May 5, 2022 – ADMIT PLAYER ONE

Do you ever see a preview for something and you get just like, irrationally excited for it and it becomes essentially your entire personality for the foreseeable future?

No just me?

Okay cool

ANYWAY

In 2015, the developer Supermassive Games released Until Dawn, a sort of choose-your-own-adventure novel come to life with impressive graphics and even more impressive acting thanks to a full cast featuring the likes of Hayden Panettiere and Rami Malek (am I biased? Yes leave me alone). Though Supermassive had worked on a few games prior, Until Dawn was their first big success even with the lackluster advertising for it on Sony’s part (isn’t that always the way?). The game was certainly a love letter to classic horror tropes and stories, featuring a drama-filled group of teenagers, a giant mansion in the middle of nowhere, a serial killer in a creepy mask, mysterious creatures in the woods, and of course, absolutely heartbreaking plot twists and story elements.

The game also heavily makes use of the butterfly effect mechanic–basically, the smallest decisions made early on can have the most disastrous consequences later (the effect was named for the idea that a tornado can be caused by something as seemingly inconsequential as a butterfly flapping its wings weeks earlier). It really takes the whole “your actions have consequences” to the next extreme level, as all of the characters’ fates are in your hands and it’s possible to get through the game with everyone alive…or dead. Up to you!

Despite some backlash in the years since its release (the use of the wendigo and some characters’ fates being unalterable no matter what you do #JOSHDESERVEDBETTER I WILL DIE ON THIS HILL), it still has a massive fan following and proved that Supermassive could bring something new to the horror game genre.

This is important to note because the horror game scene at this time was ruled by one particular indie series: Five Nights at Freddy’s. Since the first installment’s release in mid-2014, we were all swarmed by sequels and fangames and anything even remotely similar that you could imagine. No matter one’s personal opinions on it, the FNaF series absolutely changed everything and inspired a whole swath of games focused on childhood memories made creepy, games with a 5-night/chapter format, games set in the 70’s and 80’s filled with dead children and their ghosts for some reason? etc. and so on. By 2015 though and the release of FNaF 4, it was becoming clear that some horror fans wanted something different, the tried-and-true FNaF formula becoming a little stale. Combine that environment with the recent success earned by choice-driven story games such as Beyond: Two Souls and Life is Strange, Supermassive really had the perfect time handed to them to release Until Dawn, and I think that was part of the reason for its success.

That, and I and many others just really like the game.

andbelievethatJoshdeservedbetterbecausehedoesthankyew

Following the massive success of Until Dawn, Supermassive got to work on a “non-canonical” spin-off called Until Dawn: Rush of Blood and a prequel called The Inpatient. Following that, Supermassive continued working in the horror scene by releasing a series of games as a part of what they call The Dark Pictures Anthology. So far three games have been released in the series and a fourth is on the way. (I haven’t personally been following Dark Pictures but I keep meaning to, that’s on me.)

Alas, years passed, and it seemed like the horror game trope of controlling dumb but lovable teenagers in an impossible situation was all but forgotten by Supermassive…

UNTIL ~~DAWN~~ NOW.

Officially unveiled on March 18 this year and officially considered a spiritual successor to Until Dawn, The Quarry gives players the chance to save (or not) a whole quirky group of camp counselors, stuck at a summer camp longer than they should be.

While the game isn’t set to come out until June 10 (giving me plenty of time to decide if I’ll be able to actually play it myself or just watch someone else deal with everything), Supermassive and IGN First have been releasing plenty of content for us to sink our teeth into while we wait.

So, just for fun (and because this game is my current hyperfixation), let’s dive into roughly everything we know so far and can theorize about based on what’s floating out on the Internet currently.

THE BASICS

On the surface, here’s what we know for sure: players will take control of 9 different camp counselors throughout the game and make various decisions that range from the seemingly mundane to the absolutely critical, ultimately deciding their fates. Just like in Until Dawn, it’s possible to save all the characters (exceptforJoshWHODESERVEDBETTER) but it’s also possible to kill everyone off–it all depends on what decisions you make. And also just like in Until Dawn, you only have one night to save (or kill) everyone.

We also know the tagline for the game: “you won’t believe what you’ll become.” Cute!

As for the characters, according to the official website, the camp counselors are as follows:

Laura (counselor, played by Siobhan Williams)–definitely seems to be the no-nonsense, organized one of the group. She is “excited to spend a quiet summer in the woods” before she begins her veterinarian studies in the fall. Oh, my sweet summer child…
Max (counselor, played by Skyler Gisondo)–Laura’s class clown boyfriend, noted for having a “friendly attitude and unfaltering loyalty.” I’m sure that won’t come back to bite him. Literally.
Abigail (counselor, played by Ariel Winter)–seems to be the quiet, artsy, romantic of the group. She’s described as being “sweet and sincere,” which unfortunately means she probably won’t last that long. I could be wrong, though!
Kaitlyn (counselor, played by Brenda Song)–basically described as being the exact opposite of Abigail, Kaitlyn is outgoing and often the de facto leader of the group. Apparently though she isn’t the best at “express[ing] her own needs in stressful situations.” Good thing this game won’t have any stressful situations! Haha. Ha.
Nick (counselor, played by Evan Evagora)–described as that classic teen heartthrob serving us a classic combination of handsomeness and hidden vulnerability. Also, he’s apparently bad at letting people in. Cue the swarms of “I CAN FIX HIM” girls.
Emma (counselor, played by Halston Sage)–because it wouldn’t be a modern horror media piece without some selfie footage, Emma is our “aspiring influencer” and the individual in charge of drama activities at the camp.
Ryan (counselor, played by Justice Smith)–all I can think of based on his description on the website is that meme about Jughead from Riverdale. You know the one. “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m a weirdo. I’m weird. I don’t fit in.” Now all he needs is a signature hat.
Dylan (counselor, played by Miles Robbins)–apparently beloved for his “oddball humor” and musical knowledge? But like any good teenager, he’s “terrified of rejection.”…actually, do any of us ever grow out of that?
Jacob (counselor, played by Zach Tinker)–IT’S THE JOCK BOY! HERE HE IS! I will note also that his description specifically mentions how he wants all his counselor buddies to have a fun time…but specifically Emma. ~ooOOooOOooh~
Chris (camp owner, played by David Arquette)–described as the father figure of the summer camp, I’m sure he will be super good at making sure nothing awful happens to any of the counselors. Really. Definitely. For sure.
Travis (sheriff, played by Ted Raimi)–his website description is ominously short and tells us…nothing. Except that he intends to protect and serve. But…protect and serve what exactly?
Jedediah (ominous old man, played by Lance Henriksen)–his description is unhelpfully “they can’t wait to meet you…” so…uh…maybe he’s nice?
Bobby (ominous big shoulder man, played by Ethan Suplee)–same description, so…maybe also nice?
Constance (ominous old woman, played by Lin Shaye)–I’m sure definitely nice?
Eliza (ominous old woman #2, played by Grace Zabriskie)–her description is “she knew you were coming…” so maybe she had cookies ready for us? That would be nice.

