Bonbon – Aetheric Games

A short horror story, about your childhood.

A thirty-minute childhood-horror walking-sim about toys, a giant rat, and childhood events you are too young to understand.

A single-sitting experience. You’re little. You drop your toys. You fall over. Since your parents aren’t there to pick you up, you’ll be spending time with a large, overbearing and ambiguous visitor… a monstrous, hungry rat named Bonbon.

I haven’t been able to get it out of my head … [delivers] as memorably as possible then conclude[s] while I’m still stewing over the ramifications … the dark contain[s] the thing you most hope it doesn’t, exactly when you don’t want to see it … the most effective jumpscare I’ve ever experienced.

Jacob Geller, “Games that Won’t Leave the Dark”

A short, smart tale of domestic horror… The confusion between what is real and what isn’t, and what is threatening and what is malign, rings true… A house of horrors that hit far closer to home than most.

Adam Smith, Rock Paper Shotgun

It shows plenty more restraint than what most videogames mean by “horror” but there’s one scene in particular which is a terrifying joy… It will haunt me for some time.

Joel Goodwin, Electron Dance

There’s a lot to admire and appreciate here – from the thread of an entirely different story … to the clarity of vision and the authentic, evocative period atmosphere… There’s certainly enough craft and creativity here, and a lingering strangeness to this everyday terror.

Matt Wales, Kotaku

A screenshot of Bonbon, a short horror story about your childhood, showing a living toom decorated in a typical British 1970s or 80s style. There are toys from the period scattered around. The warm lighting comes from an electric heater in the fireplace, next to a mesh fireguard and an ashtray full of cigarette ends. The perspective is low to the ground, like that of a toddler.

A screenshot of Bonbon, a short horror story about your childhood, showing a hazily rendered summer afternoon in the back garden of a run-down, pebbledashed British suburban 2-up-2-down house. The garden is sparse but scattered with childrens toys. The perspective is low to the ground, like that of a toddler.

A screenshot of Bonbon, a short horror story about your childhood, in the form of an animated gif. It shows a 1970s CRT television in a room decorated in a 1980s style of beige and browns. There are toys from the period scattered over the carpet, and outside the window the neighbouring houses contrast with the dusky sky. The perspective is low to the ground, like that of a toddler. On the TV there is a cartoon of an anthropomorphic wolf, creeping threateningly in a never-ending loop.

An image for the game Bonbon. A dimly lit domestic corridor, with drap wallpaper and carpet. The view is that of a toddler, close to the floor. At the end of the hall is a yellow, teapot shaped toy.

A screenshot of Bonbon, a short horror story about your childhood. It is blurry with a lot of visual noise. It shows a dark space with the indistinct silhouette of a looming creature with large ears and bright pink eyes.

Available for

and

(ProtonDB Platinum)

Released in 2017.

Designed and developed by Nick Bell.

Published on Steam by Pixeljam.

Published on Itch.io by Aetheric Games.