or something shallow. Killing, brutal deaths and jump scares are the real cheap tricks of horror for me. FNAF actually felt like the horror had been given depth, and it’s the only reason I like the genre at all honestly.

[@antidotebrain69]

I started with the lore train. Stayed for nastalgia. They took my childhood and made it fun to watch. It gave me incentive to socialize. The let's players were charming and funny. It's awesome!

[@justthereed5593]

I’m glad you mentioned fanfiction. It’s a piece of the internet that is often overlooked and ridiculed, but it’s a legit thing. Haven’t read any FNAF fanfic, but in other fandoms, it’s often better than the source material.

[@TheCursedJudge]

I've read some fnaf fanfic years back when I was absolutely obsessed with the game, but I'd never be able to find the ones I did. I remember one that had a really strange and sudden sad ending after delving really deep into the "these monsters are our friends!!!" trope. I don't know how good it is, but it has been stuck in my head since. I'm pretty sure she either dies, gets blinded, or both.

[@nathanpierce7681]

oh man, i remember reading a fnaf fic where millie becomes friends with the animatronics from the book starting with funtime freddy think it was called lost and found

[@bigboydancannon4325]

Fanfic is cringe

[@justthereed5593]

@@bigboydancannon4325 maybe Fnaf fanfic is, but most fanfiction really isn’t cringe lmao. Some of it is shockingly well written with great character work and world building. Not to be underestimated. The bad shit is what people talk about

[@bigboydancannon4325]

@@justthereed5593 It's all cringe

[@baitposter]

Doors on Roblox is probably a great example of kiddie/mascot horror done well. You can't really explore deeper adult concepts with this subgenre, but you can do the explorative elements and thrills well. I would hope they make a standalone game eventually, but they're probably doing fine on that platform, as it makes them money and comes with crossplatform compatibility.

[@DoctorWhoXIII]

Bendy is trying to save it, but even after BATDR and TheMeatly talking about going more toward adult horror, Poppy still did too many damage to this type.... Iron Lung and BATDR were the only good indie horror game we got last year i feel like. I feel like only FNAF or Bendy can give us back the fear. Now plastic toy and googly eyes are ''scary"

[@FillaneAmmisto]

I just wished BATDR was released on time. The hype was huge, I kept watching out for updates but after one year of delay I saw less and less people care and soon left the fandom myself. The hype died down so much that many didn't even notice it was finally released. I hope that meatly and his future projects will be more successful

[@superadambomb5834]

Even fnaf is started to slip into that kiddie horror with security breach. Steel wool did say that they want to make the ruin dlc more horror focused but I’m remaining skeptical.

[@syweb2]

@@FillaneAmmisto Honestly, if BATDR had released sooner, it probably wouldn't have been as good because it would have been more rushed, at the very least cutting out some content, and probably also being less polished and stable overall (so basically, the next Security Breach).

[@DoctorWhoXIII]

@@superadambomb5834 yeah same i hope the movie is not kid friendly

[@superadambomb5834]

@@DoctorWhoXIII Blum house is making it so I would assume that it’s not going to be kid friendly. At least I hope so.

[@DrEnzyme]

As long as there's been horror there's been budget horror, it's just that the subject matter has changed from generation to generation. Before Kiddie Horror and the rise of FNAF, we had ZOMBIES. So many zombies. And for every good game like Dead Rising or Left for Dead, there were a bunch of knockoff zombie games that were bad. The good news is that once the fad is over, you'll get to look forward to the rare and beautiful homage that pays tribute to the games that you loved. Vermintide owes its existence to Left for Dead. Stardew Valley was built off the ashes of Harvest Moon. Pizza Tower -> Warioland. Just wait, good things will come.

[@ContendCreators]

I used to think harvest mmon was a console 3d knockoff of stardew valoew

[@MarcusTalks1]

@@ContendCreatorsharvest moon has been around for a very long time, spanning many console generations

[@Ollimus]

I'm really excited for FNAF +, because it might give me that same fear that FNAF 1 - 6 did.

[@sethisevilone02]

fnaf + is what fnaf used to be before it went kid frendly and i want it to go back to that

[@duckman9327]

@@sethisevilone02it’s always been kid friendly, wym? Scott specifically said he made it kid friendly, that’s why we don’t see actual dead people

[@sethisevilone02]

@@duckman9327 there are 2 dead guys hanging in sl.....

