Free Steam horror game is perfect for Paranormal Activity fans

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For a limited time, Steam users can download horror/hidden object game 8AM for free. The 2024 indie PC game is available completely free until April 27 at 10 a.m. PDT/1 p.m. EDT, thanks to Steam’s free-to-keep promotion.

While Steam’s free-to-keep games can be hit or miss, 8AM has been well-received by players. The PC game has a “very positive” Steam user review rating, with more than 100 reviews. While 8AM resembles a Paranormal Activity movie and has ample jump scares, users say that its gameplay, which involves looking for anomalies through security cameras, is actually comforting and relaxing. Normally, 8AM costs just $3.99, but for now, it’s free, and it’s hard to beat free.

8AM was developed by David Gallardo, who also created the similarly spooky Doll Impostor, and is published by HeadArrow. Here’s how the developer describes 8AM:

In this game, you find yourself in a stark room, devoid of any memory or knowledge of your purpose or how you arrived there. The only companions in your solitary vigil are a set of devices and a computer, your window to the outside world, connecting you exclusively to the security camera system of a seemingly ordinary house.
The house is inhabited by a family whose life appears to proceed normally until the clock strikes midnight. From that moment, as the hours slip towards dawn, you become a witness to a series of events that could be classified as ordinary or deeply disturbing. The nature of these occurrences varies widely, from ghostly figures slipping through the corridors in the darkness, manifestations of paranormal activity that defy all logic, to the strange behaviors of the family members, like sleepwalking, which could hide something more sinister.
Your task is simple yet immensely complicated: to determine whether what you are witnessing is a manifestation of the supernatural or mere coincidences and everyday events interpreted through a prism of isolation and tension.

8AM has a handful of spinoff games with similar mechanics, but set in different environments, including 8AM: The Shopping Mall, 8AM: The Office, and 8AM: The Swimming Pool.

Steam recommends that players of hidden object and anomaly games like Dollmare and Platform 8, or horror games like Poppy Playtime, might enjoy 8AM.