THERE SWINGS A SKULL is a free simulation video game wherein the world is about to die and there’s nothing much you can do about it. Developed by Conor “BanzaiBonsai” Walsh and Quinn K., this 2D pixelated indie game is an RPG Maker 2003 horror experience that brings about the depressing themes of the apocalypse.

Similar to Tanggal, THERE SWINGS A SKULL features LGBT representation but doesn’t fully focus on it. The story delves more into how nihilistic and hopeless the end of the world can be. This game was made for the “Summer of Shivers 2021” game jam.

Here comes the sun

In THERE SWINGS A SKULL, you play as Anatoli, a mild-mannered aged man living with his husband Pyotr in the quiet town of Pareildas. Things have been strange in their town for a while now, as the sun slowly claims lives by burning them to a crisp. So far, the citizens have been ignoring what is now a normal thing with this weather phenomenon. However, things start escalating.

The gameplay here is pretty easy as you’ll mostly just walk around to trigger cutscenes. There aren’t a lot of interactive objects that will give descriptions—which is a shame since the story is pretty vague about its overall setting. Nevertheless, you don’t have to worry too much about getting the right endings since they’ll mostly just give you a choice near the end.

What’s great about this game is that it perfectly encapsulates how depressingly horrific things can get when you can feel that the world is about to end. Unfortunately, there’s not a lot of exposition offered throughout the game—not even through interacting with the environment. You’ll have to read carefully to glean important information from the few character dialogues. Fortunately, there are only two endings and a secret “end.”

Short but sweet

All in all, THERE SWINGS A SKULL is a compelling—if not provocative—short story about the coming apocalypse. While there isn’t much exposition involved to give you a lot of information, the art style captures the bleak and sometimes comedic nature of the game. Plus, the writing itself is superb with the dialogue, even though there are only a few characters in the cast.