[@Delta21OnYT]

​@@sethisevilone02 They're only silhouettes so its not that spooky but even then thats dark for a game series about a haunted chuck e cheese

[@sethisevilone02]

@@Delta21OnYT right I forget a game series about dead children suicide murder torture DISEMBOWELMENT and a rotting corpse inside a suit was kid friendly and not for teens/adults How silly of me

[@HazelVsTheWrld]

I remember back in the 2000s horror games were actually scary, something you dared your friends to play. but now... they are just property for KZbin Kids to make money.

[@SoulofStatic]

Corporate horror

[@NaisanSama]

@@SoulofStatic Very horrific

[@carmina-solis]

i mean i would argue we are in another golden age of horror, but mascot horror is. not that.

[@HazelVsTheWrld]

@@carmina-solis that's what I meant, mascot horror is not my favorite. Indie horror is my favorite.

[@lakshaygupta1164]

Not only is poppy playtime predatory for children made only to squeeze money out of them but the controversy around its making is also bad , the amount of allegations about the company that made it is absurd , the biggest ones are their KZbin channel where they steal content through unfair contracts and exploiting young creators and how they literally stole the game's idea from a 15 year old kid and used their money power to shut him up

[@DoctorWhoXIII]

@Evan Afron It is lol look at those designe

[@DoctorWhoXIII]

@Evan Afron Pffff i doubt this but lets wait and see, i really doubt they will be willing to loose more than half they playerbase that are kids lol

[@des4929]

@Evan Afron rich coming from someone with mob games as their profile picture

[@des4929]

@Evan Afron yes but have you seen what enchanted mob the KZbin channel who owns Mob games? They own the characters and they make the worst clickbait content imaginable they made poppy playtime to make it a content cow cause they knew that it would be popular with kids

[@pancakes8670]

Not to mention potentially bribed youtuber Theft King into becoming one of their propaganda agents.

[@transhumanistgamer8963]

You're the only other person I've seen go in depth about the KZbinr (and their audience) side of this trend. It's very telling that the Euphoric Brothers have made quite a few other games, but the moment they delve into 'what if childhood thing, but scary' with a doofy character chasing the player in a heavily scripted sequence, their game is spread across KZbin like an epidemic. Kiddie horror is an interesting name for these sorts of games. I personally go with 'KZbin Horror for Kids' because even though it's a bit more of a mouthful, it encapsulates everyone involved in this strange little ecosystem. The one element I think you missed, however, is KZbin's own hand in this. As of late, KZbin has been cracking down on gore and swearing, often resulting in the video becoming demonitized. For youtubers who make a living off of their channel, are looking to do that, or just don't want the time and effort they put into recording a video to go to waste financially, they're thus incentivized to focus more on games like Poppy Playtime or Garten of Banban which by virtue of being for kids, are going to be free of those elements.

[@aw3707]

i really like the timeline base for this video! i know it's like, literally the sort of thing you gotta do to lay out some context, but i enjoy how it was executed. didn't get too deep into the suckiness of games (that we're all aware of), got to the point of the video. also, i really thought garten of banban was satire at first! but after hearing all the commentary and then some of the messages the devs have sent out, like, wow. yeah, as you said it, bit of a masterpiece for kiddie horror. it even has the indie dev "we're trying our best and trying something new (:" talk

[@ieetmelons]

I think another thing about fnaf is that since it's level based rather than story based it has replay ability even after you watch it, because you don't know exactly when the scary stuff happens as it's entirely based on your own performance. this allows the game to continuously be scary

[@yellowstarproductions6743]

True

[@dabbingperson9236]

I’m not the kind of emotional masochist that enjoys horror games (or most horror in general really) but it is certainly interesting. What fascinates me about horror is that it actively promises an emotionally negative experience that most people wouldn’t normally partake in. However, it most often invoking fear/discomfort provides an adrenaline rush that provides a sense of relief after the fact. There are few horror games I like though. How Fish is Made, Perfect Vermin, Inside and Limbo come to mind.

[@punkuke]

Do you watch Jacob Gellar?

[@dabbingperson9236]

@@punkuke I watched Gross Games about Flesh and Stuff and thought the games looked interesting and they were.

[@FlavioAndradeCanedo]

A great example of a indie horror game that i found was "Amanda the Adventurer" It really is more of a analog horror than anything but it's definetly scarier then most games nowadays

[@2-Way_Intersection]

has goosebumps taught us nothing? you can make horror for kids, its just a lot of devs dont get how.

