Mascot horror games are all the rage nowadays, with playthroughs of titles like Poppy Playtime, Five Nights at Freddies, and My Friendly Neighborhood dominating the YouTube algorithm as going viral on Steam. A very unusual one that was overlooked has recently been covered by YouTuber th3badd3st, and that one is The Salvation Project, and it’s about the satanic panic.
At first glance, The Salvation Project appears to be a mascot horror game inspired by Kermit the Frog. Thankfully though, it’s not actually Kermit in the game, but a similar-looking frog called Seth. Seth is the host of an evangelical television program called The Salvation Project. He’s voiced by voice actor Landy, who has also voiced Sonic the Hedgehog in multiple fan-projects. Landy brings an amusing vibe to the sinister Seth character.
You play for Karen, a middle-aged evangelical Christian woman who is terrified of Satan’s influence. Seth tells you to destroy your son’s “Mentallica” (an obvious nod to heavy-metal band Metallica) poster as well his “Dungeons & Demons” (a nod to Dungeons & Dragons) game. Seth warns that not doing these things will invite the influence of the devil into your life.
Eventually, Seth appears directly on your sofa and encourages you to continue following him… even though it’s later revealed your fanaticism has driven your family away from you. Seth asks you to conduct a ritual in order to completely eliminate the devil’s influence. Doing so backfires, and it’s revealed that Seth is actually an agent of Satan who has been using Karen’s fanaticism in order to bring the evil powers of hell into our world.
The Salvation Project getting all this attention in the indie spere recently is somewhat fitting, considering that the subject matter has been in the news. The satanic panic was something of the 1980’s, but there has been a resurgence in the past few years as influential pundits like right-wing Daily Wire host Matt Walsh attacking anime as Satanic. Meanwhile, school boards in Florida, North Carolina, and Texas have all banned multiple mangas in schools due supposedly being satanic as well, while conservative Mormon television host Glenn Beck urges fathers to ban their daughters from dating gamers.
It is with stuff like that that developer Tihan had in mind when creating The Salvation Project. What’s especially impressive about The Salvation Project is all of this was made in 48 hours for a game competition. It took a little while to catch on, but after the video by th3badd3st, more and more people are finding The Salvation Project. There are many forgettable mascot horror games out there that end up just trying to cash-in on Five Nights at Freddy’s or Poppy Playtime, so it’s always interesting to see a game in the genre full of surprises and with deeper meaning.
You can play The Salvation Project for free on itch.io. If you choose, you can give the developer a donation, but that is not mandatory to download the game and play it.