The website also features the trailer, some screenshots, descriptions for the fun add-ons included in the pre-order bonus, a FAQ, and a podcast (more on that later).

So, armed with that knowledge, let’s dive into the trailer.

THE TRAILER

The trailer starts happily enough, seeing a school bus full of happy, singing children heading back home after another cheerful year at summer camp. Some of the camp counselors are seeing them off–we can make out 5 of the 9 counselors here. We can clearly see Jacob, Kaitlyn, and Emma, but the two figures on the balcony are out of focus, and we can only guess…perhaps Abigail and Nick? One of them does seem to be wearing the red flannel Nick wears in other clips, and based on the hints that he and Abigail become ~a thing~ we can assume she might be with him. Again, though, it’s not explicitly clear. If that is the case, however, the counselors missing from this shot are Laura, Max, Ryan, and Dylan. Dunno if that means anything, but we believe in over-analyzing in this house.

Next, the trailer shows us Chris (owner of the camp) telling an unseen counselor that he wants to get the kids safely home before sunset. However…the car won’t start. Because this is a horror thing, after all. Chris seems to have an irrational reaction to this bump in the road, however, frustratingly telling the counselors that he “thought [he] told them to check everything.” In this next shot, we can clearly make out Kaitlyn, Emma, and Abigail, but the two figures on the right aren’t as clear–could be Dylan and Ryan or Nick, however. It’s Jacob, though, who tells Chris to chill; they’ll all just spend one more night at the camp, it’s not that big a deal. Chris practically yells that NO, it is a big deal!! And he says to stop, just let him think.

It’s worth noting that there are probable cuts here to make the trailer flow–Chris is inside the car when he voices his initial frustration, then he’s out of the car and standing when he asks them to let him think. So basically, it’s possible there are moments in the game between these lines not shown in the trailer. ~spooky~

The trailer then shows us various shots of the woods (possibly from the point of view of something running rather quickly through the woods), the outside of the lodge, Chris getting into a presumably working car while Ryan talks to him, and then Chris driving off. This is all shown while Chris talks over the images, telling the counselors to keep everyone inside, lock the doors, and do not let anyone in or out. He claims he’ll be back first thing in the morning. (Suuuuure, Chris)

So now we can establish something else the trailer likely shows us in order to throw us off. When Chris initially expresses his frustration at the counselors for not checking everything, it seems to imply that the car won’t start–perhaps repairs cannot occur until the following day, hence, the counselors are stuck at the camp an extra night. However, Chris is then shown driving off and leaving everyone there. Are there multiple cars? Is there some other problem Chris was referring to initially that wasn’t shown in the trailer? Unclear, potentially unimportant. We’ll find out!

We then cut to our favorite counselors having a bonfire on the beach that night–because a jumpy adult told them to stay inside, so naturally, they didn’t do that. I don’t know these actors well enough (yet) to recognize their voices, but as the next clips play, we hear one counselor suggesting to another that “hey wouldn’t it be totally spooky and crazy if we were out here partying and then we get hunted by people? I mean think about it, summer camp is over…hunting season has begun…” The clips shown here start to come a little faster–we have the bonfire, where we can clearly see 7 of our 9 counselors (at least in that shot) and it seems to be Kaitlyn, Dylan, Jacob, Ryan, Nick, Abigail, and Emma, meaning we’re missing Laura and Max. After that, we see a clip of what looks to be Dylan and Ryan walking around at night. Ryan is notably carrying around what appears to be a rifle of some sort strapped to his back. Next, a shot of two of the mysterious ominous other characters–perhaps Bobby and Jedediah? Then a clip of an unidentifiable character looking around a dark room, two characters walking ahead of them. The shaggy hair tells me it could be Max, but it’s unclear. Next, a short clip of two silhouetted characters in a doorway, potentially at the top of a staircase. It’s unclear who they are. Then, a clip of a carving in a tree, initially saying “Jacob + Emma 4 Ever” but “Ever” has been scratched out and “Summer” written underneath it instead. Ouch. Finally, we have a shot of someone’s eye looking through a crack, and someone breaking a lock with a wrench.

Next, we hear potentially Kaitlyn talk about how she saw a weird light in the treehouse across the lake, saying how it was “pretty spooky.” She turns to Ryan, saying maybe it’s his “girlfriend.” This is played over a clip of Kaitlyn showing something on her phone to Dylan and Ryan. This is cut quickly with Ryan (seemingly at the bonfire) saying in a spooky voice “the hag of Hackett’s Quarry.”

(sidenote–I could not for the life of me figure out what he was saying there until I was looking at the titles of future podcast episodes, one of which is titled “The Hag of Hackett’s Quarry.”)

So we can infer from here that Ryan was likely telling ghost stories at the bonfire (this is backed up by a later clip in the trailer), one of which is, we can assume, a local legend about whoever the mysterious hag is. We can also assume this is who Kaitlyn is referring to as Ryan’s girlfriend. Ha ha, teenagers.

Next, we get a clip of Abigail in some sort of dark ominous room, slowly turning around to face a large vent? Or something? as something whispers ominously (can’t tell what the whisper is saying–could be “Abby” or even “happy” but it also sounds a lot like when Voldemort would whisper “Harry” in the Harry Potter movies, so…idk fam). We then cut to Abigail and likely Nick, sitting super close together in some dark, undisclosed location. ~ooOOooOOooooh~ She asks if Nick heard that (maybe the whisper?) and asks if they should look at what it is.

(No!!! You should not!!! You should get out of there!! Do not investigate, do not pass Go, do not collect $200!)