[@SilentOnion]

Goosebumps is a great example of horror for kids. Though when i was a kid i didnt like any of them except one (the one with the school picture that made you stuck in time). And i kinda dont like the idea of making horror for kids. Every horror game made for kids is one great real horror game wasted as if you are not a kid the chances youll enjoy it are low. And as we know kids bring the money so theyll make more and more kid horror and no one is left to work on real horror

[@Cosmoandtherobins]

I appreciate your balance between your objective stances and your personal interjections. There's a sort of ego in a lot of these videos where opinion is toted as fact, ig that's the nature of review. That said, when you do interject with something you're displaying as opinion- it's endearing, it's where you allow emotion in. So we get to see an analytical mind that's candidly personal. Aside from like listing statistics, all analysis is subjective, right, but good analysis creates a discussion, the discussion being rooted in the analysis turns the analysis into a sort of group objectivity. You speak, as if what you say is objective or true, because it's good analysis. Without backpedaling, your interjections allow us in to your mind, because we accept your emotions, and then we accept that your analysis is good, objective, and true. You're skilled.

[@TheCursedJudge]

This is the most glowing praise I've ever been given, I truly appreciate it

[@Cosmoandtherobins]

@@TheCursedJudge Just found your channel. You’ve got a good mind, and I’m invested in seeing what perspectives you find on the topics you cover. And thanks for the content you’ve made, it’s inspired a lot of thought

[@TheCursedJudge]

it's no problem, I'm glad you enjoy

[@bettafin933]

criminally underrated channel. easiest sub of my life lol

[@SatiricalSheep]

I like Baldi's basics, i don't feel like explaining why right now but in short, i feel that it's probably the least mascot horror mascot horror game that ever mascot horrored. like the game was made as a goofy parody of old edutainment games (Mostly Sonic's Schoolhouse), and you can really see the influence, esspecially in the newer versions like Baldi's Basics Plus. The creator also doesn't care too much about merchandising, the only merch being a Baldi plush (and youtooz figure), and those other plushies and figures back when the game was popular So it just feels more like an actual passion project instead of something to make a quick buck, heck the only Baldi game that costs money is Baldi's Basics Plus, and it isn't even that expensive if i'm being honest

[@amazingkool]

The garten of banban devs got mad that people were playing and then refunding their games. I can't be asked to seamlessly connect that to the topic at hand, but fits well with the context of this video.

[@adamusprime403]

I have what I feel is a unique stance on the idea of child oriented horror, which is that I fully support the concept, but I feel like Garten of Banban, amongst many others take advantage of their child audience by heavily pushing merchandise, alongside creating extremely low quality content. It's not too disimilar to Children's oriented KZbin videos.

[@punkuke]

Actually, people who are familiar with the topic pretty unanimously agree with this.

[@as4180]

That's my biggest issue. Like yeah, everything being a FNAF rip off is one thing, but things like Poppy Playtime trying to sell lore relevant NFTs is so egregiously predatory. Those companies are doing some nasty shit with their child audiences.

[@JetSetDman]

Regarding Banban, I think that one guy in Rapwned's video whose name I don't know said it best: "I was surprised that this wasn't a Roblox game."

[@Nictheidoit]

As an indie dev for roblox, I’ve been trying to my game a full release title not chapter/update based And take 3-4 years each game to actually be good.

[@ravkinz7831]

Good luck!!

[@ContendCreators]

My rblx accounts coolbaldi124

[@yomomma6559]

Do u have a name for it?

[@Nictheidoit]

Arrival by strange

[@JuanJose-q2o5t]

Bruh. The fnaf characters on the shirt with ISRAEL slapped below caught me off guard, I had to circle back to see if what I saw was real.

[@everestlol4309]

came from the link u posted in jermacord stayed for thr actually good video🔥

[@Omnywrench]

A lot of people seem to think that kiddie horror is bad because its aimed at kids, but personally I think that's only half right. Kids deserve horror made for them too; just look at Goosebumps, Are You Afraid of the Dark, Courage the Cowardly Dog, etc. What I feel is the biggest problem with a lot of kiddie/mascot horror is the lack of passion behind it all, each new game being little more than a cheap vehicle for merchandising that tries to check every box to make the FNAF lightning strike twice. Hell, even FNAF wasn't initially made to be a toy-slinging cash cow, it just found a profitable formula and ran with it. I mean yeah, most properties aimed at kids have merchandising, but it shouldn't be the primary goal of a game to just sell stuff to kids. Kids deserve better art, not better ads.

