Too Much Snow

Recently I received a game disk that was given to me by a stranger who said he just finished playing the game and reset it. He also said that he didn't want it anymore and gave it to me; he didn't even ask for any money. I thanked the man and walked straight to my house to play it.

I'm a huge video game fanatic. I've been one ever since the SNES came out, so you can guess that getting a freebie is exciting for me.

I got home and examined the disk. It had a picture of a large marble vase with nothing on it except text that read "Too Much Snow," and a plain black background. An image like this could be for almost anything. Right?

When I put the disk into the disk drive, it instantly started up the game on my PC. Here is what I saw: A plain black screen, with a large vase which had the writing: "Too Much Snow." Just like on the disk cover. There were four options to choose from in the bold red text.

The first one being, "Start Game," the second being, "Continue." Although, the Continue option was not as bold and red, and once I tried clicking it, it did nothing except made an error sound.

The third option was "Options," which I selected. The only options to choose from are Volume, Quality, and Graphic.

I adjusted the volume, it was at 100% before, but I changed it to 120% because the error sound sounded a bit too quiet to me. A text box popped up, it said: "Are you sure?". Along was a Yes and No option. This was odd. Usually, a message like that pops up whenever I try to exit a game without saving or so. I selected Yes, and it only took me back to the Options Menu.

The only options for Quality were "Low," "Medium, and "High." I selected High because I always want the best experience. But the Graphic option was another story. I thought Graphic and Quality were the same things? It was at 0% for some reason. I changed it to 100%, and yet another text box appears saying "Are you sure?" with a low pitched drum beat sound — this time in an eerie-looking font. I selected Yes, and it took me back to the options screen again. There was nothing left to do with the options, so I clicked "Exit."

Back at the first screen was the last option, named "Leave." I selected it to see what it did, but then I heard a sound after clicking it — a little girl's voice making a loud drawn out whine sound. The "Leave" option became the same color as the Continue option. It seems the game doesn't want me to leave, or just yet perhaps.

"I might as well start the game," I said to myself, and I selected "Start." The screen cut to black, and then a text box appears saying:

"Mother and Father always took care of me; they gave me new things when I deserved them. I loved traveling with them, and I had lots of wonderful times. The school was a hassle, but it was worth it to come home and be treated well unlike in that horrible public school. This year, we finally went on a trip again to Snowood Falls, and we had a rented house all to ourselves, without any neighbors."

And then a cutscene played of a teenage girl waving goodbye to her parents from her window.

A text box popped up with narration saying: "My dad went to go out to get Groceries, and mom went to have some time alone in the shack."

Then the cutscene ended. The game seemed to be an of a point and click style game since it has a cursor pointing up at the girl's door. I selected the door, and it took me outside into the hallway, a text box appears saying, "I think I should go outside, it's a nice day."

I then selected the stairs, and she went down, and then I selected to go out the door to look around. The outside had very nice graphics, sporting a realistic style. When she was in the area, a sound effect played that sounded like a light breeze, the grass and the trees were vibrant, and there were barely any clouds in the sky. I clicked on one of the lawn chairs, and she walked over there and sat down. A black screen appeared almost immediately after that. And then a photo of a mother holding a toddler appeared. Another text box appears saying:

"I remember something. My mother used to tell me a story about Snowood falls. Where on the 2nd Friday in May, the Snowood Goblin would appear to look around for people to play with to make it seem like it wasn't such an evil creature, but then it would eat them when they least expected it. I thought it was a pretty dumb story because it was so cliche to me. A monster who kills people."

What was unsettling is that, on the day of writing this, it was the 2nd Friday in May aswell. Something tells me that this was too accurate to be a coincidence.

The scene of the outside came back again, and it was at nighttime. This would mean that the girl had fallen asleep. The scenery was entirely different, snow was all over the ground, in the trees and the shed. The breeze sound effect got replaced by a dense, loud wind sound effect, and the sky was utterly gray; The hut had a blue glow that was coming outside its window. The classic notification sound for iPhones played, and the girl picked up the phone. A text message from her mother that said:

"It came in, hide in the"

It was an unfinished text message; something had interrupted her mother. The window on the shed became red, and the door opened to reveal a towering, humanoid figure from far away. It looked towards me, and it started to get bigger, implying that it was coming closer. A text box in all capital letters saying "HIDE" appeared, and the girl went back inside the house in the first-person view without my control. I clicked to go back outside in pure curiosity, but a text box appears saying "NEVER."

I clicked to go in the kitchen, and a text box appears saying, "Not good enough…" I selected to go back upstairs, and finally, I could go somewhere. I picked the bathroom door, and it said once again, "Not good enough…" I selected the girl's bedroom, and she went inside. I clicked to go in the closet; a text box appears saying, "I feel like I forgot something…" I clicked around for a few seconds and noticed that the window could close.

Footstep sounds began to play, and my heart was beating very fast. I selected the closet again, and once again, a text box appears saying, "I feel like I forgot something…". I clicked around some more and noticed that the door could be locked, I heard a door locking sound. I was rushing, and accidentally clicked on the door again, and a text box appears saying "THERE IS NO MORE TIME. TIME TO HIDE."

I selected the closet once more, and she finally went inside. A black screen appeared, no text box, no text. I then heard a wood breaking sound. Ten seconds later, the closet door opened, and I saw it.

It was the goblin. But it looked worse than that. More like a demon. It had no eyes; only it's eye sockets. It had messy hair along with skin that hung. Some of it was torn off in patches, and it had no lower jaw.

I was frightened, I pressed random keys to see if something would happen, but it never did. It appeared that the game crashed, as there was no sound. I tried shutting my computer off, but nothing happened. I even unplugged it, and yet it was still there. I had no choice but to shatter the screen, and at last, the face vanished. I was not able to get it out of my mind from that day on. I looked for that man who gave me the disk, but he wasn't anywhere to be found, no matter how much I searched for him, it was like he disappeared off the face of the Earth. I tried going to Psychologists to help me get rid of the image from my mind, but nothing they did helped. Every time I close my eyes, I see that face. I haven't slept in 3 days, and I am writing to get the word out. If a copy of this game exists, don't pick it up. Look away, turn around, run if you have to.

I guess it's time I burn this game, so nobody will get their hands on it, and meet the same fate I had.

''This message had been discovered on an old laptop computer found outside under a park bench. Originally meant to be sent to a website, the owner has not selected the option to post it. The owner of this laptop has never been located.''