Granny (2017 video game)

Granny
The app icon of the original release
Developer(s)	DVloper
Publisher(s)	DVloper
Engine	Unity
Platform(s)	Android iOS Windows
Release	Android November 24, 2017 iOS December 12, 2017 Windows November 20, 2018
Genre(s)	Survival horror
Mode(s)	Single-player

Granny is a 2017 indie survival horror video game developed and published by Dennis Vukanovic, under the pseudonym DVloper, as a spin-off to his earlier Slendrina series. The game has the player character trapped in a house and needing to solve puzzles while avoiding being caught by Granny to escape it in a time period of five to six days. The game is primarily based on sound with the main antagonist being alerted through sound and sight, while the last update features new obstacles, puzzles and objectives: a new way to escape through the sewer, a new deadly pet that kills the player, and new object locations.

Granny was released on Android on November 24, 2017, iOS on December 12, 2017, and Windows on November 20, 2018.^[1][2][3] Upon release, reception for the game was generally positive, with mostly praised its tense atmosphere, gameplay and sound design, but criticized its bland graphics. The game gained huge popularity after its release across various media platforms such as YouTube, Twitch, and others. The game was followed by two sequels: Granny: Chapter Two, released on September 6, 2019, and its latest update, received on January 20, 2021, and Granny 3 released on June 3, 2021 and received the latest update on September 20, 2021.

Gameplay[edit]

The game is centered on using a variety of items in a period of five (or six, if a picture puzzle is completed) days to escape the house while avoiding Granny, who is on the lookout for the player.^[4] The player can escape by removing the locks on the front door, by repairing the car in the garage,^[5] or by removing the locks from the vault door at the sewer tunnel. These all require a different set of items.

Granny roams around the house searching for the player, she uses any sound they make to her advantage and sets bear traps to hinder the player's progress. If caught, Granny will knock the player unconscious, which ends the current day and sends them back to the bedroom they started in. The player can also get knocked out by several other environmental hazards such as Granny's spider or falling down from the attic. If the player is caught on the last day, a "game over" cutscene plays and the player is shown a scene of Granny killing them in first-person view and sent back to the title screen. The player can defend themselves from Granny in a few ways such as making her unconscious or blinding her temporarily by using a variety of different traps and weapons that can be found in the house such as the shotgun or pepper spray.

The player has the option to choose between five difficulties: Practice, in which Granny does not appear, Easy, Normal, Hard, and Extreme. There are also other options to turn on: Nightmare, which alters the graphics and audio and adds spectral mice as an additional hazard, Extra Locks, and Darker, which limits the player's field of vision. The higher the difficulty, starting from Easy, the more locks on the front door, the faster Granny is, and the more floors creak. Both Extra Locks and Darker are enabled and cannot be disabled in Extreme.

In the Windows port, the environment is completely dark and the player must equip a flashlight in order to see.

Reception[edit]

The game became a viral hit on various social media platforms, becoming the second-most-viewed mobile video game in May 2018.^[6]

William Lewinsky of Indie Game Critic gave the game 10 out of 10 stars, praising its controls as "very well implemented" and its sound effects as "stellar", while also stating that it was effective at scaring the player.^[7] Neilie Johnson of Common Sense Media gave the game a negative review, giving it 2 out of 5 stars, declaring that it "feels like a prototype for a more finished app", and criticizing its graphics as "bland", while nevertheless finding that it was frightening.^[8]

Sequels[edit]

Granny: Chapter Two[edit]

A sequel, Granny: Chapter Two, was released for Android on September 6, 2019.^[9] iOS on September 7, 2019.^[10] and on Windows on December 30, 2019.^[11]

Similar to the first installment, the player is once again trapped in a house. This game introduces another antagonist, Grandpa, who is harder of hearing and will not be alerted by most sounds, and cannot place traps, but can enter a security room to look at cameras in order to find the player. The player has the option to choose between Granny or Grandpa on lower difficulties, as opposed to harder difficulties like Hard and Extreme, in which both are automatically forced to be enabled. The game introduces new items and weapons, methods of escape, and environmental hazards.

Granny 3[edit]

The third game, Granny 3, was released for Android on June 3, 2021.^[12] and Windows on August 22, 2021.^[13]

Due to Apple's publishing policies, Granny 3 is unavailable on iOS. DVloper explained that Apple considers the game "spam" due to its similarity to the previous games.^[14]

Like the previous installments, the player finds themselves trapped in a house with Granny and Grandpa, who are joined by Slendrina, an antagonist from the home series. This installment includes new items and methods of escape, as well as some minor changes in enemy behavior, such as Grandpa wielding a shotgun that functions as a ranged weapon.

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Official website