[@Miken398]

The most important thing you brought up was the idea that popularity does not equal money, when a lot people experience horror games through other people playing them and not playing themselves. I can't even blame people for not buying the games themselves because I'm one of them. While Telltale's Walking Dead isn't really a horror game, after buying and being disappointed with Season 2, I chose to just watch Let's plays of Season 3 and 4 because the narrative and linear nature of the games provided no value as an experience worth playing itself, but I was still curious to see what happened to the main character. I can't think of another genre like Horror where the popularity gained is so disproportionate from the sales. Kiddie Horror and merchandising is the next logical step of making up for low sales with a passionate fanbase. Perhaps what will save indie horror from returning to the niche scene it once was is a new innovative game that breaks the mold entirely and convinces people like me that the experience is better or worth playing ourselves rather than watching others. Horror is more than walking through hallways simulators, but games with great horrifying art styles and atmosphere also aren't necessarily Horror as the creepiness is secondary to the gameplay (Call of Duty: World at War Zombies for example). Somewhere in the middle may both provide a focus on scares while also having value as a game itself.

[@TheCursedJudge]

Outside of merchandising, I think FNAF almost hit the middle ground. A community did form around the difficulty of the games, and there is much more a gameplay focus than most horror games. It's hard for me to imagine a gameplay centric horror game though outside of it, which means I'm probably not the next horror game millionaire.

[@Get.Pwned619]

8:39 the exact concept for bendy to consider it scary

[@desertyoshi_plays]

Personally I think Bendy and the Dark Revival shows that there can still be passion put into this mascot horror genre. I feel like they really wanted to make a good game. There are still issues of course, but it gives me some hope.

[@maxellaroe]

You guys are sleepin on my buddy Tattletail, smh. 😔

[@carrot7868]

I remember when it was trendy.

[@nilan3294]

Tattletail was goated

[@UnicornPlantMonster]

Indie horror is probably one of my favorite genres of horror. I don’t know what it is, it’s just amazing. This is coming from a 19-year-old who grew up watching, reading, and playing horror almost all the time.

[@paynedowney2923]

How does a free gaming series called five nights at warios manage to be scarier than all of these

[@Chaotic_Overlord]

Wario's scary

[@Someone-sq8im]

I think this is why Subnautica is often regarded as one of the best horror games of the late 2010s: It wasn’t trying to be horror. Unknown Worlds designed Subnautica to be a survival game, like Ark or Don’t Starve. It wasn’t meant to be utterly terrifying; it’s just how the game evolved.

[@LARAUJO_0]

I find it interesting how Poppy Playtime is grouped with Big Larry and Garten of Banban, because I think it's actually one of the best mascot horror games out there due to how unique its mechanics are and how well it builds tension during the scary parts

[@iammoop1675]

I just like watching lets plays of games that I have already played, because then it's like you're re-experiencing an amazing game you played.

[@panslamjolliff5051]

came here from your games you can never play again video, awesome work!!! subbed.

[@petracora]

It’s so crazy going back to this video and seeing the state of mascot horror back then. I don’t even know what’s happening now.

[@PurpleDude-ishere]

to this day, mascot horror might actually save it's self because of Poppy Playtime & Garten of Banban since Garten of Banban 7 has released not to long ago Garten of Banban 7's reviews were great while Poppy Playtime on the other hand had released Chapter 3 3 months ago it was also a success but FNAF seems to be failing a bit with FNAF World's reviews, Security Breach's reviews & the movie's 32% rotten tomatoes also being the lowest rated video game movie of all time, FNAF is falling kind of while Poppy Playtime & Garten of Banban are fixing themselves but with a new mascot horror game called "Indigo Park" the game seems to be doing well but thats all of the information i got

[@2damackz000]

Ngl that need to understand the past to understand the future thing u did was kinda lit

[@kikasolis]

Unrelated, but great choice in background music :] Great video!

[@TheCursedJudge]

Thank you!

[@prestonrush8014]

I'm thinking about developing a Horror game myself. Which is why I'm watching thesee videos, so I could use them as tips. So thank you because your video was really helpful.

