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{{Infobox video game
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'''''Home Safety Hotline''''' is a 2024 [[video game]] developed by Night Signal Entertainment for [[Windows (operating system)|Windows]]. The game is a horror-themed [[puzzle video game|puzzle]] title in which players provide customer service for the Home Safety Hotline, locating and providing callers with the correct information on ordinary and supernatural household hazards. Creation of the game was led by independent developer Nick Lives, who created the game as an inspiration of the [[bestiary|bestiaries]] from ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]'' and the mythology of [[legendary creature]]s. Upon release, the game received generally positive reviews, with praise directed to the uniqueness of the game's concept, visual presentation and narrative, with some critiques about the game's length and challenge level.
'''''Home Safety Hotline''''' is a 2024 [[Horror game|horror]] [[puzzle video game]] developed by Night Signal Entertainment. In the game, the player works for the titular Home Safety Hotline, providing callers with correct information on how to deal with ordinary and supernatural [[Home safety#Most common risks|household hazards]]. The game was created by [[indie game|independent]] developer Nick Lives, who was inspired by the [[bestiary|bestiaries]] from ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]'' and the mythology of [[legendary creature]]s. Released on 16 January 2024 for [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]], the game received generally positive reviews, with praise directed to the game's concept, visual presentation, and narrative, and criticism about the game's length and difficulty level.

On 20 September 2024, Night Signal Entertainment also released '''''Seasonal Worker''''', a [[Downloadable content|DLC]] themed around the [[Christmas]] holiday period. A wide variety of calls and information were added into the game as well.


== Gameplay ==
== Gameplay ==
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[[File:Home Safety Hotline Gameplay.jpg|left|thumb|Players operate a [[user interface]] inspired by the design of [[Windows 95]] to respond to Home Safety Hotline enquiries.]]
[[File:Home Safety Hotline Gameplay.jpg|left|thumb|Players operate a [[user interface]] inspired by the design of [[Windows 95]] to respond to Home Safety Hotline enquiries.]]


''Home Safety Hotline'' takes place on a simulation of a fictitious [[operating system]]. On the desktop, players can read emails, watch videos, and begin a shift operating the titular Home Safety Hotline.<ref name=PG/> Players clock into shifts using the Hotline menu, where they take calls from the Hotline and hear audio clips from callers describing a household problem, and provide the appropriate response from a list of hazards from the menu. If the player provides a caller with an incorrect response, they will receive a returning call depicting the outcome of the player's failure to resolve a problem.<ref name=PG/> The percentage of correct guesses is provided to the player at the end of a shift, although if players fall short of a number of correct guesses they will receive a disciplinary call, and if they continue to answer incorrectly, they will be terminated and the game will end.<ref name=BD/><ref name=PCG/> Players unlock more listed hazards over time. As the game progresses, the Hotline will begin to encounter network errors, which disrupt the players access to information about the various hazards. Upon completion of the game, players are able to access an art book created by the developer, featuring concept art and background information on the game's creation.<ref name=HG/>
''Home Safety Hotline'' takes place on a simulation of a fictitious [[operating system]]. On the desktop, the player can read emails, watch videos, and begin a shift operating the titular Home Safety Hotline.<ref name=PG/> The player clocks into shifts using the Hotline menu, where they take calls from the Hotline and hear audio clips from callers describing a [[Home safety#Most common risks|household problem]] and provide the appropriate response from a list of hazards in the menu. If the player provides a caller with an incorrect response, they will receive a returning call depicting the outcome of the player's failure to resolve a problem.<ref name=PG/> The percentage of correct guesses is provided to the player at the end of a shift.<ref name=BD/><ref name="FT">{{Cite web |last=Allnutt |first=Chris |date=23 January 2024 |title=Home Safety Hotline turns lo-fi premise into high anxiety — review |url=https://www.ft.com/content/1a9f693c-070d-4500-a99b-e674f576975e |access-date=19 May 2024 |website=Financial Times}}</ref> If players fall short of a number of correct guesses, they will receive a disciplinary call, and if they continue to answer incorrectly, their employment with the Hotline will be terminated and the game will end.<ref name=BD/><ref name="PCG">{{cite web |last=Wolens |first=Joshua |date=18 January 2024 |title=Spooky '90s call centre sim ''Home Safety Hotline'' has wired up a direct line to my heart |url=https://www.pcgamer.com/spooky-90s-call-centre-sim-home-safety-hotline-has-wired-up-a-direct-line-to-my-heart/ |accessdate=11 April 2024 |website=PC Gamer}}</ref> Players unlock more listed hazards over time.<ref name=BD/> As the game progresses, the Hotline will encounter network errors, which disrupt the player's access to information. Upon completing the game, the player is able to access an [[Artist's book|art book]] created by the developer,<ref name=HCG/> featuring [[concept art]] and background information on the game's creation.<ref>{{cite web|website=Bloody Disgusting|title=90s Call Center Horror Game 'Home Safety Hotline' Tasks You With Dealing With "Pests" [Trailer]|last=Wilson|first=Mike|date=10 January 2024|accessdate=19 May 2024|url=https://bloody-disgusting.com/video-games/3795114/90s-call-center-horror-game-home-safety-hotline-tasks-you-with-dealing-with-pests-trailer/}}</ref>


