The World of Horror Just Got Real with the Augmented Reality Game 'Night Terrors'

Augmented reality allows for all kinds of experiences to happen just about anywhere, and that creates some incredible potential for entertainment. While games like Pokémon GO take you out into the world, one crowd-funded game wants to keep you inside—to scare the crap out of you in your own home.

Night Terrors from Novum Analytics uses your residence as a setting for its fearful story about a monster invasion, and it's the perfect location for a horror game. After all, few things are scarier than having your residence infiltrated by a serial killer or abnormal being, as we consider our homes to be safe places. That's why many horror films take place in residential settings.

The game will run on iPhones and Android smartphones, using the camera to pull in live video and augment it on your device's screen. It will serve as the lens you need to see the invading monsters, and it will be the tool you use to survive. The things you do see on-screen should feel fairly realistic, since Novum is incorporating practical effects over CGI in their design of the monsters.

While the game will support both iOS and Android, the developers want to integrate the Apple Watch to track your heartbeat and send you alerts while you're playing. If your heart beats too fast, monsters will feel it and come for you. Staying calm will keep you safe. That's a pretty clever use of health-tracking technology.

Despite all the game hopes to provide, its creators want it to be something everyone can afford:

With all the recent attention on AR/VR, we thought we should mention a principle purpose of this project is to demonstrate immersive gaming doesn't take deep pockets and big headsets. Through creativity and ingenuity, we are going to prove that AR games can be an affordable, quality experience, available to all.

While the original Indiegogo campaign has now closed, they intend to sell the game for $5.99 on iTunes and the Google Play Store, and were looking at an October release for this year. However, in order to stay relevant in a Pokémon GO-addicted world right now, they will be releasing a demo for $0.99 very soon. This will keep some attention on them in the AR space, as well as give them the funds needed to finish the full game in time for Halloween 2016.

You can find additional details on their Indiegogo preorder page, where you can preorder the full game for about a buck cheaper and get other in-game perks. To stay up to date on the release schedule, tune into the company's Facebook page.

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Cover image by Novum Analytics