It then very suddenly cuts to Abigail screaming, and then to black. See? This is why we never investigate!

Next, we see Dylan and likely Ryan, arguing about the mysterious culprit (we don’t know when in the game this conversation takes place, so it’s unclear what has happened to them up to this point prior to this conversation). Ryan suggests bears, which Dylan shoots down, causing Ryan to list other possibilities–zombies, aliens, and my personal favorite: “time-hopping Draculas.” Nice.

While he suggests other things, we get some more clips of that point of view that appears to be something running real fast through the woods. Then, we’re apparently back at the beach bonfire, with Ryan pointing the rifle at something off-screen. Someone says “uh…Ryan?”, Ryan yells “HEY!” at whatever he’s pointing the rifle at, and then everything cuts to black as we hear something growl/snarl/yell/roar.

The next clips all come REAL fast, so here’s what I was able to piece together:

a very brief moment of what looks to be Bobby (ominous big shoulder man) hunched over and holding up…someone unconscious. Or dead. Can’t make out who the someone is. Bobby is caught in what could be the light from Ryan’s rifle thing. The rifle then fires.
a clip of a shirtless Jacob being hauled up by one foot in some sort of trap thing, perhaps?
shirtless Jacob being dragged away, except now the lighting is all red. Jacob (I assume) is yelling something during these clips, but I can’t make out what he’s saying. He does yell “please” at some point.
some unknown voice says what I think is “we ain’t playing games no more, little girl” while we get more footage of “point of view of something unknown running real fast through the woods” and then a brief clip of some girl swimming (?) while she turns her head to look at something. Based on the hair, the girl could be Emma.
a different unknown voice shouts that “there’s something…something coming!” while we see Travis the creepy sheriff shoot at something off-screen.
while yet another unknown voice starts ominously counting to 3, we get a clip of Dylan walking into a room and yelling in fear at something unseen
then a clip of an unknown individual running through the woods–based on the hair, this could be Laura
then a clip of Ryan’s face
before the creepy unknown voice gets to 3, we hear a different voice say “we’re lost Max, we’re lost” (thanks to the “first 30 minutes of gameplay” video released a few weeks ago (which I’ll cover next) we know this voice is Laura!) and we see a brief shot of a few of the counselors…in the woods? Looking for/being frightened of something? We can clearly make out Jacob, Abigail, Nick, and Kaitlyn in that moment
next we see a shot of an unknown individual from behind, standing in front of an open doorway of some sort, potentially holding a gun (once again, thanks to the 30 minutes of gameplay video, we know this is Sheriff Travis!)
the next audio clip we get is another unknown voice saying, quite helpfully, “terrified kids is bad for business.” You don’t say!
under that audio, we see two different clips: one is two individuals in a car, driving off the road and through a fence (yet again, thanks to the gameplay video, we know this is Max and Laura!). The next clip is what looks to be Abigail, crawling through a tunnel of some sort while the screen shakes and rocks fall all around her.
this next section is a doozy: while we hear an unknown voice desperately plead “you have to cut it off–cut it off, cut it off!!” (I’m assuming this will be referring to a limb of some sort? That’s unfortunate) we see a whole bunch of stuff–an out of focus close-up of someone reaching out and screaming, then possibly Travis’s eyes, then a dark room in what I’m assuming is the lodge with some characters looking up before a figure drops down in front of them (from what I can piece together, it looks like Dylan and Ryan playing with fire and then it actually cuts to a different moment (yay cinnamontography!) where it looks like Bobby is looking on in horror at some sort of…not-human thing (I’m just saying, the bit of silhouette we see is crouched in a not comfy position and its skin looks like it’s seen better days) and then it cuts again to yet another moment which we can confirm thanks to the gameplay video–it’s Max being jumped by something while Laura stands a few feet away, unsuspecting). WHEW.

After that crazy montage cuts to black, we jump to Chris talking with Ryan, chastising him for telling ghost stories (maybe this is where the “terrified kids is bad for business” line actually comes into play?). Chris jokingly tells him just to “stick to Kumbaya next time” but Ryan looks confused. After Chris asks in disbelief if they don’t do that anymore and Ryan just stares at him, the trailer moves on to probably my favorite montage of the whole thing: character introductions while a, yes, creepy version of “Kumbaya” plays in the background. Amazing. 10/10.

This is, of course, another fast-paced moment, so here’s what I can glean:

a quick shot of someone whispering in someone’s ear (it’s hard to tell who either party is–however, thanks to the gameplay video, this could be Laura and Eliza)
a quick shot of an unidentified figure running behind who I think is Laura (thanks to the gameplay video) out in the woods
a shot of Chris, introducing them as being played by David Arquette (it’s worth noting that most of these shots introducing the characters and actors don’t seem to give that much away, at least on the surface–I will note some things)
a shot of Abigail, introducing them as being played by Ariel Winter
a shot of Ryan, introducing them as being played by Justice Smith
a shot of Kaitlyn, introducing them as being played by Brenda Song
a shot of Emma, introducing them as being played by Halston Sage
a shot of Laura, introducing them as being played by Siobhan Williams
a shot of Max, introducing them as being played by Skyler Gisondo
a shot of Nick, introducing them as being played by Evan Evagora
a shot of Dylan, introducing them as being played by Miles Robbins
a shot of Jacob, introducing them as being played by Zach Tinker
a shot of Travis, introducing them as being played by Ted Raimi
a shot of Jedediah, introducing them as being played by Lance Henriksen (at first I thought he was wearing a hospital gown, but I don’t think that’s it–he does look…unwell, if that makes sense. I don’t see any visible blood, but he definitely looks angry and…yeah)
a shot of Constance, introducing them as being played by Lin Shaye (this shot definitely has her talking to someone, but we don’t see whom–maybe she’s actually nice after all? Please?)
a shot of Eliza, introducing them as being played by Grace Zabriskie (please. Please tell me that the room she’s in for this shot isn’t filled with skulls. Please tell me those aren’t skulls…they’re skulls, aren’t they)
a shot of Bobby, introducing them as being played by Ethan Suplee (he looks very angry and redneck-y in this shot. Also very sweaty? WHAT WAS HE DOING PRIOR TO THIS)

The screen cuts to black again before revealing the title and other relevant release information, while an unknown voice says “hello my friend. Welcome…to the show.” (based on information from the gameplay video and the way the voice sounds, I think we can infer that this is Eliza speaking. What she’s welcoming us to and whether we want to be there or not…ehhhhhhhh)

Cool! We all good and confused now? Me too.

