The Gif

Many of us have probably seen the attached gif floating around the internet. What at a glance might appear to be an Animal Crossing machinima is actually one from Rental, a free-to-play indie horror title released in 2024. If you haven't heard of it, don't feel bad, Rental itself is barely a game. The entire thing uses only the WASD controls plus space to interact, and I'm pretty sure it doesn't even have a pause screen. A blind playthrough only takes about 15 minutes, and a second run only half as much. And yet, this 15 minute experiment struck a chord with me. It's obvious I'm not alone, as the Steam community page is overflowing with artwork and community praise. But how could this free-to-play game by a no-name studio make such an impression on people, and why?

The most obvious answer is the aesthetic. It's easy to be enchanted by its adorable bunny protagonist, Umi, and the contrast between her sweet look and the apparent horror of her scenario. The attached gif going viral on twitter certainly helped, as anyone seeking to investigate its origin was led down the rabbit hole that is Rental. Plus, the intersection of the macabre and the cute (the macute?) is extremely under-explored territory. Titles like Doki Doki Literature Club and OMORI that have explored this emerging genre are regarded as groundbreaking. But mashing these two genres together does more than just make another good thing, it opens a door.

The Door

I am very very new to horror, as my anxiety prevented me from enjoying the genre for the majority of my life. But properly medicated and with lots of life experience under my belt, I've slowly begun dipping my toe into the genre. It was easier to start with horror movies; after all, if a scene scares me too much I can just cover my eyes until it's over. But horror games are different - the scenario doesn't progress until you press the buttons to make it happen. I've managed to make my way through a few more cinematic and puzzle-based titles like Until Dawn and Limbo, but when there's so many good non-horror titles to play, I hesitate to keep experimenting with these the genre. But Rental, and games like it, are the ones that encourage me to push that boundary.

I love Umi's design, and seeing her braving a clearly haunted house makes me feel like I can do it too. After all, I can't exactly relate to horror protagonists like Leon Kennedy, who literally backflips his way out of bad scenarios. But I can hold my head high and tough out a scary thing, like Umi with her candle. Plus, it's a free to play game, which means if I don't like it I can just uninstall it, no harm no foul. With this in mind, I launched Rental.

The Game

Ok so Rental is like, not that scary. Besides a few small segments where tv static fills the screen and a creature stands ominously in the distance, there's really not much "horror" going on here at all. I'd say it's more psychological or atmospheric horror than anything, where there's not so much gore and jumpscares as there is a feeling of being watched and general wrong-ness.

The game, and achievements, are also very straightforward. You search the home looking for various objects, and once gathered you use them in a ritual to banish the creature living there. About a third of the achievements are unlocked through natural progression, a third by interacting with objects and npcs, and a third for completion. As a side note, shoutout to AndresofAstora on Steam for this wonderful Rental map guide. It made the "Curious Bunny" interactable achievement, and the speedrun "Short-Term Rental" achievement a walk in the park. Anyways, with the help of guides, there was nothing too difficult about the completion of Rental. Which is kind of why I loved it.

The Gate

I'm gonna say something controversial here - we need more easy horror games. We need horror games that use bright, colorful aesthetics to lure people in. We need horror games that feature female main characters. We need more games that are macute (that genre I lowkey invented earlier). Because when I look at games like Amnesia, Silent Hill, Evil Dead, etc., with gloomy worlds, scenes littered with gore, and "strong" male protagonists, I think "wow, this genre isn't for me." But when I experience games like Rental, as short and simple as it is, I want to play more.