From the first room.
A breath at your ear. Turn round, and she is standing right behind you. It starts before you have broken a thing, and every room after is worse: more often, closer, longer.
New scares · Free
HOUSE RULES
Break a rule. He’ll come for you.
Ten rooms of a castle on a hill, one house rule in each. Break it, and the Butler comes for you. Keep it, and the house still won’t leave you alone: it starts in the first room, and every room is worse.
New: scary from room 1, worse in every roomThe game
What HOUSE RULES is
Midnight. One last delivery, to the castle on the hill. The doors lock behind you, and on the mat there is a card: kindly observe the house rules.
Every room has one. Stay off the carpet. Don’t break anything. No fists at the table. Keep it, and the dead of the house are all you have to fight. Break it, and a bell rings somewhere, and the Butler comes for you. He can’t be hurt, and he doesn’t stop.
And you are not the only guest. A starved woman in a torn grey nightgown took the room at the top of the house a long time ago, and never left. From the first room she is at your ear, across the hall, over your head, and in every room after she comes closer. She can’t hurt you. She doesn’t need to.
What makes it scary
You are not the only guest.
The Lodger.
Starved, in a torn grey nightgown, her long black hair over her face. At the end of the corridor, gone when you look again. On the ceiling, still the moment you see her. Behind you.
The Butler.
Break a house rule and he rises out of the floor in the far corner. He can’t be hurt, one touch and you’re his, and the longer he walks the faster he gets. Listen for his bell. Sometimes it rings when you have broken nothing.
The lights go out.
The candles die, and something whispers. When they come back, every chair in the room has turned to face you, and there may be writing on the wall. Further in, she is standing in front of you in the dark, and when the lights come back, behind you.
The paintings change.
Every portrait in the house is watching. Look away, and when you look back, it isn’t the same. Sometimes their eyes follow you across the room.
Use the furniture.
Your fists, or anything you can lift: chairs, vases, barrels, busts, candlesticks. Swing them, throw them. Three punches in a row and the third lands hard.
New · room by room
Every room is worse.
The house starts on you in the first room, before you have broken anything, and it doesn’t stop: more often, closer and longer in every room after. This is some of what is waiting. None of it can hurt you, and none of it breaks a rule.
- Room 1The Great HallA breath at your ear. Turn round: she is right behind you.
- Room 2Peacock AlleySomeone at the far end of the corridor. Look away, and when you look back, she’s gone.
- Room 3The LibrarySomething crawling across the ceiling, still the moment you see it. A portrait’s eyes, following you.
- Room 4The Dining RoomThe lights die, and she is standing in front of you. When they come back, every chair is turned to face you.
- Room 5The ConservatoryShe comes across the glass roof until she is right over your head, and waits for you to look up. Then she drops.
- Room 6The Oak RoomA second Butler in the doorway, when you have broken nothing. Look at him too long and he’s gone, and his bell rings right behind you.
- Room 7The Wine CellarHer breath at your ear again, and this time she comes at you. When the lights come back, she’s behind you.
- Room 8The TunnelSomething sprinting down the tunnel at you, sometimes on all fours. It stops a metre from your face.
- Room 9The StablesShe doesn’t wait for you to look up any more. She drops.
- Room 10The Lady’s RoomsRelentless: something every few seconds, all the way to the end.
Rather play it calmer? SCARES: OFF, on the title or in the pause menu, takes out the house’s scares between the fights. The rules, the Butler and the fights stay as they are.
From the game · the new scares
Don’t turn round.
Frames from the game itself. Open one to see it big.
Ten rooms
The house rules.
Tap one and the Butler reads it to you.
The paintings
Don’t look away.
The family still hangs in the halls. While you watch them they keep still. Look away, even for a second, and when you look back one of them isn’t the same. (Look closely at a changed one and it goes back. For now.)
They are all as they should be.
Who lives here
The dead of the house.