Click the image above to watch the video!

THE GAMEPLAY TRAILER

So like I mentioned before, IGN First released a video of the first 30 minutes of gameplay for The Quarry (so, essentially, we got the prologue).

(You can also find the first 30 minutes on the 2k Games channel and the Supermassive Games channel)

Basically: we are introduced to Laura and Max, two new camp counselors on their way to Hackett’s Quarry summer camp. Laura keeps insisting they are lost, while Max keeps insisting they are not. Suddenly, something is in the road in front of them, causing Max to swerve off the road. After crashing into (or narrowly avoiding, depending on your reflexes) a few things, Max and Laura exit the car so Max can survey any damage. While he works on that, Laura goes off investigating because she’s convinced it was a person they almost hit, and she wants to see if they need help. She finds a lot of weird things, but none of them are a person. Probably. Suddenly spooked, Laura runs back to the car and tells Max she saw something, they need to get back in the car and get out of there. Unfortunately, the engine is stalling, and this gives Travis the creepy sheriff a chance to come over to say hi. Travis asks what happened and where the kids are headed, which is when we learn that Max and Laura are one night early for camp, but Laura claims it’s okay because she called ahead and “they know we’re coming” (hey remember how Eliza’s character description is “she knew you were coming” hahahah cool). Travis insists that they will not head to camp tonight and instead will go to a nearby motel. He shows Laura the route on her map, but she uses this opportunity to learn the location of the camp as well. Totally turned off by the weird cop, Laura and Max head to the camp anyway. However, no one is there, and Max asks if Laura actually spoke with the owner or just left a voicemail (hint: it’s the latter). Frustrated, Max goes back to the car to leave, but Laura looks around a bit, spying something (or someone?) in some sort of storm cellar thing on the side of the lodge. It’s locked, so she asks Max to bring some tools over. After breaking the lock, Laura and Max head inside, where Laura spies a, um…rib cage? But instead of telling Max immediately, she doesn’t? And then Max is jumped by something. When Laura goes to him, he seems to be bleeding heavily from some sort of wound on his shoulder. Laura can decide to take him or leave him behind, but regardless: Max gets dragged away, screaming, and Laura gets injected with something that knocks her out. Travis shakes his head, shooting at something in the cellar, before yelling “DOES THIS LOOK LIKE THE HARBINGER MOTEL TO YOU??”

(Yes. The motel is actually called “the Harbinger Motel.” In this instance though, I don’t think the motel would have been a harbinger of doom and may have saved them…ah well, we’ll never know.)

Good times!

The video shows us a few things:

