Common Sense Media Review
By Chad Sapieha
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Terrifyingly spooky indie game delivers blood-free horror.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 18+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Play
Videos and Photos
Slender: The Arrival
Parent and Kid Reviews
Based on 10 parent reviews
Based on 58 kid reviews
Kids say the game is an intense and thrilling horror experience that successfully creates a terrifying atmosphere without relying on blood or gore. Many reviewers highlight its jump scares and psychological terror, although some criticize its pacing and repetitiveness, advising that it’s more suitable for mature players aged 12 and up due to its unsettling themes.
- horror experience
- jump scares
- psychological terror
- pacing issues
- mature players
Summarized with AI
Summarized with AI
What's It About?
SLENDER: THE ARRIVAL, a slightly bigger-budgeted reimagining of 2012 indie hit Slender: The Eight Pages, puts players in the shoes of a woman named Lauren intent on finding her friend Kate. The game begins with Lauren arriving at Kate's house in the woods to find her missing and her things in disarray. Discovering a series of notes and clues that suggest Kate may have been in a state of panic before leaving, Lauren picks up a flashlight and heads out into the forest determined to learn what happened to her. The short but terrifying adventure that follows sees Lauren -- armed only with a flashlight and video camera -- investigating pitch black woods and buildings with objectives such as finding scattered pages or turning on generators. Always on her trail is a ghostly, horrific figure called the Slender Man. He appears frequently, causing the player's screen to distort and go static-y. If he catches you the game ends and the level is reset.
Is It Any Good?
It doesn't last more than a couple of hours, but those two hours may be among the scariest you ever spend sitting in front of a computer. Creepy, dramatically lit environments combine with a terrifying soundtrack that deftly mixes chirping crickets with blaring feedback to create an extremely chilling atmosphere. The fact that you can't fight back but instead only run or occasionally blind your pursuers with your flashlight only serves to heighten the fear.
However, some players may get frustrated by the game's high level of difficulty and repetitive design. Even experienced players will find themselves frequently caught by the Slender Man or his creepy, hooded companion. When that happens, the level resets and all of the objects you were searching for are randomly scattered for you to find again -- disheartening, to say the least. That said, mature horror fans who can get past these barriers will find a sublimely scary little interactive story.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about what it feels like to be scared. Why do some of us enjoy being terrified? How is it that games and movies and books -- things we know aren't real -- can create a real sense of panic?
Families can also discuss the difference between terror and violence. Is a truly scary game that shows no blood or gore any more appropriate for younger audiences than those that do?
Game Details
- Platforms : Mac , Windows
- Subjects : Hobbies : collecting
- Skills : Emotional Development : developing resilience , persevering , Thinking & Reasoning : collecting data , deduction , strategy
- Pricing structure :
- Available online? : Not available online
- Publisher : Blue Isle Studios
- Release date : April 2, 2013
- Genre : Adventure
- Topics : Fantasy
- ESRB rating :
- Last updated : October 1, 2025
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