This bite-size free horror game has you study an ancient artefact that holds a dark secret

I have zero archaeology experience or knowledge, but I bet archaeologists really love their jobs (for the most part). They get to analyse and discover cool artefacts and educate us on the histories of forgotten civilisations. That’s dreamy stuff, that is. But I do wonder what it’s like for archaeologists to discover and study something they shouldn’t have; something with a disturbing secret – a curse, maybe. Bite-sized horror game The Children Of Clay explores this idea and I’d like more of it, please.

Developer Balazs Ronyai created The Children Of Clay for a horror game jam in just a few days. That’s impressive enough already, but what’s even more impressive is the quality. There’s a real sculpture sitting on a desk and through stop-motion animation, you can turn it around with a point and a click. You can drag a magnifying glass down from the top of the screen to zoom in on interesting bits (I won’t spoil). And there’s a book to the left, which lets you type in key phrases that might lead you forwards in your sculpture-tampering.

I can’t say much, but I enjoyed how the clues flowed into research and discovery, and how those discoveries would warp the sculpture. The ambience is also excellent, with an ominous thrum and whirling in the background that lends everything an unsettling tone.

Even in Children Of Clay’s very short runtime, you do learn a couple of interesting tidbits about ancient writing systems and various folklore. I’d love to see lots of shortform sculptures with their own histories and horrors, or even just a longform version of Children Of Clay. I just want more.

You can download the game over on itch.io for free.