How the gameplay will work with the cutscenes. Like Until Dawn, The Quarry seems to mainly be an interactive movie of sorts, and it’s not shying away from that–so if that’s not your thing, you probably won’t enjoy this. Basically, cutscene segments will be interrupted occasionally with dialogue prompts or QTEs (quick time events) for various actions, whether that be dodging a branch while running from an unknown being, catching a falling phone, or deciding to look at a pamphlet or a map (WHAT KIND OF CONSEQUENCES COULD THIS DECISION HAVE I DON’T UNDERSTAND??). Basically, unless you have it set to Movie Mode, there’s never really a safe time for you to just be chilling and watching the action unfold–you never know when you’ll be called upon to make a decision. Exploration moments are interspersed with the cutscenes, allowing you to take control of a character and direct them to walk somewhere or investigate something–and fret not, there are plenty of choices in these moments as well (for example: do you snoop around in your boyfriend’s trunk to find his college rejection letter? It cracks me up that Laura asks herself why Max didn’t tell her about this but like–their character descriptions!! Laura, you’re an overachiever dating the class clown!! You apparently want to go to college together!! Of course he’d be nervous to tell you!!! Anyway)
Collectibles! In Until Dawn, you could find various totems scattered throughout the game that could potentially help (or maybe hinder?) you in various ways. In the Prologue, it looks like those totems will be replaced by tarot cards, something I am very excited about. Appropriately, the card Laura finds is the Fool–generally, a card of new beginnings and possibly walking into the unknown. Yeah, that checks out. I’m excited to see if the tarot cards will play different roles like the totems did–perhaps different suits tell you something different, or it means something to find a major arcana card rather than a minor arcana card. Tarot is often misused in media (the Death card does not actually mean death, fam…) so I’m curious to see how it will be applied here. I’m sure the tarot cards tie into the poster Laura finds that seems to hint at Eliza (ominous old woman #2) being some sort of famous fortune teller or the like. This would also explain her line (if it is her speaking) at the end of the reveal trailer when she welcomes someone to a show.
Situational hints! As Laura and Max talk with Travis, the player receives little notices on the side of the screen, alerting them to how, in this case, Travis is reacting to their choices. It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out in the game, potentially warning us if characters don’t believe us when we’re lying to them, or letting us know how they’re feeling if they’re not being obvious about it. These hints seem to be more tied into the “smaller” choices you make throughout the game that affect relationships between characters more than anything else. Unlike the…
BIG CHOICES. There are two instances in the Prologue where big choices happen, and you can tell that’s what they are because after you decide, the screen goes a little static-y and warns you that there has been a “PATH CHOSEN.” This is super ominous and will haunt me forever, thanks. Now, unlike in, say, Life is Strange, where the big choices are super obvious because the screen freezes for a bit to let you decide, this game doesn’t seem to make it that obvious–while the choice of helping or leaving Max definitely seems to be a big choice and makes sense that it is one, Laura’s conversation with Travis isn’t built up as a big choice and yet still gives you that ominous “PATH CHOSEN” screen. WHAT DOES IT MEAN. And will you be able to see the decision tree at some point so you can know where everything may have gone wrong so you can avoid that next time? Only time will tell.
There’s something very wrong with Hackett’s Quarry…I mean, DUH. The big thing the trailer tells us is that it’s not a good thing AT ALL that the camp counselors are stuck there a night longer than they’re supposed to be. This Prologue, however, confirms that and takes it a step further–they can’t even be one night early because things still go horribly wrong. Laura claims to Travis that they spoke with Hackett and he knows they’re coming early. Even with this knowledge, Travis urges them to spend the night at a nearby motel instead. Not trusting Travis, however, (an unfortunate decision) Laura and Max go to the camp anyways, where Max learns that Laura was lying–er, well, stretching the truth. She did call Hackett to say they were coming early, but she left a voicemail and never heard back from him. So it’s safe to say Hackett doesn’t know they’re there. (which leads to a separate line of questioning–if it’s such a bad thing to be at the camp outside the allotted time, why doesn’t Hackett make more of an effort to check his phone just in case something like this happens? Surely this isn’t the first time? Unless…Hackett can’t check his phone…hmmmmmm) Deciding to investigate because that’s just who Laura is, she peers through a crack in the…storm cellar? Basement thing? I dunno, but she sees what she thinks is someone trapped down there…but they’re gone when Max comes over to see. While the camera work in the beginning suggests something running way too quickly to be human through the woods, it seems that the only being Laura actually stumbles upon when she’s out there is an old (probably human) woman (Eliza?). This is not the case for the creature in the cellar, however, as Laura and Max discover. Whatever is down there shares its space with a very unfortunate rib cage of…something, and it tackles Max behind Laura, giving him a nasty bite (?) on the shoulder. It then drags him away and Laura gets knocked out by Travis, frustrated that the two of them didn’t go to the motel like he asked. WHAT IS GOING ON HERE.
Though the release trailer hints at humans hunting humans being one of the monstrous elements, they’re also not shying away from the fact that there is something more…unnatural at play, also. Creepy as Travis is, by the end of the Prologue, it really seems like he was trying to help the kids by steering them away from the camp before they’re actually supposed to be there. It’s just a shame he came off as so unsettling they decide not to listen to him. Ah well. Horror’s gotta horror.
So what happens to Laura and Max? We unfortunately don’t know. It’s possible that they are only the Prologue characters, and they don’t survive after Travis finds them (similar to Hannah and Beth in Until Dawn). It would be a shame, of course, but it is strange that, at least in the release trailer, we don’t see them at all with the other 7 counselors (potentially–some of the clips went by real quickly). It’s also worth noting that the poster has Max and Laura separate from the other counselors as well–their faces are above the others and not included in the happy bonfire gang. However, Supermassive also makes the point to say in multiple places that the player takes control of all 9 counselors, and in the Prologue, the player never actually controls Max, only Laura. So it’s possible that Laura may be out of commission after the Prologue (RIP) but Max may come back somehow. Ironic that the one who gets dragged away by the unseen cellar monster is the one who might come back, but hey, ya never know. Honestly I kinda want a playthrough where only Max survives–even in the Prologue he was very much “hey maybe we shouldn’t be doing this” so he deserves to make it out. Am I biased because that actor was Jared in Booksmart? Yes, leave me alone.
We also learn some more specific story-details! Potentially!
1. It truly is unclear what they almost hit on the road–it looks like something hunched over? Maybe? But it doesn’t seem to react at all to the oncoming car, and it doesn’t chase after them either. Maybe.
2. There is an option to take a closer look at any clues/tarots you find, but the person playing this for the video doesn’t give us that luxury D: I get it, but also…D:
3. Besides the first tarot card, Laura also stumbles across a weathered poster stuck on a tree for something called “Harum Scarum Sideshow Spectacular.” Some of the poster is missing so we can’t make out every detail (and the player doesn’t investigate further D: ) but it looks like the fortune teller on the poster is indeed Eliza (she knew you were coming, after all!). I can’t make out the text on the left side, but the right side says “Mystery and Magic” and the bottom says “Escapologists and Enigmas.” Oh good!
4. Not far from the poster, Laura finds an “Escapology Trunk.” Again, the player doesn’t investigate further, so we don’t know what context this will have in the game, but boy if you want a fun time, google “escapology” (the practice, not the escape room business of the same name–although hey, escape rooms are fun!). It’s basically exactly what you’re thinking–the practice essentially coined by Houdini that involves escaping from often impossible situations. It’s an oddly specific thing to include here in the prologue–I’m curious to see how it gets utilized in the game. Or maybe I don’t want to know.
5. A little while later, Laura comes across what I initially thought was some sort of dilapidated lean-to in the woods but what is apparently a mutilated, absolutely ginormous CAGE. Next to this, she finds a weathered sign that reads “Side Show Act Silas the Dog Boy.” GOOD. GOOD GOOD GOOD. GREAT. AWESOME. Laura decides that’s enough investigation for today, and she leaves.
6. It’s at this point, however, that she starts hearing voices. What’s interesting is that not all of the voices are clear–that is, they don’t sound like they come from anyone actually physically in the space with her, like it’s too magical for that, it almost sounds like a flashback (or maybe a flash-forward?). At the end, however, we get a closeup of her face and a view of likely an old woman (likely Eliza) whispering very clearly in Laura’s ear: “Silas.” Laura decides that alright, enough is REALLY ENOUGH at this point, and she books it back to the car.
  1. so, okay, clearly this could be hinting at the main monster being werewolves (please be werewolves. I mean, the tagline is “you won’t believe what you’ll become.” C’MON.) perhaps stemming from the original dog boy himself, but that still begs a lot of questions: what happened to the Harum Scarum show? Why is all of this stuff from the show abandoned in the woods? And why is Eliza wandering around whispering dog boy names in people’s ears?
7. There’s a lot of weirdness and a lot of player choice in the conversation with Travis, but one key detail worth pointing out is what appears to be blood on the side of Travis’s neck. It’s never explained, of course, and maybe its only function is to add to Travis’s overall creepy aura, but if it does come into play…where did it come from? And if he’s so keen on wiping mud from Laura’s face, why does he not wipe the blood from his own neck? Hmmmm…
8. At the actual camp now, there’s a moment where Laura runs her flashlight over the map of the camp. Her light is small, so we can’t see it all at once, but lucky for you, I tried to piece the full thing together. Huzzah!

As you can see, it looks just like the map Laura finds. Supermassive you can hire me whenever, thanks.

ANYWAY this is fun because as far as I’m aware, it’s our first glance at the overall layout of the camp! The trailer includes a lot of clips from the Firepit and references to the island where the Treehouse is, but I’m curious how these other locations come into play. The Lodge of course seems to be where Laura and Max first arrive, which means the cellar thing is connected there–but what about the Boathouse? The Cabins? THE TREE WALK? (what IS a tree walk? Is this a classic summer camp experience that I just never received? Hmmm…)

It’s also worth noting that even though many clips seem to show underground locations…none of those are on the map.

