Granny (video game)

Granny is a 2017 indie survival horror video game developed and published by Dennis Vukanovic, under the pseudonym DVloper, as a spin-off to his earlier Slendrina series. It was first released on Android on November 24, 2017. The game has the player character trapped in a house and needing to solve puzzles while avoiding Granny to escape it in a time period of five days.[1]

Granny
App icon of the original release
Developer(s)DVloper
Publisher(s)DVloper
EngineUnity
Platform(s)Android
iOS
Microsoft Windows
Release
  • Android
  • November 24, 2017
  • iOS
  • December 12, 2017
  • Microsoft Windows
  • November 20, 2018
Genre(s)Survival horror
Mode(s)Single-player

Gameplay

The game is centered on using a variety of items in a period of five (or six, if a picture puzzle is completed) days to escape the house while avoiding Granny, who is on the lookout for the player.[2] The player can escape by removing the locks on the front door, by repairing the car in the garage,[3] or by removing the locks from the vault door at the sewer tunnel. These all require a different set of items.

Granny roams around the house searching for the player, she uses any sound they make to her advantage and sets bear traps to hinder the player's progress. If caught, Granny will knock the player unconscious, which ends the current day and sends them back to the bedroom they started in. The player can also get knocked out by several other environmental hazards such as Granny's spider or falling down from the attic. If the player is caught on the last day, a "game over" cutscene plays and the player is sent back to the title screen. The player can defend themselves from Granny in a few ways such as making her unconscious or blinding her temporarily by using a variety of different traps and weapons that can be found in the house such as the shotgun or pepper spray.

The player has the option to choose between five difficulties: Practice, in which Granny does not appear, Easy, Normal, Hard, and Extreme. There are also other options to turn on: Nightmare, which alters the graphics and audio and adds spectral mice as an additional hazard, Extra Locks, and Darker, which limits the player's field of vision. The higher the difficulty, starting from Easy, the more locks on the front door, the faster Granny is, and the more floors creak. Both Extra Locks and Darker are enabled and cannot be disabled in Extreme.

In the Microsoft Windows port, the environment is completely dark and the player must equip a flashlight in order to see.

Reception

The game became a viral hit on various social media platforms, becoming the second-most-viewed mobile video game in May 2018.[4]

William Lewinsky of Indie Game Critic gave the game 10 out of 10 stars, praising its controls as "very well implemented" and its sound effects as "stellar", while also stating that it was effective at scaring the player.[5] Neilie Johnson of Common Sense Media gave the game a negative review, giving it 2 out of 5 stars, declaring that it "feels like a prototype for a more finished app", and criticizing its graphics as "bland", while nevertheless finding that it was frightening.[6]

Sequels

Granny: Chapter Two

A sequel, Granny: Chapter Two, was released for Android on September 6, 2019,[7] iOS the following day,[8] and on Microsoft Windows on December 30 of the same year.[9]

Similar to the first installment, the player is once again trapped in a house. This game introduces another antagonist, Grandpa, who is harder of hearing and will not be alerted by most sounds. The player has the option to choose between Granny or Grandpa on lower difficulties, as opposed to harder difficulties like Hard and Extreme, in which both are automatically forced to be enabled. The game introduces new items and weapons, methods of escape, and environmental hazards.

Granny 3

The second sequel, Granny 3, was released for Android on June 3, 2021,[10] and on Microsoft Windows on August 22 of the same year.[11]

Due to Apple's publishing policies, Granny 3 is unavailable on iOS. DVloper explained that Apple considers the game "spam" due to its similarity to the previous games.[12]

Like the previous installments, the player finds themselves trapped in a house with Granny and Grandpa, who are joined by Slendrina, an antagonist from the home series. This installment includes new items and methods of escape, as well as some minor changes in enemy behavior, such as Grandpa wielding a shotgun that functions as a ranged weapon.

References

  1. "Granny on Steam". Steam. Archived from the original on 2022-04-19. Retrieved 2019-06-26.
  2. Green, Jake (July 24, 2018). "How to Beat Granny on iOS, Android Game, Get Out of the House, Find Master Key, Escape on Easy Mode". USGamer. Archived from the original on November 20, 2021. Retrieved October 29, 2020.
  3. Harbison, Cammy (March 23, 2018). "How to Beat 'Granny' Horror Game: Tips, Steps & Strategy For Getting Out of the House Alive". Newsweek. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
  4. Vesander, Heini (June 15, 2018). "How the indie horror game "Granny" became the 2nd most viewed mobile game on YouTube". Matchmade. Retrieved October 29, 2020.
  5. Lewinsky, William (July 19, 2018). "Review of Granny by DVloper". Indie Game Critic. Archived from the original on March 31, 2022. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
  6. Johnson, Neilie (16 March 2018). "Granny". Common Sense Media. Retrieved December 9, 2020.
  7. "Granny: Chapter Two - Apps on Google Play". Google Play. Retrieved 2020-07-26.
  8. "Granny". App Store. Retrieved 2020-07-26.
  9. "Granny: Chapter Two on Steam". Steam. Archived from the original on 2022-04-17. Retrieved 2020-07-26.
  10. "Granny 3 - Apps on Google Play". Google Play. Retrieved 2021-06-08.
  11. "Granny 3 on Steam". Steam. Archived from the original on 2022-03-07. Retrieved 2021-08-22.
  12. "DVloper on Twitter: "Hi all. I am still having trouble with Apple. They think Granny 3 is spam and it's to similar to my other Granny games. That's why they can not approve the game. It does not look promising. But i am still trying." / Twitter". Twitter. June 10, 2021.
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