Harmful is a free adventure video game wherein you encounter a mysterious tape in the woods. Developed by Dan “ToothandClaw” McGrath, this 2D pixelated indie horror game was made for the “Haunted PS1 Wretched Weekend” game jam and features PSX-style graphics and horror elements.

As the prequel to Harmful: The Second Tape, Harmful lets you explore the contents of a video recording in a classic found footage scenario. While it doesn’t have any violent jumpscares, it’s creepy enough for the subgenre despite its very short length and works well as an introduction to this retro horror series.

What the tape holds

The story of Harmful revolves around a mysterious VHS tape found abandoned deep in the woods. The game starts immediately with you watching it unfold and then it transitions into you being able to control whoever is recording the scene. The scenes keep jumping around whenever the tape plays the next recording and there’s no context at all—leaving you to freely explore as much as the game allows you to.

Gameplay-wise, the controls are pretty simple as you’ll just be walking around. There are no prompts to interact with objects in order to progress as the game automatically proceeds to the next scene as soon as you reach the intended location. While the scenes are short and set in different hours of the dreary day, their chronological order is easy enough the follow.

However, that’s all this game has to offer. It’s mostly just an interactive fiction game with you as an audience and not the person who can change events—which fits the premise since you’re just watching the weird tape you found. The bulk of the story and gameplay of this series is found in the sequel. It would’ve been nice to package the two together as just one game instead.

Far too short

All in all, Harmful is a nice little PSX-style horror game but it’s mostly meant to introduce you to its next installment. While the short length and lack of other gameplay mechanics make it boring, the pacing and atmosphere of the blurry pixel art graphics still make for amazing storytelling—especially for the found footage subgenre of horror. It’s recommended to play the sequel in tandem to get the best experience.