Ergophobia - Broadcast for Windows

An atmospheric horror game with puzzles

Ergophobia - Broadcast is a free first-person analog horror-themed game. It is the second installment of the Ergophobia series, the brainchild of Imdemmi. Imdemni is an independent developer team that also created Ergophobia - The Copy Machine, which is the first game in the franchise, and Ergophobia - Advert,  the series’ third installment.

Like the aforementioned titles, Ergophobia - Broadcast features a creepy atmosphere to induce feelings of fear and uncertainty in the player. Its challenging puzzles, which can leave you scratching your head, make up for its short playtime. Although the graphics are pixelated, it should not stop you from experiencing true horror.

Expect tension and dread 

With no objective markers in Ergophobia - Broadcast, players are left to find clues, solve puzzles, and explore a dimly lit office. Once they open the elevator in the last room, the elevator lights will flicker and an entity will appear in said room, creating tension. Despite that, the entity will not jumpscare the player. For those who hate jumpscares and overused scare tactics, this is a breath of fresh air.

However, you should not underestimate the difficulty of the puzzles. While the puzzles are more intuitive, you must be prepared to use logic to solve all of them. Like the rest of the Ergophobia games, this title is short, which is not necessarily a deal breaker. Unfortunately, there’s a possibility of the game’s files being flagged as a trojan by your antivirus program. 

Furthermore, you may experience lags at the beginning of the game, which can be remedied by adjusting your device’s display settings to 1980x1080. Anything lower than the said resolution will not prompt the TV broadcast to play properly. The broadcast can freeze, as well. Thankfully, this issue rarely occurs. Other than that, it’s a polished horror title free of major game-breaking bugs and glitches.

A pleasure to play

If you like the first game, it’s recommended that you play Ergophobia - Broadcast. Although the game doesn’t have jumpscares, which is a huge plus, it instead delivers an ominous atmosphere to make players feel uncertain of their surroundings. Depending on the player’s skills, the puzzles can be tough to solve. Unfortunately, the player’s antivirus program may mistakenly flag the game’s files as a potential threat.