== Plot ==
== Plot ==
Set in 1996, the player is recruited to be a responder on the Home Safety Hotline, a service that responds to callers enquiring about household hazards by providing safety instructions. They are onboarded by Carol, their manager. At first, callers report ordinary household annoyances, including household pests such as cockroaches and mice. The Hotline also receives prank calls and unrelated enquiries. Over the player's shifts, more supernatural hazards begin to be reported by callers including household [[Hob (folklore)|Hobbs]], [[boggart]]s and [[nymph]]s.


Set in 1996, players are recruited to be a responder on the Home Safety Hotline, a service that responds to callers enquiring about household hazards by providing safety instructions. They are onboarded by Carol, their manager. At first, callers report ordinary household annoyances, including household pests such as cockroaches and mice. The Hotline also receives prank calls and unrelated enquiries. Over the player's shifts, more supernatural hazards begin to be reported by callers including household [[Hob (folklore)|Hobbs]], [[boggart]]s and [[nymph]]s. After a number of days, the Hotline corporate invites the player character to undertake a trial as part of a process named the "descension", in which riddles are presented to the player. If the player is successful, Carol contacts the player and informs them they have received a promotion, transporting them to a forest, revealing herself to be a [[fairy|fae]] and crowning them as the new Junior Supervisor of the Home Safety Hotline.
After a number of days, the Hotline corporate invites the player character to undertake a trial as part of a process named the "descension", in which riddles are presented to the player. If the player is successful, Carol contacts the player and informs them they have received a promotion, transporting them to a forest, revealing herself to be a [[fairy|fae]] and crowning them as the new Junior Supervisor of the Home Safety Hotline.


If the player makes too many mistakes, Carol terminates the player's employment and transforms them into a mouse.
== Development ==


=== ''Seasonal Worker'' ===
''Home Safety Hotline'' was created by Night Signal Entertainment, the studio of independent developer Nick Lives. Lives stated that the game aimed to recapture the experience of reading through the fictional [[bestiary|bestiaries]] of the [[Monster Manual]] of the ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]'' series of [[role-playing game]]s.<ref name=AB/><ref name=GD>{{cite web|website=Game Developer|title=Something strange in your neighborhood? Call the Home Safety Hotline|last=Couture|first=Joel|date=2 February 2024|accessdate=11 April 2024|url=https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/home-safety-hotline-interview}}</ref> Following a series of abandoned prototypes, Lives revisited the concept upon discovering the [[analog horror]] subgenre, and decided to create a game under the working title ''The Lunar Archives'' inspired by the aesthetic of "90s media formats" including the user interface of the [[Windows 95]] [[operating system]].<ref name=AB/><ref name=GD/> The monsters included in the game were a mixture of Lives' own creation and existing mythological entities, with additional inspiration from the [[SCP Foundation]] series of fiction and the horror artwork of Trevor Henderson Eduardo Valdés-Hevia.<ref name=GD/><ref name=AB>{{cite video game|title=Home Safety Hotline: Art Book|developer=Nick Lives|publisher=Night Signal Entertainment|date=January 2024|platform=Windows}}</ref> Lives created imagery for the game by importing source photography into [[Photoshop]] and transforming them into digital paintings, exporting the imagery at a reduced level of quality to meet the 90s aesthetic for the game.<ref name=GD/> ''Home Safety Hotline'' was announced alongside the release of a demo in June 2023 at the [[Steam (service)|Steam Next Fest]],<ref>{{cite web|website=PC Gamer|title=My favourite Steam Next Fest demo so far is this analogue '90s dial-a-witcher horror game|last=Wolens|first=Joshua|date=22 June 2023|accessdate=11 April 2024|url=https://www.pcgamer.com/home-safety-hotline-next-fest-demo/}}</ref> and showcased in late 2023 at the [[DreadXP]] Indie Horror Showcase and the [[Double Fine]] Day of the Devs.<ref>{{cite web |date=19 October 2023 |title=''Home Safety Hotline'' - Official Release Date Trailer {{!}} The Indie Horror Showcase 2023 |url=https://www.ign.com/videos/home-safety-hotline-official-release-date-trailer-the-indie-horror-showcase-2023 |accessdate=11 April 2024 |website=IGN}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|website=Engadget|last=Conditt|first=Jessica|date=7 December 2023|title=Here's the Cream of the Crop from the Day of the Devs Game Awards Stream|accessdate=11 April 2024|url=https://www.engadget.com/heres-the-cream-of-the-crop-from-the-day-of-the-devs-game-awards-stream-174701334.html}}</ref> The game was released on Steam on 17 January 2024. Following release, the developers released an update to the game introducing a new "endless score-based game mode" titled Call Trainer unlocked after the completion of the main game.<ref>{{cite web|website=Steam|title=Call Trainer Update (Version 2.0)|date=5 March 2024|accessdate=12 April 2024|author=Night Signal Entertainment|url=https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2357910/view/4134938332956633633}}</ref>
In the week leading up to Christmas, a Home Safety Hotline employee named Rebecca returns for a special week of the year leading up to Christmas. A phenomenon called "the Twilight", resembling an [[Aurora|aurora borealis]], arrives above earth and, if it feeds on enough despair or sadness, will consume all life. Thus, correct information is more important than ever; instead of the threat of being terminated, incorrect information brings down the overall cheeriness. New pests, mundane and supernatural, are accompanied by a disruption by a sentient rodent mastermind called the Mouse King. Carol invites Rebecca to take part in the office party after Christmas; if the cheeriness is kept above a critical level, Rebecca, Carol, and the other employees enjoy the party together.


