A while ago we compiled a list of horror gaming’s best collectible documents and explored how these underappreciated items contributed to the overall experience. From building tension to explaining mechanics and smuggling in little easter eggs, we discovered that there are no limits to what a developer can achieve when they think outside the box.

In fact, there were so many fascinating case studies that we couldn’t make room for them all and since that original article was published, there has been a slew of new releases that have found other interesting ways of exploiting the convention. With that in mind, it’s high time that we revisited the subject and saw what else collectible documents have to offer.

Providing Hints: Silent Hill 2 – “Dead Men, Dead Men”

One of the most common ways of incorporating literature into a horror game is to hide puzzle solutions within readable text. It’s unclear why this is so prominent within the genre – other than to give players respite from all the monster encounters – but there’s arguably no IP that better demonstrates the trope than Silent Hill.

An obvious highlight is the ‘’Free the Innocent Man’’ conundrum from the franchise’s sophomore installment, which challenges you with identifying the guiltless party in a room full of hanging corpses. To crack it, you’ll need to study a nearby engraving that describes each of their crimes (in rhyming couplets, as if the situation wasn’t chilling enough) and the circumstances under which they were caught.

Your job is then to match these profiles to the corresponding bodies, so that you can figure out which of them was wrongfully accused. It’s one of the medium’s greatest ever riddles, as it not only tests your deductive reasoning skills, but also plays into the psychological dread that is at the heart of Silent Hill 2. The written clue is instrumental in creating that brooding atmosphere, with its disquieting verse, haunting imagery and dark implications. Even better, the poem itself is subject to revisions – depending on which difficulty setting you have chosen – meaning that you get the opportunity to be flummoxed all over again in subsequent playthroughs.

Getting Your Bearings: The Sinking City – Letters from Oakmont

Where most open-world titles employ objective markers to orient you around, The Sinking City takes a more hands-off approach. You see, rather than having an icon miraculously appear on your compass whenever you accept a mission, this game tasks you with good-old-fashioned detective work and puts you in charge of the directions. Sometimes you might need to visit the property registry to look up a local business, whilst other times you’ll be scanning through newspaper archives to find the last-known-whereabouts of a suspect. Either way, it’s up to you to determine the right address and manually pinpoint it on the map.

This novel mechanic by far the most gratifying aspect of Frogware’s effort and it’s placed center stage in the ’Letters from Oakmont’’ quest. An early wayfinding exercise, this case kicks off with you discovering a bundle of letters that chronicle the escapades of a missing person who had been traipsing all over the flooded metropolis. If you choose to follow the breadcrumbs contained within these clues, you will be led you to all manner of spooky surprises that you would otherwise miss. Aside from nudging you in the direction of points of interest, the letters also narrate effective little ghost stories of their own, complete with vividly written prose that recalls the style of H.P Lovecraft.

Deciding the Ending: Until Dawn – 1952 

The branching narrative paths in Until Dawn hinge upon a number of conditions, including the relationships that you develop between characters, the choices that you make on their behalf, and your ability to nail those finicky QTEs. One of the more interesting factors, however, is the innovative clue system that governs your avatar’s awareness of the plot.

In a nutshell, there are three overarching mysteries to solve and the more clues you find whilst navigating the levels, the greater chance you have of connecting the dots. Sounds simple enough, until you realize that many of the records are quite easy to overlook, often tucked away in unseen crevices or concealed behind environmental obstructions. Not only that, but certain pieces of information can be rendered completely inaccessible if you go down the wrong route.

The concept is best exemplified by the ‘’1952’’ thread, in which a string of evidence helps you untangle an elaborate conspiracy involving an unscrupulous mental hospital and its obscure connection to a mine cave-in. Among other things, you’ll dig up old film canisters, newspaper exposes, and an internal missive asking staff to keep ‘’snoopers’’ away. You’ll need to collect everything to get a full picture of what’s going on, but if you manage it then you will be presented with extra conversations, missable cutscenes, and brand new choices that might just save a character’s life.

Broadening Your Horizons – Pamali: A Book on Indonesian Ghosts

Pamali puts a unique spin on the horror genre by placing a distinct emphasis on cultural taboos and traditional values. Seeing as you can’t actually fight any of malevolent entities, your smartest course of action is to be respectful of local customs, learn about the origins of each spirit and, where possible, placate them by participating in sacred ceremonies. It’s a really cool premise, one that necessitates you brush up on Indonesian beliefs to have any success.

But if you hail from a Western province, you’ll likely find yourself at a disadvantage, given that many of the Asian myths here will be completely unfamiliar to you. You’ll, therefore, need to pour over every scrap of paper you can find until you’ve got a good idea of what will appease the relevant phantoms. In this sense, Pamali is more reliant on collectible documents than any other entry in this list, because you’re forced to arm yourself with knowledge instead of weaponry.