[@Mark6O9]

In my opinion. It depends on who makes it and how devoted they are. Poppy's is a game made by devs who bullied a kid because of his animations and also supported NFTs to back out of it but never delete them, Hello Neighbor was created by devs who wanted attention from one individual Mat Pat and it died because it wasn't fun, Tattletale was at one point a super interesting horror game with new and interesting ways to make it difficult or scary but died because people didn't want to play it or support it anymore and I wish the dev did something else besides Tattletale instead of just disappearing, Bendy at one point I found a good horror game but then eventually just became an overrated reused concept of the same characters in different scenarios, Garten of Ban Ban is bad because there's nothing scary or good about it's atmosphere or story. It's just a badly optimized "Horror" game that trys to be Poppys and Fnaf but fails to be that because of the game just being a few minutes then the sequel being worth this amount of money for the same amount of time. All in All like I said it depends on who the dev is, what their capable of with their work, and if they're actually devoted to it instead of making it a cash grab.

[@EL1TEHD1]

Bendy ultimately became good with BATDR

[@johnk9727]

Man I came into this vid ready to hear “indie horror isn’t good it’s dead and bad” but you gave a really good take

[@TimTam60]

not Mascot Horror- but the Puppet Combo games are ridiculously expensive.

[@TimTam60]

@@KotoCrash yea they live off of hype from KZbinrs reacting to them

[@LillianGraceFullofficial]

Ok tbh I consider dhmis being the first mascot horror. (Or at least first more popular mascot horror) people disregarding every other mascot horror before or around fnaf is the main thing that ruined the sub-genre. in general I’m tired of smaller communities falling down into a dark era because they see someone else get clout or money and copy off of it like they’ll die if they don’t.

[@JadedKake]

Fnaf was the kind of game we were all scared of as kids, but look back and smile now that we are older.

[@vitraartist2622]

I think it's funny that 'Kiddie Horror' is basically a plauge on society and most everyone wants it to go. While 'Kittyhorrorshow' is a very famous indie horror game dev who I've only heard praise about.

[@vincentmichael7979]

I remember when FNaF first released, I didn’t play it or watch it because I didn’t even know where it was available But, eventually I found it played it for a few days. Then I had my son and he grew up knowing what it was and loves it. Now I have 3 kids who update me on rainbow friends, poppy playtime and garten of banban DAILY and I HATE IT

[@nikohatbot]

your videos are fucking incredible im actually pissed off that this doesnt have like 5 million views AUUUGHHH

[@ShockedLogic]

It's hard not to see mascot horror as a well that's already run completely dry, but at the very least I can hope its state keeps turning fans into a more discerning audience that stay away from obvious formulaic products.

[@DogSippingRootbeer]

It’s simple. Just make an m rated game with a mascot horror character and actually make it good, fun and interesting

[@Lanesra62905]

Yeah, it just needs to be perfect in every way! Simple!

[@des4929]

@@Lanesra62905 they aren't talking about it being perfect in every way they simply want a good M rated mascot horror game and while yes that would of course take a long time to develop it is fully possible

[@driguesbarcellos]

​@@Lanesra62905 dumb

[@diegoarend3281]

6:08 Should've added matpat's "LOREEEEEE!!!"

[@ironbacon]

"Merchandising merchandising, where the real money from the movie is made" -yogurt

[@garrettfairley3401]

The only reason I'm "Okay" with Garten of Banban is it doesn't take long to make. At least it gives us SOMETHING to do until Poppy's Playtime chapter 3 comes out...

[@Simbala-bq5vy]

Garten of Badbad is the definition of quantity over quality

[@garrettfairley3401]

@@Simbala-bq5vy BadBad. Nice.🤣

[@jjkrayenhagen]

Now I wonder about how the ghost hunter genre fits in with this thought process.

[@TheCursedJudge]

I'd count that in with normal horror games, but they do actually get a real boost from youtube exposure. At least with Phasmaphobia, it offers the ability to play with friends and has differing gameplay session to session. Good thing to point out.

[@IWADsarecool]

the euphoric brothers? more like the drunk off of low alchahol beer brothers

[@Kalitayy]

It kinda did with My Friendly Neighborhood. Although not the scariest, but a step in the right direction.

[@badman5363]

Imo, indie horror died because of fnaf. The fnaf games are good, but devs that took inspiration from the game did not take the elements that made fnaf good; being stuck in one area, sitting there in anticipation as the animatronics inevitably come without knowing when. Instead, they just took the concept of cute, fluffy monsters that are somewhat creepy (not outright scary), and now we have unscary horror games like poppy playtime being popular. Edit: It isn’t fair to blame fnaf for this, the indie horror devs are at fault.