OR ARE THEY??

THE SOCIAL MEDIA

The Quarry‘s official website directs you to two social media sites to keep up with updates: Instagram and TikTok. Most of the posts seem to be very tongue-in-cheek, and it’s not entirely clear if they are intended to mean anything beyond extra marketing, but let’s dive in anyway, shall we?

INSTAGRAM
1. Character posts–reels with close-ups of character faces that occasionally flash to other images, as well as reels that show one-word descriptions of the characters before flashing to something more ominous
  1. I can’t make out all of them, but Kaitlyn’s definitely flashes to a crow and Bobby at some point. Kaitlyn’s other video describes her as “the cool kid, wise, goofy” and then it ominously flashes on “lives her life out loud.”
  2. Jacob’s first video definitely flashes to that clip of him being swung upside-down, and there’s also a flash of someone smiling creepily? His other video describes him as “the jock, loud, charismatic, confident” before it ominously flashes to “obnoxious.”
  3. Ryan’s first video is hard to make out, but there’s a definite clip of him possibly covered in blood. His second video describes him as “the loner, brooding, charming, passionate” before it ominously flashes to “sensitive.”
  4. The most obvious flash in Laura’s first video is her face perfectly matching up with definitely Eliza. Interesting!! Her second video describes her as “the fighter, wise, strong, fierce” before ominously flashing to “independent.”
  5. Dylan’s first video also seems to flash to him covered in blood, and there may be a clip of Travis in there also? Hard to say. His second video describes him as “the class clown, loud, confident, funny” before ominously flashing to “hiding behind a persona.” (sidenote–can we talk about how funny it is that both Dylan and Max are described as the class clown in different ads? And if Max does get taken out in the Prologue, it’s like a “THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE” moment)
  6. Emma’s first video definitely flashes to a ouija board at some point (horror’s gotta horror) as well as?? A zombie face? Maybe a mummy??? Her second video describes her as “the popular girl, confident, charismatic, plays to an audience” before ominously flashing to “dramatic.” (YEAH I’D BE DRAMATIC TOO IF I WAS STUCK AT THIS SUMMER CAMP)
  7. Max’s first video absolutely flashes to him covered in blood, likely from the Prologue, but there’s also a flash that looks like someone sitting in a chair?? Maybe Max??? We don’t see that in the Prologue–MAX SURVIVAL 2022???? His second video describes him as “Mr. Witty, sarcastic, helpless, friendly” before ominously flashing to “dependent.” (why is helpless one of his positive words??? Justice for Max 2022????)
    1. WE ARE STILL MISSING VIDEOS FOR: Abigail and Nick, as well as the other non-counselor characters (if they get videos?)
2. Trailers–basically little trailer videos tailor-made for social media.
  1. The very first one is, as we now know, a little audio montage from the Prologue and Travis’s conversation with Laura and Max. Visually, we see the last shot of the Prologue, with the police car pulled over next to Max and Laura’s car, and Travis himself standing in front of the open cellar.
3. Extras–miscellaneous shorter videos?
  1. The first one is a video of our good influencer pal Emma, talking about the treehouse. Specifically, she mentions that this part of the island is an “unexcavated” part that “re-wilded” itself after “the flood into the lake.” She then jokes about how when she was little, she used to think islands would just “float” in the middle of the water. But, she’s “older and wiser” now and realizes that “not everything is as it seems.” Good. I’m sure that doesn’t mean anything in particular.
  2. The second is related to the podcast–a reel showing a newspaper article with the…really good headline “FOUND BODY FOUND MISSING.” The article basically states that 6 teens were trespassing in the woods near the summer camp and came across a body. They reported it to the police, who stated that once they went to investigate…there was nothing there. None of the area surrounding the supposed body location was disturbed either, so it’s unlikely someone moved it. Still, the police claim that they will continue looking into it. No names are used in the article, but can we semi-confidently say the sheriff interviewed is our good pal Travis?
  3. The third is simply called “Do you see it?” and it’s some shaky camera footage of the woods at night. Near the end, the camera holds on one tree in particular and you can see a silhouette of something slowly move behind the tree. Also the audio sounds like walking and maybe…crunching?? Don’t like that.
  4. The fourth one is a better view of the camp map!! So my map I drew earlier is completely obsolete!! Oh well. I did actually get everything pretty close, except there is an arrow at the bottom of the map that says “this way to scrapyard” which isn’t ominous at all. It also focuses on the text at the bottom of the map that says “what doesn’t kill you will make you stronger!” haha. Sure.
  5. Next is a slow close-up of a sign warning of the danger of hiking alone at night, specifically saying that many people have been injured and have even lost their lives from falls, hunting accidents, and wildlife attacks. I’m sure that’s nothing to worry about, though.
4. Podcast–lil preview vids of the podcast!
  1. The first one is a trailer for the first episode, slowly zooming in on an old-fashioned-ish computer monitor which has a sticky note in the corner that says “Rabbit Hole”???
  2. The trailer for the second video is the same, with the same “Rabbit Hole” sticky note. WHAT DOES IT MEAN??
  3. SAME THING FOR EPISODE 3. WHY THE RABBIT HOLE. WHY.
5. Images–lol who posts pictures anymore
  1. The first is the game poster with the absolute best captions ever: “who else is excited for ‘Teens Go Camping and Nothing Goes Wrong Simulator 2022’?” BAHAHAHAHAH
6. Updates and announcements–mostly for the sake of marketing
  1. The first is the announcement that the game has “gone gold” (I wish I knew what this meant, sorry fam…gamer fail)
  2. The second is a clip showing what the “horror history filter pack” does (do you wanna make the whole thing look grainy and fuzzy like a horror film from the 80’s?? GUESS WHAT genuinely a fun and cool idea, and adds to the whole idea of the game being a love letter to the horror genre)
TIKTOK
(some of the posts are the same as what is on Instagram, so I will only list the different uploads)
1. Character vids–videos that seem to be from the pov of the character themselves, but with some sort of ominous twist included…because of course
  1. Kaitlyn’s is framed as “top 5 camp counselor goals” and seems harmless at first until it cuts to “late-night sneak outs” and shows her and I think Dylan walking through the woods, probably covered in blood, and oh yeah Kaitlyn has a gun. #justsummercampthings
  2. Jacob’s is framed as “my morning routine as a camp counselor” and it goes back and forth between normal things and jokes about saving kids from various things: drowning, missing breakfast…and from the ominous cut to when Jacob is swung upside down in a trap. They do love that shot, don’t they?
  3. Ryan’s is framed as more of a self-deprecating video about how weird he is (remember: hE’s a WeiRdo someone get him a Jughead hat), making fun of stuff he does that actually is “weird” before it cuts to footage of him looking scared of something off-screen. Worth noting here is that Ryan canonically listens to paranormal podcasts–mayhaps he listens to Bizarre Yet Bonafide, setting the podcast I will talk about momentarily as a truly in-universe podcast? WE LOVE THIS TRANSMEDIA APPROACH.
  4. Laura’s video is framed as “my roadtrip pet peeves” and it’s all good and fun until it cuts to the scene where Max drives off the road.
  5. Dylan’s video is framed as “here are some really terrible jokes I will be telling at camp” and he’s not kidding–they’re bad. Worth noting is the “did you hear about the kidnapping in the woods?” joke because that’s when it cuts to ominous footage of Dylan and Ryan in the woods and Dylan screaming before we get the punch line of “they woke up.” Hahaha. Ha. Ha…
  6. Emma’s video is framed as her talking about what she’ll be doing for her last year as a counselor at the camp, and as per usual, it’s all very harmless…until she jokes about “breaking some hearts” and it cuts to her and possible Jacob in the woods while she screams “RUN!!” don’t play with my jock boy Jacob like that Emma 😡
  7. Max’s video is framed as a very cute romantic video about all the ways Laura makes him feel and it’s super cute until it shows that footage from the Prologue of Laura trying to drag him up the stairs before he gets nabbed away again. Because teenage couples can never be happy in these things!! We know this!!!
    1. Once again, we are missing videos for Abigail and Nick (and other non-counselors?)
2. Miscellaneous–extra videos, some seem to be in-universe, some not
  1. The first one is very similar to the Instagram “do you see it?” video, except it features a real human at the beginning who says “HEY WANNA SEE A DEAD BODY” It then cuts to shaky cam footage of the forest…but no dead body. Probably. The Human comes back to say “yeah I didn’t see it either and that’s the POINT.” This ties into the podcast! This does seem to contradict the newspaper article from Instagram, however, because the human here says the boy who found the body was a camp counselor and not one of six teenagers trespassing near the camp. Hmmm…Human then goes on to talk about the podcast and how it talks about the folklore of Hackett’s Quarry–mayhaps related to whatever happened to the Harum Scarum show?
  2. There are a couple “joke” videos that seem to play on TikTok trends as fun marketing–one is pointing out QTE’s in the game so Laura doesn’t smack her head on a branch, and one is Dylan and Ryan joking about Ryan’s perhaps questionable music taste. ~Character building~There’s another one featuring Emma, which jokes about how they spent weeks “babysitting kids in the middle of nowhere” and they’re ready to go home, but now the van won’t start (clip of Emma screaming). So did they all come in one van?? Awww, roadtrip buddies!!