== Reception ==
== Development ==


''Home Safety Hotline'' was created by Night Signal Entertainment, the studio of [[Indie game|independent]] developer Nick Lives, and developed over the course of three years from 2020.<ref name=DC>{{cite web|website=Dread Central|last=Wood|first=Justin|title='Home Safety Hotline' Interview: A Love Letter To Analog Horror|date=30 January 2024|accessdate=19 May 2024|url=https://www.dreadcentral.com/interviews/473169/home-safety-hotline-interview-a-love-letter-to-analog-horror/}}</ref> Lives stated the game aimed to recapture the experience of reading through the fictional [[bestiary|bestiaries]] of the ''[[Monster Manual]]'' in the ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]'' series of [[role-playing game]]s.<ref name=AB/><ref name="GD">{{cite web |last=Couture |first=Joel |date=2 February 2024 |title=Something strange in your neighborhood? Call the ''Home Safety Hotline'' |url=https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/home-safety-hotline-interview |accessdate=11 April 2024 |website=[[Game Developer (website)|Game Developer]]}}</ref> After creating and abandoning a [[prototype]] using this concept, Lives revisited the idea several years later when discovering the [[analog horror]] subgenre. He began work on a game under the working title ''The Lunar Archives'', inspired by the aesthetic of "90s media formats", including the user interface of [[Windows 95]]'s [[operating system]],<ref name=AB/><ref name=GD/> and the game ''[[Hypnospace Outlaw]]''.<ref name=DC/> The monsters included in the game were a mixture of Lives' own creation and existing mythological entities, with additional inspiration from the [[SCP Foundation]] series of fiction and the horror artwork of Trevor Henderson and Eduardo Valdés-Hevia.<ref name="AB">{{cite video game|title=Home Safety Hotline: Art Book|developer=Nick Lives|publisher=Night Signal Entertainment|date=January 2024|platform=Windows}}</ref><ref name=GD/> Lives created imagery for the game by importing source photography into [[Photoshop]] and transforming them into digital paintings, exporting the imagery at a reduced level of quality to meet the game's 90s aesthetic.<ref name=GD/> Sound designer David Johnsen similarly utilised low-fidelity sounds and voice recordings to imitate the audio from on a computer from that era.<ref name=DC/>
{{ video game reviews