The developers even released a complimentary add-on book that serves as a kind of supernatural encyclopedia – cataloging 30 different types of ghost – with the accompanying backstories, illustrations, and trivia tidbits. It’s like you’re receiving a free education in folklore studies! If that sounds appealing, then you should also check out The Witcher 3 (Polish) and Home Sweet Home (Thai), which similarly use their in-game bestiaries to promote indigenous myths.

Inciting Emotions- The Last of Us: Cornered Note

Over time, Naughty Dog’s seminal masterpiece has garnered an unwarranted reputation for being a weepy tearjerker, even though it’s relatively understated for the most part. Take the story of ‘’Ish’’ for example, a tragedy that’s conveyed through prosaic notes that are effective precisely because they are so matter-of-fact.

The tale unfolds over the course of eight diary entries, relating how a commercial fisherman managed to dodge the initial Cordyceps outbreak by going out to sea and waiting for the whole thing to blow over. After a few months, he docks at Pittsburg and takes up residence in the nearby sewage system, whereupon he adopts the persona of a reclusive ‘’mole-man’’. There he lives out a paranoid and sheltered existence, until he happens across a desperate family during one of his supply runs. Against his better judgment, he invites them into his home, and they develop into a tight-knit circle: sharing communal meals; pitching in with safehouse maintenance, and generally building a better life for themselves.

Alas, the world of The Last of Us is a cruel and unforgiving place, one in which growing attached to others can be a fatal mistake. And, sure enough, the fisherman is ultimately punished for letting his guard down, when one of the residents accidentally leaves a door ajar, exposing the group to an infected horde. You have to fill in the blanks after that, but the whole affair culminates on a bleak and unsentimental cliffhanger (picture above) that’s all the more heartbreaking for its terse bluntness.

For Enjoyment’s Sake – Control: Threshold Kids 

The world-building of Control is deliberately obtuse, supplying very limited exposition whilst expecting you to retain a load of hazy information and memorize about a dozen different initialisms. As such, you can easily get lost in the weeds trying to keep track of all the AWEs, HRAs, FBCs and whatever the hell ‘’resonance waveforms’’ are supposed to be.

The only surefire way to understand all the esoteric gobbledygook is to scour every corner of the Oldest House for internal correspondence. And boy does the game assign you a lot of this homework! In fact, there are over 260 collectible documents to sift through, some of which are vital for you having even the vaguest comprehension of what’s going on. Yet whilst the sheer volume of reading can be overwhelming, your toil will occasionally be rewarded with an episode of the delightful ‘Threshold Kids’.

Designed as a communication tool to help youngsters wrap their heads around the bureau’s impenetrable jargon, these VHS tapes are part of the induction process for new recruits. And because the show was cobbled together on the cheap (with staff building all the sets, recording all the footage and even providing the voices for the makeshift puppet cast), there’s a charmingly lo-fi appeal that’s hard to resist.

The amateur-hour efforts are both surreal and hilarious in equal measure, reminiscent of those weird, experimental shorts you find on Adult Swim at 2 am. The offbeat comedy mostly stems from the incongruity of watching creepy dolls explain metaphysics in the same way that Sesame Street would tackle the ABCs. But there are so many well-observed details to relish as well, like the awkwardly stilted performances, the nonsensical editing and the ominously threatening vibe that underpins much of dialogue. Top it all off with the shrill, discordant theme song and you’ve got an engrossing collectible that’s arguably more captivating than the game itself.

Underlining Themes: Bioshock – Surgery’s Picasso

Bioshock is thematically dense, raising questions about the nature of free will, addiction, class, and religion. Yet whilst it reflects on these areas with unflinching scrutiny, its biggest target is the objectivist belief that geniuses should be allowed to reach their full potential, without oversight from the rest of the world. We see the dangers of this philosophy bear out in the game’s setting, Rapture: an underwater dystopia wherein scientists, creatives and academics are given carte blanche to reach their goals by whatever means they deem necessary.

By the time you arrive, the social experiment is already a catastrophic failure. An authoritarian despot now wields total control over the city’s infrastructure (including the oxygen supply), gang warfare has broken out on the streets and the inhabitants have been driven mad by indulgent gene splicing. It turns out that unregulated power wasn’t such a good thing after all!

To further illustrate this point, the title makes clever use of audio-logs that reveal more about the rampant hubris that led to Rapture’s inevitable downfall. The journals of Dr. Steinman are of particular interest, as the accomplished surgeon becomes increasingly obsessed with the notion of ‘’sculpting’’ a perfect specimen from those who are unfortunate enough to fall under his knife. Freed from the shackles of conventional morality, he styles himself as a Picasso-like figure who has moved beyond the ‘’tired shapes’’ of human physiognomy and seeks to create transgressive art. In order to fulfill this ambition, he takes to rearranging the facial features of his patients, irrespective of their consent. Of course, we do eventually get to see Steinman’s gruesome handiwork, but what really sticks with you are these deranged observations and vainglorious rants. It’s truly bloodcurdling stuff.