The Melting Apartment: Bringing Horror to the Game Boy Advance

While the Game Boy Advance was a beloved console that has stood the test of time with its charming 32-bit graphics, it wasn’t without its weaknesses. The graphical limitations of the portable system made the horror genre seemingly impossible to tackle. Sure, there were games that attempted to tiptoe the line between horror and action, such as Resident Evil Gaiden and Metroid Fusion, but even those don’t hold up as well as horror games on home consoles around the same time period. The indie development team at Flower Studio saw this void in the GBA horror landscape and crafted something that not only fills the void but also attacks it in a completely fresh way. They did that by creating The Melting Apartment.

The premise of The Melting Apartment is somehow both familiar and unsettling. You play as a detective who is called to investigate a missing persons case in a run-down apartment. Upon arriving, the detective quickly notices that the tenants are deeply disturbed. They repeatedly croak out strange warnings and chilling omens, making it obvious that things aren’t as they initially seemed. In a short amount of time, the game drags you into a suspenseful investigation that concludes with a shocking discovery.

All of this could have been crafted in another art style, but the 32-bit charm of the Game Boy Advance style really shines throughout the game. Every one of the apartment’s tenants is beautifully drawn with their own quirky touch. Somehow, the limited palette and low resolution practically burst off the screen with each disturbing face that you’re forced to look at. The less detailed sections are also a joy to look at as they’re very readable and evoke a feeling of nostalgia for a bygone era.

Along with the minimalistic graphics, the gameplay and audio also remain true to the spirit of the Game Boy Advance. Aside from one combat section, the game is a point-and-click adventure that has the player solving small puzzles and interacting with objects around the apartment. The droning music comes out in a muffled and distorted sound, just as if it were coming out of a GBA speaker.

As the story unfolds, the player is dragged into a conspiracy surrounding the entire apartment as some sort of cosmic horror entity. Environmental horror is a big point of emphasis, and everybody in the game seems equally afraid of the apartment and what it might do next. Inspired by Italian giallo movies and the works of Junji Ito, The Melting Apartment places a heavy emphasis on the contrast between the known and the unknown. Even with its three different endings, none of them directly lay out what was going on inside that terrifying apartment. They allow the player to fill in the gaps using their own detective work, which is the perfect way to create a more lasting impact.

Although it’s short, The Melting Apartment packs more than enough scares and intrigue into every little crevice of its gameplay, graphics, and audio. While many developers have left the 32-bit style in the dust and moved forward with AAA horror behemoths, there will always be a niche for those who wonder what retro gaming might look like if it had a more modern twist. Thanks to teams like Flower Studio and their bold attempts to answer such a question, the GBA loyalists can rest easy knowing that viscerally terrifying horror experiences like The Melting Apartment exist and are still being made to this day.