- The crawlersOn all fours, fast and low, with their hair over their faces.
- The footmenA long time dead, still in livery. Some go down, and get back up.
- The weeping womenMostly not there. Hit them when you can see them.
- The party guestsTuxedos, champagne, rot. Slow, but they hit hard.
- The groundskeeperVery big, a sack over his head, a shovel. When he raises it, get clear.
- The ButlerHe cannot be hurt. Do not let him touch you.
- The Lady in BlueThe lady of the house. Throw things at her.
Trailers · sound on
Lights off. Sound on.
It gets worse. Room 1 is the kind one. Every room after it is worse.
Play HOUSE RULES freeGameplay · filmed in the game
Inside the castle.
Point at a clip to play it (on a phone, they play as you scroll); open one to see it big.
How to play HOUSE RULES
Ten rooms. Ten rules.
- Read the rule on the card as each room begins. The Butler reads it to you too.
- Fight. Your fists, or anything you can lift: chairs, vases, barrels. Throw them.
- Listen for the bell. If you hear it, the Butler is in the room. Keep moving.
- Get to the far door. Ten rooms, from the Great Hall to the Lady’s rooms at the top of the tower.
- MouseLook click the house first
- WASDWalk or the arrow keys
- ShiftRun it costs stamina
- Left clickPunch hold for more · the third in a row lands hard
- EPick up · then throw or right click
- Left clickSwing what you hold
- SpaceDodge nothing can touch you for a moment
- EscPause or P
- HHide the controls
- Left stickWalk
- Right stickLook
- RTR2Punch hold for more
- LTL2Grab · throw or X / □
- A✕Dodge
- LBL1Run hold · or click the left stick
- MenuOptionsPause
- Xbox names first, then PlayStation. Plug it in (USB or Bluetooth) and press any button.
- Left thumb walks. Push to the edge to run.
- Drag on the right to look. Tap to punch.
- HIT punches (hold for more) or swings what you hold. GRAB picks things up, and throws them. DODGE gets you out of the way.
- Best sideways; upright works too.
Tips
- The map in the corner turns with you. The far door shows in gold once it opens.
- Little bottles of tonic fall out of broken things. Most of them are good for you.
- Dodge (Space) and nothing can touch you for a moment. Not even him.
- Three lives a run; a knock-out restarts the room. CONTINUE picks up at the last room you cleared.
- Thirty stars: one for clearing each room, one for keeping its rule, one for beating its time.
- The Lady in Blue: your fists go straight through her. Throw things.
- Rather play it calmer? SCARES: OFF, on the title or in the pause menu, takes out the house’s scares between the fights and the faces when you fall. The rules, the Butler and the fights stay as they are.
Questions
Before you go in.
How scary is it?
Very, and more with every room: the house starts on you in the first room and never lets up in the last. None of its scares can hurt you, and none of them breaks a rule. Want it calmer? Switch SCARES off, on the title or in the pause menu: no scares between the fights, no faces when you fall. The rules, the Butler and the fights stay.
Can I play it on my phone?
Yes, in your browser. Best sideways; upright works too.
Does it work with a controller?
Yes: PS5, PS4, Xbox and Switch Pro controllers. It names the right buttons and shakes when you land a hit, or he lands one on you.
Do I need a microphone?
No.
How long is it?
Ten rooms: a first run takes about 20 to 30 minutes, and less once you know the house. CONTINUE picks up at the last room you cleared.
Is it a real place?
HOUSE RULES is a work of fiction, set in a castle inspired by Toronto’s Casa Loma; it is not affiliated with or endorsed by Casa Loma.
Is it free?
Yes. Free, no download, no sign-up.
Credits
The rooms, trailers and stills on this page are filmed in the game itself. Photo textures and furniture: Poly Haven and ambientCG (CC0). HOUSE RULES is a work of fiction, set in a castle inspired by Toronto’s Casa Loma; it is not affiliated with or endorsed by Casa Loma.
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