Slender: The Eight Pages

Overview

At the start of the game the player climbs over a fence, turns on a flashlight and is greeted by a view of a forest. The object of the game is to navigate the forest and collect eight manuscript pages relating to the mysterious, malevolent creature known as the Slender Man.

As the player moves around the game world they risk encountering the Slender Man, who is capable of teleporting from place to place, and can appear in front of the player at any time. His appearance is accompanied by a loud burst of strings and as the player stares at him their screen will fill with static. If the player views the Slender Man for too long they will lose the game, the final image they see being the Slender Man very close to them and "staring" back through the static. With each page the player collects, the audio becomes more intense and they increase their risk of encountering the Slender Man.

Over time the battery in their flashlight will also drain. Turning the flashlight off will prevent the battery from draining and also increase the amount of time they can look at the Slender Man before losing, but it also makes it easier for the Slender Man to find them. In addition to normal movement the player can also run for as long as their stamina will allow, with their stamina slowly recharging once they've stopped running. However, the player's maximum stamina will decrease as they continue to sprint over the course of the game.

Sequel

On September 20, 2012 a sequel to Slender: The Eight Pages called Slender: The Arrival was announced by the original Slender creator Mark Hadley. It will feature improved graphics, multiple levels, and a storyline crafted by Joseph DeLage, Troy Wagner and Tim Sutton - the forces behind the landmark "slender series" Marble Hornets. The game is planned to launch on PC and Mac sometime in 2013, and is being jointly developed by Hadley's ParsecProductions and Blue Isle Studios- an independent game design company based out of Toronto, Canada. Slender: The Arrival will be a commercial release available for something "less than $20", unlike it's freeware predecessor.