[@SoulofStatic]

All indie horror games become the same, it was really annoying

[@driguesbarcellos]

Didnt die

[@fanerv3304]

I love that when people mention mascot horror all games they can mention is Fnaf, Bendy, Hello N, Poppy and BanBan Great video!

[@TheCursedJudge]

and Big Larry, of course

[@idiotsland242]

If you know wtf big Larry is you are a indie horror legend

[@asherz2]

not related to the video subject, but i have to say i love your use of the beastars soundtrack!

[@lollylord64]

FNAF is true peak. It's the only mascot horror game series that I can genuinely say is awesome even to this day.

[@enzl4493]

puppet combo is the goat of indie horror

[@Dork_000]

Puppet combo chillas art and rayll are the best but I will say the vhs low poly style is kinda overused they're still great

[@ijneb1248]

Nun massacre got me clenching mu butthole for 15 minutes straight

[@retrodefective]

i feel like garten of banban has to be satire or something. it's just a way too on the nose, perfect deconstruction of everything that sucks about mascot horror. the first thing i noticed when i played it is that the "creativity room" was locked. there can never be as perfect a metaphor for the mascot horror zeitgeist as that.

[@SuperFlashDriver]

To be honest, One of the monsters that I was actually scared of, was an animatronic dragon from a family movie...A Paramount Family Feature With An Uncanny Being In The Film??? That to me fucked me up for two decades until 2021 when I finally got over the fear and started to feel much, much better. But still, to this very day, the animatronic dragon from Dragonworld still lingers one as one of the reminders of what I experienced with nightmares. However, for me personally one of my favorite childhood horror flicks were americanized versions of j-horror films, Saw, Cabin Fever, and Hostel. Sawe especially because the story of that series inspired me to want to do filmmaking, not just with video games and family films, but more mature and horror side of things as well. FNAF was just a franchise that reminded me of what my nightmares use to be. Although they still get me with jumpscares, I realized it's the audio that gets me scared (music changes my mood perception really well), not so much the visuals. To be honest, I can easily scare myself of thinking up of a found footage of a hot female literally having to hide from a uncanny looking realistic t-rex, wanting to find the lady and eventually eat her alive. Eventually she'll dye and that two dinosaurs eventually eat her up as a nice full dinner meal...With pentagrams and crosses included...To me that type of horror I'm sure would scare a lot of people, but if you think about it, I'm surprised not many would think of making a horror franchise just by asking people what kind of nightmares did they have in the past, during their childhood, compared to the present and future. And then showing the interpretations of those nightmares on video or filmed. As for the music, well, it be abrupt and not synced, as with what most people experience in dreams. Sometimes music isn't needed at all and just hearing sounds, footsteps, running, breathing, etc. is just enough to make people anxious and nervous in the moment, until it's over and done with. Again, dreams and nightmares are a gateway of other experiences outside of our reality, of what it would be like to be in those situations outside of earth and entertainment.

[@fedorb9286]

In hard time there will be great games. And In great games we will find great times.

[@harry.t9523]

Well considering the fact that we now have games like “Poppy Playtime”, “Garten of Banban”, “Amanda the Adventurer”, “Indigo Park”, “Don’t Fret” and “Finding Frankie”, I’d say the genre is doing pretty good.

[@deathbunny3542]

1:30 why did that "How about you do it yourself" sound so sassy lmao

[@Cakesuhhh]

why am I thinking I can fix an entire genre of horror so easily?

[@SilentOnion]

I miss the rpghorrors peak era

[@dave7474]

on god

[@gametram6139]

petscop may not be a playable game, but it's what I see as the best mascot horror so far.

[@dragonempress8367]

Horror movies also had a lot of merch: Child's play, Friday the 13th, Halloween, nightmare on elms street and Scream just to name a few. Kiddie horror isn't the only genre limited to merchandise and making bank. Don't ask me how I feel about these! XD

[@Thaden_Martin]

Has nothing to do with the video but Soma is such a great horror game. Such a wonderful story and message. I’d love to see you make a video on the game

[@theabsurdityseries5597]

I can save mascot horror I need help doing it

[@codman4372wx]

They should do what resident evil does and make the atmosphere the scariest part of the game

[@Marine_2010]

No part of resident evil was scary.

