The Hum: Abductions, Extraterrestrial trills and thrills

Since the age of two, indie game designer Ariel Arias has been terrified by the thought of an alien invasion. As this fear began to run wild with his imagination, he started to create a fictional world gripped by fear after a mysterious hum began to echo out of the night sky. Cities on opposite sides of the globe could hear this supernatural whine, but no one could figure out where it came from. Arias’ fear became so vivid that he decided that the only way to deal with this unique phobia would be by creating a game based on his fiction that he could share with the world.

The Hum: Abductions is the evolution of Arias’ nightmares. In it, players will jump into the role of Holly Sanders, a single mother recovering from the mysterious death of her husband. Late one night, shortly after the humming starts, extraterrestrial abductors invade Holly’s house and her young son gets snatched up into the sky.

“This game is not about jump scares or fighting against monster-aliens,” says Arias. “It is about a real phobia. I’m making the game that I both want and never wanted to play.”

Arias cites combat-averse survival horror titles like Amnesia: The Dark Descent as inspiration for The Hum. But, in addition to the typical exploration and environment-driven narrative experience, a few sequences take place inside Holly’s head as she is experimented on by aliens.

“I played Gone Home and I loved it,” says Arias. “I really like how that game managed to tell a story with indirect narrative and slow tension. I also loved the pacing of the P.T. Demo. When I saw that, I said, ‘Okay, I need to achieve something like this.’”

Early trailers for The Hum: Abductions show off the game’s unnerving pacing and eerie environments. Horror fans will have to wait until later this year to see if The Hum can live up to it’s inspirations, but even if The Hum fails to awaken new fears in those who play it, it will hopefully be a cathartic experience for its developer.