08/05/2026 Besu's Best Games

Candace Nola
2 days ago
3 min read

Besu Tadesse is back with another horror game review! This week, he brings us his thoughts on Don't Face Up!

Some spoilers ahead-proceed with caution!

Don't Face Up

reviewed by Besu Tadesse

Note: Spoilers ahead.

Released in February 2024, Don’t Face Up is a first-person psychological horror puzzle game developed and published by tesakiza. You play as Annabelle, a woman with no memory that must navigate through a mysterious office facility while trying to avoid eye contact with the inhabiting shadow monsters that lurk in each. You must make your way through four levels of the facility, solving increasing abstract puzzles that bring you closer to exit and to the truth.

There isn’t much in terms of graphics or gameplay, nor is there a lot of complexity in the controls. In-game maps and structures are minimalistic, and most of the gameplay is relegated to solving increasingly complex puzzles from room to room. You are followed throughout the facility by a dark entity that you cannot look at without being chased, and every room is constrained to a limited number of paces – a staff lounge, a couple of bathrooms, a storage room.

Your movements are restricted to simple motion (not even a running or jumping mechanic), and you have no ability to attack or repel any attacks from the dark form. There are four levels before the final battle, and difficulty progression is solid. A competent player can beat the entire game in less than two hours, including time for reviewing the different lore bits peppered in audio recordings, text messages, and emails.

But the lacking elements in this game are made better by dark atmosphere and a compelling story. The restricted motion, inability to look at the enemy without a chase, and limited field of sight (tunnel vision that mimics retinitis pigmentosa) make every moment intense as you creep through the hallways. Eventually, you find another human character that helps you navigate the latter part of the game, sending you into twists and turns.

The developer unfolds such a great story with such little gameplay and executes it well in the confines provided. Sound design is brilliant as well–each chase punctuated with chilling audio that left me uncomfortable and motivated me to remain careful rather than be subjected to those sounds again. This game really shows how to create real terror with clever design.

Don’t Face Up is available for free on PC via Steam. If you’re into creepy, slow-burn games with fairly simple mechanics to grasp, I highly recommend.

Check it out here:

DON'T FACE UP on Steam

MORE ABOUT BESU TADESSE

An author based in Maryland, Besu Tadesse loves to write horror and speculative fiction. He has published two books – The Ghosts of Poplar Valley, a paranormal horror novella about our history’s echoes into the present, and Broken Persons, a short story collection that deals with broad themes of grief, trauma, and speculation on the future.

His short stories have been included in several works, including Devour the Rich!, Arsenic and Grandma’s Refrigerator: Horror Told in Colours, Dark and Dreary: A Basement Horror Anthology, A Chronicle of Horrors: An Anthology, Recipes for Newlyweds: Stories of Marital Bliss, With Teeth: A Dark Fiction Anthology, and several upcoming projects. He also works as a gaming writer and reviewer for Calcopia and Uncomfortably Dark.