Renamed to ''Home Safety Hotline'', the game was announced alongside the release of a demo in June 2023 at the [[Steam (service)|Steam Next Fest]],<ref>{{cite web|website=PC Gamer|title=My favourite Steam Next Fest demo so far is this analogue '90s dial-a-witcher horror game|last=Wolens|first=Joshua|date=22 June 2023|accessdate=11 April 2024|url=https://www.pcgamer.com/home-safety-hotline-next-fest-demo/}}</ref> and showcased in late 2023 at the [[DreadXP]] Indie Horror Showcase and the [[Double Fine]] Day of the Devs.<ref>{{cite web |date=19 October 2023 |title=''Home Safety Hotline'' - Official Release Date Trailer {{!}} The Indie Horror Showcase 2023 |url=https://www.ign.com/videos/home-safety-hotline-official-release-date-trailer-the-indie-horror-showcase-2023 |accessdate=11 April 2024 |website=IGN}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Conditt |first=Jessica |date=7 December 2023 |title=Here's the Cream of the Crop from the Day of the Devs Game Awards Stream |url=https://www.engadget.com/heres-the-cream-of-the-crop-from-the-day-of-the-devs-game-awards-stream-174701334.html |accessdate=11 April 2024 |website=[[Engadget]]}}</ref> The game was released on Steam on 16 January 2024.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Orr |first=Jessica |date=18 April 2024 |title=2024 video game release schedule |url=https://www.eurogamer.net/2024-video-game-release-date-schedule-calendar |access-date=April 22, 2024 |website=[[Eurogamer]]}}</ref> Following release, the developers released an update to the game introducing a new "endless score-based game mode" titled Call Trainer, unlocked after completing the main game.<ref>{{cite web|website=Steam|title=Call Trainer Update (Version 2.0)|date=5 March 2024|accessdate=12 April 2024|author=Night Signal Entertainment|url=https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/2357910/view/4134938332956633633}}</ref>
| MC = 76%<ref name=MC>{{cite web|website=Metacritic|title=Home Safety Hotline|accessdate=11 April 2024|url=https://www.metacritic.com/game/home-safety-hotline/}}</ref>


== Reception ==
| Edge = 7/10<ref name=Edge>{{cite magazine|magazine=Edge|issue=394|date=March 2024|title=Home Safety Hotline|pages=106}}</ref>

| HG = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref name=HG>{{cite web|website=Hardcore Gamer|last=Leclair|first=Kyle|title=Review: Home Safety Hotline|date=30 January 2024|accessdate=13 April 2024|url=https://hardcoregamer.com/review-home-safety-hotline/}}</ref>


{{video game reviews
| MC = 76/100<ref name=MC>{{cite web|website=Metacritic|title=''Home Safety Hotline''|accessdate=11 April 2024|url=https://www.metacritic.com/game/home-safety-hotline/}}</ref>
| Edge = 7/10<ref name=Edge>{{cite magazine|magazine=Edge|issue=394|date=March 2024|title=''Home Safety Hotline''|pages=106}}</ref>
| HCG = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref name=HCG>{{cite web|website=Hardcore Gamer|last=Leclair|first=Kyle|title=Review: ''Home Safety Hotline''|date=30 January 2024|accessdate=13 April 2024|url=https://hardcoregamer.com/review-home-safety-hotline/}}</ref>
| rev1 = ''[[Bloody Disgusting]]''
| rev1 = ''[[Bloody Disgusting]]''
| rev1Score = {{Rating|3|5}}<ref name=BD>{{cite web|website=Bloody Disgusting|title='Home Safety Hotline' Video Game Review: Customer Service Meets Analog Horror|last=Boehm|first=Aaron|date=31 January 2024|accessdate=11 April 2024|url=https://bloody-disgusting.com/video-games/3798051/home-safety-hotline-video-game-review-customer-service-meets-analog-horror/}}</ref>
| rev1Score = {{Rating|3|5}}<ref name=BD>{{cite web|website=Bloody Disgusting|title=''Home Safety Hotline'' Video Game Review: Customer Service Meets Analog Horror|last=Boehm|first=Aaron|date=31 January 2024|accessdate=11 April 2024|url=https://bloody-disgusting.com/video-games/3798051/home-safety-hotline-video-game-review-customer-service-meets-analog-horror/}}</ref>
| rev2 = ''[[Financial Times]]''

| rev2Score = {{rating|3|5}}<ref name="FT"/>
| OC = 100% recommend<ref name="OC" />
}}
}}


