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Writer's pictureAntal Bokor

31 Days of Retro Horror Games: Day 16: I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream


This year we’re putting together a list of 31 Retro Horror games. Games that have come from dead console generations, back to haunt us. Sadly, not all of these games will be available for you to play due to the complicated nature of video game preservation. However, we’re going to note if it’s possible to play them on modern hardware. We’re going to be covering games from the Seventh Generation (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii) and earlier. So basically anything before 2006.


Day 16



I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream



Harlan Ellison. If you don’t know the name, there’s still a good chance you’ve seen or read something at least inspired by the man. He was a prolific sci-fi author who had his heyday in the 60’s and 70’s, and spent the rest of his career as an over inflated blow hard that railed against the very properties that helped solidify his legacy. But this isn’t about the author of the short story I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream, but about the point and click adventure game on which the game was based.


The premise is this: there is an evil supercomputer called AM that has wiped all life from the earth. AM, with its vast superior intellect, has decided that humanity isn’t awful actually, and has decided to torture four humans as proxies for the entire (now extinct) race. Somehow, AM keeps these humans immortal while doling out punishments that would make cenobites blush. Ellison himself actually voices the devilish AM. This supercomputer hates humanity so much its entire existence is spent torturing four humans.




Now, there are a lot of missed opportunities in the conversion from short story format to the much longer point and click adventure format. Instead of exploring why or how AM is capable of these tortures, I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream instead focuses on the poor creatures being tortured. It ends up being a wholly bleak–and therefore wholly dread inducing. 


I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream does give you some control over how the story plays out. Even though the game’s story is vastly different from the short story in many significant ways.In fact, a lot of how the game and its ending depends on the choices you make as the characters. There is some out there logic involved with some of hte puzzles. Not quite “moon logic” but more “Groundhog Day knowledge”--stuff you’d probably only know after many playthroughs and experiments.




If you want to play I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream you can do so easily via Steam. Many consider the short story to be a seminal work of sci-fi, and thus, by extension, the point and click adventure game is held to the same esteem by many. You can play it yourself and see–regardless of how you feel about it, it’s a story that you can’t easily forget. 


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