Ai is a grade-schooler in 1990s Japan who is about to realise just how isolated she is. Forced to play children’s games in a world of never-ending dusk, Ai is hunted by otherworldly entities as her life hangs in the balance. When these horrors begin to bleed into the real world, Ai must accept that she has only three choices: hide, run, or die...

The game is awash with amber twilight lighting

Yuoni is a first-person hide and seek horror game set in sunset-stained Japanese environments. You play as grade-schooler Ai as you navigate your surroundings in a bid to move through each level without being discovered. But, if you are found... you'd better run.

The back story to the game tells the urban legend of a young boy who sadly died, alone, in hospital. Local folklore says that his spirit haunts the grounds of the now deserted hospital. Thankfully he's not an evil ghost, and just wants someone to play with. According to a local legend you can conjure up the ghost of the boy if you perform a pretty basic ritual in the hospital grounds, where his spirit is said to wander.

Yuoni is a first-person hide and seek horror game

As a local school child, Ai and her friends sneak into the hospital to see if the stories are true. You enter the building, perform the ritual, and are relieved to discover that nothing happens... Or so you think.

When you break it down Yuoni is a stealth hide and seek game. You have to wander the rooms looking for hiding spots, in case you run into the ghost of the young boy or other beasts that roam the corridors. It's best not to venture too far too quickly as you need to ensure you can quickly make it back to any hiding spot you have seen. Different creatures have different ways of being alerted to your presence. You should be on the look out for things like broken glass, because if you step on that any nearby beasts will come running. When you're in hiding you can also hold your breath, to ensure that nothing hears you.

You have only three choices: hide, run, or die...

It's a fun and challenging game, but it gets old a little too quickly. Graphically this looks a little different to other atmospheric horror games. It's awash with amber twilight lighting which at times can be blinding, helping to add to the disorientation. There's an odd sleigh bell sound used when choosing your options, which I thought was a strange choice and brings to mind a jolly, kid friendly Christmas game...

There's the occasional jump scare - which are spaced out enough to ensure they actually work as attended. While it didn't hold my attention for as long as I'd hoped, it's still cheap and different enough to make it worth checking out if you're a fan of stealth based horror games.

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Nick Smithson