''Home Safety Hotline'' was received with "generally favorable" reviews upon release, according to [[review aggregator]] [[Metacritic]].<ref name=MC/> Critics praised the game's visual presentation. ''Edge'' stated the game's interface, citing its "grainy" videos, "green-tinged images" and "crackly sounds" were a "potent setting for horror" and evocative of a "haunted quality".<ref name=Edge/> Describing the title as "analog horor at its finest, Aaron Boehm of ''Bloody Disgusting'' enjoyed the game's "stylistic flourishes" and "well-done" videos.<ref name=BD/> Kyle Leclair commended the presentation and interface to have a "perfectly-captured old-school PC feel", praising its "low-tech" simplicity as allowing the focus of the game to be on its narrative.<ref name=HG/> Cass Marshall of ''[[Polygon (website)|Polygon]]'' found the subtle distortions of the interface and sound effectively conveyed a "strong sense of wrongness and unease" and helped "ratchet up the tension.<ref name=PG/>
''Home Safety Hotline'' was received with "generally favorable" reviews upon release, according to [[review aggregator]] website [[Metacritic]].<ref name=MC/> On [[OpenCritic]], the game has a 100% approval rating.<ref name="OC">{{Cite web |title=''Home Safety Hotline'' |url=https://opencritic.com/game/16085/home-safety-hotline |access-date=April 22, 2024 |website=[[OpenCritic]]}}</ref> Critics praised the game's visual presentation. ''[[Edge (magazine)|Edge]]'' described the game's interface as a "potent setting for horror", with its grainy imagery and green-tinged hue viewed as evocative of a "haunted quality".<ref name=Edge/> Describing the title as "analog horor at its finest", Aaron Boehm of ''[[Bloody Disgusting]]'' enjoyed the game's "stylistic flourishes" and "well done" videos.<ref name=BD/> Kyle Leclair commended the presentation and interface to have a "perfectly-captured old-school PC feel", praising its "low-tech" simplicity for allowing the focus of the game to be on its narrative.<ref name=HCG/> Cass Marshall of ''[[Polygon (website)|Polygon]]'' found the subtle distortions of the interface and sound effectively conveyed a "strong sense of wrongness and unease" and helped "ratchet up the tension".<ref name=PG/>


Reviewers generally praised the game's horror concept and narrative. Cass Marshall of ''Polygon'' highlighted the game's "deliciously unsettling" and "very effective" premise, citing the reliance on "slow, creeping realizations" about the "perfectly off and disturbing" experiences of individual callers.<ref name=PG>{{cite web|website=Polygon|last=Marshall|first=Cass|date=2 February 2024|accessdate=11 April 2024|title=Home Safety Hotline is the cryptid help line game I didn't know I needed|url=https://www.polygon.com/gaming/24058384/home-safety-hotline-cryptid-help-line-game}}</ref> Kyle Leclair of ''Hardcore Gamer'' commended the game's "black comedy" and "stellar writing", finding it to feature "cleverly-designed supernatural phenomena" and strike "a perfect balance between comedy and horror".<ref name=HG/> Joshua Wolens of ''[[PC Gamer]]'' enjoyed the game's tone, stating that its "off-kilter banality" was "well-done".<ref name=PCG>{{cite web|website=PC Gamer|last=Wolens|first=Joshua|title=Spooky '90s call centre sim Home Safety Hotline has wired up a direct line to my heart|date=18 January 2024|accessdate=11 April 2024|url=https://www.pcgamer.com/spooky-90s-call-centre-sim-home-safety-hotline-has-wired-up-a-direct-line-to-my-heart/}}</ref> Whilst Aaron Boehm of ''Bloody Disgusting'' highlighted the game's "clever" concept and "unique style and tone", he also considered some of the narrative elements to be short of "compelling or cohesive" and did not "connect in some way that revealed something about the world at large".<ref name=BD/> Similarly, Alice Bell of ''[[Rock Paper Shotgun]]'' praised the "brilliant framing" and "excellent" writing style of the game's index entries, but found various plot threads to end unresolved.<ref name=RPS>{{cite web|website=Rock Paper Shotgun|last=Bell|first=Alice|title=Home Safety Hotline review: thoughtful weirdness that left me wanting more|date=16 January 2024|accessdate=11 April 2024|url=https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/home-safety-hotline-review}}</ref>
Reviewers generally praised the game's horror concept and narrative. Marshall highlighted the game's "deliciously unsettling" and "very effective" premise, citing the reliance on "slow, creeping realizations" about the "perfectly off and disturbing" experiences of individual callers.<ref name="PG">{{cite web |last=Marshall |first=Cass |date=2 February 2024 |title=''Home Safety Hotline'' is the cryptid help line game I didn't know I needed |url=https://www.polygon.com/gaming/24058384/home-safety-hotline-cryptid-help-line-game |accessdate=11 April 2024 |website=Polygon}}</ref> Leclair commended the game's "black comedy" and "stellar writing", finding it to feature "cleverly designed supernatural phenomena" and strike a balance between comedy and horror.<ref name=HCG/> Ed Smith of ''[[PCGamesN]]'' lauded the game as "scary, funny and unique".<ref>{{cite web|website=PCGamesN|title=New 9/10 horror game is being slept on by everybody|last=Smith|first=Ed|date=22 January 2024|accessdate=19 May 2024|url=https://www.pcgamesn.com/home-safety-hotline/new-steam-horror-game}}</ref> Joshua Wolens of ''[[PC Gamer]]'' enjoyed the game's tone, stating its "off-kilter banality" was "well done".<ref name="PCG" /> While Boehm highlighted the game's "clever" concept and "unique style and tone", he considered some of the narrative elements to be short of "compelling or cohesive" and did not "connect in some way that revealed something about the world at large".<ref name=BD/> Similarly, Alice Bell of ''[[Rock Paper Shotgun]]'' praised the "brilliant framing" and "excellent" writing style of the game's index entries but found various [[Narrative thread|plot threads]] to end unresolved.<ref name="RPS">{{cite web |last=Bell |first=Alice |date=16 January 2024 |title=''Home Safety Hotline'' review: thoughtful weirdness that left me wanting more |url=https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/home-safety-hotline-review |accessdate=11 April 2024 |website=Rock Paper Shotgun}}</ref>


