Don't wake up and smell the coffin

The world of gaming is competitive, and every company is trying to kill competition by releasing games that can test your skills and s-t-r-e-t-c-h your imagination to the T. Then there are ones like Spanish company Horror Box that goes into uncharted territories. Its new live-action puzzle game, Catalepsy, gives participants 30 minutes to free themselves from inside a coffin by solving puzzles through teamwork with their partner lying in a neighbouring, well, casket, communicating via loudspeakers. The players are monitored over CCTV cameras by a gamemaster.

The game idea was inspired by catalepsy, a medical condition easily mistaken for death, and it aims to recreate what, according to the company, everyone will ‘experience sooner or later, your own funeral’. The game draws inspiration from the fear of being buried alive, taphophobia, which was widespread in the 19th century. Horror Box understands customisation well. So, you can choose your casket, or if you want to die with a flourish – cremated in a blaze of virtual flames or artificial smoke. Will gamers warm up to such a game idea that wants you to stay put in a casket as long as you can’t get the puzzle right? We don’t know. But going by the length people go these days for that extra dose of thrill and adventure, there is no reason why this game will not find enough takers.