Again, it’s unclear how much of this is key for us learning hints about the game and how much is simply for marketing, but still! Fun stuff and I love the variety of content we’re getting!

THE PODCAST

I AM SO EXCITED TO TALK ABOUT THIS

okay SO.

As much as this game has wormed its way into my brain (in a good way) since the trailer dropped, I’ve been not so great at keeping up with all the updates? That is until I checked out the website again the other day and went “??? PODCAST????”

At first, I assumed it would be some sort of “behind-the-scenes” kinda deal with interviews with devs and actors and the like, or maybe even an in-universe sort of thing where it’s the game characters talking about camp goings-on, but it is neither!!

“Bizarre Yet Bonafide” does seem to be an in-universe podcast, but our two narrators are not in-game characters (that we know of…). Grace and Anton are your determined (or, maybe less-than-determined in Anton’s case) hosts, intent on proving the presence of the paranormal up near Hackett’s Quarry…or not.

The overall vibe of the podcast is hilarious–having one host be such a believer and one be such a cynic is perfect, and reminds me of the good old days on Buzzfeed Unsolved. Their back-and-forth banter is immaculate, and I hope it’s a preview of what’s to come from the game itself. Like yeah, sure, it’s a horror game, but a lot of the behind-the-scenes interviews features the devs talking about the humor?? So I hope we can expect more of that!

So far, 3 of 6 episodes have released, and while each episode does talk about something different, the overarching storyline involves that “found body found missing” from the newspaper article on Instagram. I’m beyond curious how this mystery will tie in with the game itself.