Several reviewers noted the gameplay's scope and difficulty were limited. ''Edge'' commented that the game had "modest parameters" and may have benefited from more "mechanical variety".<ref name=Edge/> Kyle Leclair of ''Hardcore Gamer'' noted that the game lacked challenge and was "relatively short in length", finding the difficulty to decrease over time due to the unique qualities of the supernatural entities.<ref name=HG/> Aaron Boehm of ''Bloody Disgusting'' found the gameplay loop to be "relatively simple" and wished it had "more polish", stating that the game lacked features such as searchable terms or direct feedback on whether the player provided a successful answer.<ref name=BD/>
Several reviewers noted the gameplay's scope and difficulty were limited. ''Edge'' commented that the game had "modest parameters" and may have benefited from more "mechanical variety".<ref name=Edge/> Leclair noted that the game lacked challenge and was "relatively short in length", finding the difficulty to decrease over time due to the unique qualities of the supernatural entities.<ref name=HCG/> Boehm found the gameplay loop to be "relatively simple" and wished it had "more polish", stating that the game lacked features such as searchable terms or direct feedback on whether the player provided a successful answer.<ref name=BD/>


== References ==
== References ==
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== External links ==
== External links ==
* {{Official website|https://store.steampowered.com/app/2357910/Home_Safety_Hotline/}}
* {{Mobygames|/215816/home-safety-hotline/}}
* {{Mobygames|/215816/home-safety-hotline/}}
[[Category:2020s horror video games]]

[[Category:2024 video games]]
[[Category:2024 video games]]
[[Category:Horror games]]
[[Category:Indie games]]
[[Category:Indie games]]
[[Category:Puzzle video games]]
[[Category:Puzzle video games]]
[[Category:Simulation games]]
[[Category:Simulation video games]]
[[Category:Single-player video games]]
[[Category:Single-player video games]]
[[Category:Video games set in 1996]]
[[Category:Windows games]]
[[Category:Windows games]]
[[Category:Windows-only games]]
[[Category:Windows-only games]]

Latest revision as of 14:07, 8 November 2024

Home Safety Hotline
Steam header art
Developer(s)Night Signal Entertainment
Designer(s)Nick Lives
Composer(s)David Johnsen
Platform(s)Windows
Release16 January 2024
Genre(s)Horror, puzzle, simulation
Mode(s)Single-player

Home Safety Hotline is a 2024 horror puzzle video game developed by Night Signal Entertainment. In the game, the player works for the titular Home Safety Hotline, providing callers with correct information on how to deal with ordinary and supernatural household hazards. The game was created by independent developer Nick Lives, who was inspired by the bestiaries from Dungeons and Dragons and the mythology of legendary creatures. Released on 16 January 2024 for Windows, the game received generally positive reviews, with praise directed to the game's concept, visual presentation, and narrative, and criticism about the game's length and difficulty level.

On 20 September 2024, Night Signal Entertainment also released Seasonal Worker, a DLC themed around the Christmas holiday period. A wide variety of calls and information were added into the game as well.