[@Anabolic_Alec]

I’m looking forward to Markilpiers let’s play of Peekaboo Simulator

[@Plutoniumisconsumeable]

“And don’t lose your sanity” -garten of ban ban

[@RealRaido]

Gonna be honest, this is the first time I've seen Ryan mentioned or shown as an example somewhere after watching him for years.

[@theshuman100]

ah the source of the marketable plushes

[@Lumberjack_king]

I mean it seems like it’s starting to save itself we’ve had some actualy good game’s recently

[@cadenmoore1939]

“if you could put a fuzzy face on it, scott did.” “there’s no official merch website.” :0

[@TheCursedJudge]

The merch was put directly into retail stores

[@perryisthehat]

i haven’t even heard of that green one

[@aimizonoroff9959]

What about Visage? I enjoyed it for the nice atmosphere in the house.

[@losfogo7149]

The fact that when i was 13 i watched the full outlast playthrough maybe is why i'm traumatized by horror games

[@deadshothater1421]

Can Someone explain to me how hello neighbor is a mascot horror game

[@nixonbubble]

As a former indie horror enjoyer, I had a lot of fun with fnaf until... I outgrew it. That's part of this whole equation. the point im trying to make is that the only way we can make it better is if new people enter who havent been there in a while.

[@nixonbubble]

NOTE: this comment was written before i watched the video, so if i hit the main vein of the point of the vid, ignore this comment ;)

[@Maxams6]

you should have 100k subs your videos are just good 👍

[@ContendCreators]

@maxel 6 he does

[@Maxams6]

@@ContendCreators now he has

[@T37-y6m]

I am CONVINCED that garden of banban is satire. It's just too silly

[@FuzzieRat]

we should work together to make a correction to make all these games more unique

[@verynameboi4121]

I believe that the downfall with kiddie horror really started with Roblox piggy, being released before poppy's playtime, they didn't even have to use original characters, concepts or gameplay and the game still ended up being a massive success among kids

[@insertdead]

HI. Mr. The "Cursed" Judge i Have a question;.., : WHAT do you think of Montgomery "Monty" Gator from FNAF: Security Breach ?/??

[@TheCursedJudge]

i have no official opinion on monty, and you cannot prove otherwise.

[@cobalttheprotogen312]

Im gonna go on a little rant here, but I think it needs to be said. While the game im about to talk about isnt kiddie horror or even mascot horror, it is indie horror, and its the best indie horror game by a long shot (at least these more layer titles like poppy playtime and garden of banban). But the thing is, is that you probably dont even know this game exists. In fact, its not even a full game, its a DLC to an already great game. The thing im refering to is Outer Wilds: Echoes of the Eye. The reason you have never heard of this game is probably for 2 reasons. 1. It wasn't designed to be a mindless cash cow to churn out as much money out of kids as it can. 2. The game is very hard to be advertised because of its nature. This game is incredibly spoiler sensitive, so telling anything about it (base game and DLC) will ruin part of the fun of exploring. The most I can tell you without spoiling anything is that its a detective puzzle game set in outer space. Any form of advertising will probably ruin part of the game for most people. Please, if you enjoy exploration/puzzle games, please get Outer Wilds (and if you enjoy horror) and its DLC. It really is something special and you wont forget about the game for a long time. I really hope that im getting at least one person to play this game. Go to like reddit or anywhere that has an outer wilds community, and ask them if you should get this game. The Outer Wilds community is one of the most welcoming communities ever. Pretty much everyone is nice all the time. This game really is something special, so please get it if it sparks your interest. I know my reasoning for getting it may seem very weak, but just check it out on steam or something and just try it out.

[@MikeyJBlakeJR]

Well done 👍

[@TheAbsol7448]

Poppy's Playtime and Hello Neighbor were so incredibly disappointing. Poppy's Playtime looked like a fun puzzle horror with physics elements and the Hello Neighbor beta builds had a really unique atmosphere that's hard to describe and I couldn't get enough of it. I'm sure the larger house would've worked fine if more time was put into it. But by release, I think it got a bit overblown, and the theory bait started to get really annoying.

[@theriddled214]

Scott was the only serious person of mascot horror.

[@uniformofsquids1718]

I miss when we thought banban was a sarcastic game made as a joke.

[@Wapcvm]

Huh. I skipped this video of yours, but yeah, that sure does sum up indie horror.

[@theimmortalkingofvanaheim7890]

Look on the bright side, we still have Fnaf and Bendy