Episode 1 introduces us to the general vibes of the show and our hosts, Grace and Anton. It’s unclear how they came to be the ones hosting this podcast seeing as Grace is beyond excited about this and Anton frequently makes it clear he’d rather be anywhere else talking about anything else. We are also introduced to the missing body story: Grace describes the incident and it’s a lot closer to the story presented in the newspaper article rather than the TikTok video (six teenagers find the body rather than one camp counselor, for example). Grace tries hinting that mayhaps the body was eaten by some sort of ~mysterious creature~ and that’s why there was no trace of it, but Anton tries to offer that maybe, just maybe, the kids were caught trespassing and they made up the story of the body as an excuse. Grace doesn’t buy it though, and she is determined to talk with the eyewitness kid about his story. Anton seems exhausted.
Episode 2 starts with Grace reading the response she got from the kid who found the supposed body–he specifically describes a “sweet but in a bad way” smell and that he’s worried because if there’s something out there killing people, he does not want his girlfriend going to camp there. Uh-oh. The majority of the episode sees Grace and Anton discussing cryptids (primarily Bigfoot) and how likely it is (or not) that a cryptid is the bodysnatcher culprit. Hilarity ensues. One thing to note here is that Grace does mention wendigos (perhaps as a nod to Until Dawn) but the other character she goes into detail about is something called a “nix.” According to Grace, the nix likes to trick innocent youths into drowning because they’re lonely, and it’s most active on “Midsummer’s Night, Christmas Eve, and…Thursdays.” From what I could gather, there is a creature from folklore sometimes referred to as a nix (or nixie, or nøkk, depending on the region the myth comes from) and though descriptions vary, the nix is definitely usually a water spirit of some sort. Sometimes humanoid, sometimes horse-like, it depends. Whether or not the nix is friendly or malevolent also depends on the specific myth. Grace seems to be drawing her research from the Grimm version, as the creature is described as a sort of pied piper who enjoys drowning their victims once they follow their song. I couldn’t find anything about being active on Thursdays, but I mean…who’s to say? Let’s all avoid bodies of water once a week just to be safe, eh? I bring up the nix section specifically because one of the Instagram posts advertising the podcast features that same section–could a nix be just one of the monsters our counselors encounter? There’s definitely plenty of water around for them to get lured into…
Episode 3 is WEIRD. And yes, I realize that I’m saying that about an already weird podcast but no really hear me out–IT’S WEIRD. Though everything begins simple enough with the usual banter we’re all used to, things get funky strange real quickly. Grace begins by describing how she looked into missing persons reports in that area, and she found someone she believes is our Jane Doe (aka the vanishing body): Grace tells the story of two seasoned hikers, Anne Radcliffe and Ed Benson who went…missing. That’s about all we know for sure. The article Grace discusses talks about how there actually isn’t any evidence to support them even being in the Hackett Woods to begin with (which really only fuels her fire that ghosts are involved somehow. Oh yeah, last time cryptids were the culprit, and this time? Ghosts). Grace remains convinced that Anne Radcliffe is the vanishing body, but she offers no explanation for where Ed Benson may have gone (at least not initially, later she claims that Anne ghost-teleported him to another dimension). Anton seems more on edge than usual this episode, making really dark comments about the bodies on Mount Everest and how it’s entirely possible that Ed killed Anne for life insurance reasons or something, and he claims that’s much more terrifying than any made-up monster. Anton is always the voice of reason, of course, but he’s usually not this dark with his comments–usually he’s a lot more open to whatever Grace has to offer, even if he clearly doesn’t believe it. I wonder what’s up? The episode briefly jumps back to the banter we remember, with Grace now convinced that ghosts are the culprit, and she promises to do more research before the next episode. Then, things get…real weird again. Usually the episode ends with some very typical ~spooky noises~ and some information about The Quarry and the likes. This episode..does none of that. Instead, we hear about 12ish seconds of…a jingle? For a cereal or something? A cheerful voice sings out “pop pop peanut butter butter pops, pop pop pop ’em in your mouth…POP” While this seems totally and completely random, and it absolutely is, it’s also worth noting that…we’ve actually heard this jingle before: in Kaitlyn’s second character video on Instagram where she’s described as “the cool kid” among other things. Before the ominous flash of the video, there’s a brief moment where Kaitlyn says “pop pop peanut butter butter pops.” I gotta be honest…I don’t know what this means or why it’s relevant, but there ya go! If anything, it may just be solidifying that the podcast takes place in-universe–maybe that jingle is the super catchy jingle everyone knows and sings, and maybe the idea is that they’re now a “sponsor” of Bizarre Yet Bonafide (ya know, like how your true crime podcast sometimes gets interrupted by a Blue Apron ad? Yeah, like that). Maybe all it means is that this game is going to be full of ridiculously dorky characters and honestly? I’m on board with that.

There are three more episodes airing for sure, but we don’t know exactly when. We do know the titles of the upcoming episodes:

Episode 4 is called “Hangry for Revenge,” which is where I’m assuming Grace may go into cannibalism-related myths and cryptids. I’m sure Anton is very excited about that (also, here’s hoping he brings up the Donner Party since he’s been Mr. Debbie Downer lately anyway, it would be perfect.)

Episode 5 is called “No Hoax Without Fire” and…I honestly don’t know what this could be about. I’m sure there are fire-related myths and cryptids out there, but I’m personally drawing a blank right now. Unless they discuss forest fires for some reason? Mayhaps that is what happened to the Harum Scarum show? HMMMM…

Episode 6 is called “The Hag of Hackett’s Quarry” which is where I’m hoping they’ll really dive into the folklore they’ve created for the story itself. It would be a great tie-in to the game, especially since we know Ryan tells ghost stories and listens to paranormal podcasts. Maybe he talks about the Hag because he heard about it on Bizarre Yet Bonafide?? PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE

All in all, the podcast is delightful and it’s such a fun transmedia approach that I’m having an absolute blast. It’s a fun way to expand the universe, but the podcast stands just fine on its own as a quirky lil…thing! I can’t wait for the remaining episodes (which I will be covering here of course) and I’m excited to see how the vanishing body ties into the game…

While I don’t necessarily think the podcast has given anything away as far as the game goes, it does seem to be fitting into the general marketing theme of “are monsters or humans more scary? Can humans become something monstrous? And what does it take to write a catchy jingle that gets stuck in everyone’s heads??”

ANYTHING ELSE?

As of right now, we don’t have much else to go on. In a recent interview, the game director estimated a typical playthrough of The Quarry would be about 10 hours, which does make it slightly longer than Until Dawn, but not by much. The team is quick to point out that it also depends on the player, as some choices may make the playthrough shorter or even longer (depending on how quickly you get everyone killed?) and I’m sure some people…like me…will spend some time investigating the clues we come across (UNLIKE THE PLAYER IN THE GAMEPLAY TRAILER *COUGH COUGH*). Also, keep in mind that this game is supposed to have a whopping 186 different endings all dependent upon every single choice you make throughout the game–each character has like, 10-12 different death scenes. INSANE. So the replayability value should theoretically be extremely high.

(also–okay but how many alive scenes does each character have, huh?…please)

You BET I’ll be overanalyzing every update we get–with a little over a month to go, there is still so much to be learned!

And hopefully this will tide my funky horror side over until Nope comes out in July.

Next on the agenda (at least until we get another The Quarry update) is a masterlist of sorts for game recommendations based on length and, honestly, my personal taste. Basically, what I wish the Nintendo store would give us for game recommendations. “Hey we saw you replayed this game an ungodly amount of times, so we figured this other very similar game may interest you!”

What do you mean “why do you start and replay games constantly without finishing them” leave me alone.

ADMIT PLAYER ONE

Fun Movie and Game Reviews from a Single Player Perspective

Day: May 5, 2022

Splicing Up The Details of “The Quarry”–Everything We Know So Far (plus some theorizing!)