Gameplay

[edit]
Players operate a user interface inspired by the design of Windows 95 to respond to Home Safety Hotline enquiries.

Home Safety Hotline takes place on a simulation of a fictitious operating system. On the desktop, the player can read emails, watch videos, and begin a shift operating the titular Home Safety Hotline.[1] The player clocks into shifts using the Hotline menu, where they take calls from the Hotline and hear audio clips from callers describing a household problem and provide the appropriate response from a list of hazards in the menu. If the player provides a caller with an incorrect response, they will receive a returning call depicting the outcome of the player's failure to resolve a problem.[1] The percentage of correct guesses is provided to the player at the end of a shift.[2][3] If players fall short of a number of correct guesses, they will receive a disciplinary call, and if they continue to answer incorrectly, their employment with the Hotline will be terminated and the game will end.[2][4] Players unlock more listed hazards over time.[2] As the game progresses, the Hotline will encounter network errors, which disrupt the player's access to information. Upon completing the game, the player is able to access an art book created by the developer,[5] featuring concept art and background information on the game's creation.[6]

Plot

[edit]

Set in 1996, the player is recruited to be a responder on the Home Safety Hotline, a service that responds to callers enquiring about household hazards by providing safety instructions. They are onboarded by Carol, their manager. At first, callers report ordinary household annoyances, including household pests such as cockroaches and mice. The Hotline also receives prank calls and unrelated enquiries. Over the player's shifts, more supernatural hazards begin to be reported by callers including household Hobbs, boggarts and nymphs.

After a number of days, the Hotline corporate invites the player character to undertake a trial as part of a process named the "descension", in which riddles are presented to the player. If the player is successful, Carol contacts the player and informs them they have received a promotion, transporting them to a forest, revealing herself to be a fae and crowning them as the new Junior Supervisor of the Home Safety Hotline.

If the player makes too many mistakes, Carol terminates the player's employment and transforms them into a mouse.

Seasonal Worker

[edit]

In the week leading up to Christmas, a Home Safety Hotline employee named Rebecca returns for a special week of the year leading up to Christmas. A phenomenon called "the Twilight", resembling an aurora borealis, arrives above earth and, if it feeds on enough despair or sadness, will consume all life. Thus, correct information is more important than ever; instead of the threat of being terminated, incorrect information brings down the overall cheeriness. New pests, mundane and supernatural, are accompanied by a disruption by a sentient rodent mastermind called the Mouse King. Carol invites Rebecca to take part in the office party after Christmas; if the cheeriness is kept above a critical level, Rebecca, Carol, and the other employees enjoy the party together.

Development

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Home Safety Hotline was created by Night Signal Entertainment, the studio of independent developer Nick Lives, and developed over the course of three years from 2020.[7] Lives stated the game aimed to recapture the experience of reading through the fictional bestiaries of the Monster Manual in the Dungeons and Dragons series of role-playing games.[8][9] After creating and abandoning a prototype using this concept, Lives revisited the idea several years later when discovering the analog horror subgenre. He began work on a game under the working title The Lunar Archives, inspired by the aesthetic of "90s media formats", including the user interface of Windows 95's operating system,[8][9] and the game Hypnospace Outlaw.[7] The monsters included in the game were a mixture of Lives' own creation and existing mythological entities, with additional inspiration from the SCP Foundation series of fiction and the horror artwork of Trevor Henderson and Eduardo Valdés-Hevia.[8][9] Lives created imagery for the game by importing source photography into Photoshop and transforming them into digital paintings, exporting the imagery at a reduced level of quality to meet the game's 90s aesthetic.[9] Sound designer David Johnsen similarly utilised low-fidelity sounds and voice recordings to imitate the audio from on a computer from that era.[7]

Renamed to Home Safety Hotline, the game was announced alongside the release of a demo in June 2023 at the Steam Next Fest,[10] and showcased in late 2023 at the DreadXP Indie Horror Showcase and the Double Fine Day of the Devs.[11][12] The game was released on Steam on 16 January 2024.[13] Following release, the developers released an update to the game introducing a new "endless score-based game mode" titled Call Trainer, unlocked after completing the main game.[14]

Reception

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Home Safety Hotline was received with "generally favorable" reviews upon release, according to review aggregator website Metacritic.[15] On OpenCritic, the game has a 100% approval rating.[17] Critics praised the game's visual presentation. Edge described the game's interface as a "potent setting for horror", with its grainy imagery and green-tinged hue viewed as evocative of a "haunted quality".[16] Describing the title as "analog horor at its finest", Aaron Boehm of Bloody Disgusting enjoyed the game's "stylistic flourishes" and "well done" videos.[2] Kyle Leclair commended the presentation and interface to have a "perfectly-captured old-school PC feel", praising its "low-tech" simplicity for allowing the focus of the game to be on its narrative.[5] Cass Marshall of Polygon found the subtle distortions of the interface and sound effectively conveyed a "strong sense of wrongness and unease" and helped "ratchet up the tension".[1]

Reviewers generally praised the game's horror concept and narrative. Marshall highlighted the game's "deliciously unsettling" and "very effective" premise, citing the reliance on "slow, creeping realizations" about the "perfectly off and disturbing" experiences of individual callers.[1] Leclair commended the game's "black comedy" and "stellar writing", finding it to feature "cleverly designed supernatural phenomena" and strike a balance between comedy and horror.[5] Ed Smith of PCGamesN lauded the game as "scary, funny and unique".[18] Joshua Wolens of PC Gamer enjoyed the game's tone, stating its "off-kilter banality" was "well done".[4] While Boehm highlighted the game's "clever" concept and "unique style and tone", he considered some of the narrative elements to be short of "compelling or cohesive" and did not "connect in some way that revealed something about the world at large".[2] Similarly, Alice Bell of Rock Paper Shotgun praised the "brilliant framing" and "excellent" writing style of the game's index entries but found various plot threads to end unresolved.[19]

Several reviewers noted the gameplay's scope and difficulty were limited. Edge commented that the game had "modest parameters" and may have benefited from more "mechanical variety".[16] Leclair noted that the game lacked challenge and was "relatively short in length", finding the difficulty to decrease over time due to the unique qualities of the supernatural entities.[5] Boehm found the gameplay loop to be "relatively simple" and wished it had "more polish", stating that the game lacked features such as searchable terms or direct feedback on whether the player provided a successful answer.[2]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Marshall, Cass (2 February 2024). "Home Safety Hotline is the cryptid help line game I didn't know I needed". Polygon. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Boehm, Aaron (31 January 2024). "Home Safety Hotline Video Game Review: Customer Service Meets Analog Horror". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  3. ^ a b Allnutt, Chris (23 January 2024). "Home Safety Hotline turns lo-fi premise into high anxiety — review". Financial Times. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
  4. ^ a b Wolens, Joshua (18 January 2024). "Spooky '90s call centre sim Home Safety Hotline has wired up a direct line to my heart". PC Gamer. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  5. ^ a b c d e Leclair, Kyle (30 January 2024). "Review: Home Safety Hotline". Hardcore Gamer. Retrieved 13 April 2024.
  6. ^ Wilson, Mike (10 January 2024). "90s Call Center Horror Game 'Home Safety Hotline' Tasks You With Dealing With "Pests" [Trailer]". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
  7. ^ a b c Wood, Justin (30 January 2024). "'Home Safety Hotline' Interview: A Love Letter To Analog Horror". Dread Central. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
  8. ^ a b c Nick Lives (January 2024). Home Safety Hotline: Art Book (Windows). Night Signal Entertainment.
  9. ^ a b c d Couture, Joel (2 February 2024). "Something strange in your neighborhood? Call the Home Safety Hotline". Game Developer. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  10. ^ Wolens, Joshua (22 June 2023). "My favourite Steam Next Fest demo so far is this analogue '90s dial-a-witcher horror game". PC Gamer. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  11. ^ "Home Safety Hotline - Official Release Date Trailer | The Indie Horror Showcase 2023". IGN. 19 October 2023. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  12. ^ Conditt, Jessica (7 December 2023). "Here's the Cream of the Crop from the Day of the Devs Game Awards Stream". Engadget. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  13. ^ Orr, Jessica (18 April 2024). "2024 video game release schedule". Eurogamer. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
  14. ^ Night Signal Entertainment (5 March 2024). "Call Trainer Update (Version 2.0)". Steam. Retrieved 12 April 2024.
  15. ^ a b "Home Safety Hotline". Metacritic. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  16. ^ a b c "Home Safety Hotline". Edge. No. 394. March 2024. p. 106.
  17. ^ a b "Home Safety Hotline". OpenCritic. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
  18. ^ Smith, Ed (22 January 2024). "New 9/10 horror game is being slept on by everybody". PCGamesN. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
  19. ^ Bell, Alice (16 January 2024). "Home Safety Hotline review: thoughtful weirdness that left me wanting more". Rock Paper Shotgun. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
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