Granny’s been around forever, and yet it’s still an iconic, well-known horror game — with multiple developers copying it, or even directly cloning it, in hopes of achieving similar success.

Granny was created by Dennis Vukanovic, more commonly known by his online persona DVloper. It took the world by storm and became a staple horror game to play on mobile. And although I only played it much, much later, it became a key part of so many people’s childhood memories.

Granny was published on 24 November 2017, eventually making its way onto Steam too.

How Does Granny Work?

For anyone unfamiliar with Granny, it’s a rather simple concept. You’re kidnapped by Granny, and you wake up in her house. Your goal is to figure out a way out while avoiding her — and her pets. You have five strikes and then you’re out (a sixth if you put up a pretty picture for her).

However, you can only carry ONE object at a time, forcing you to traverse back and forth across the house. And with that, Granny might not be able to see all that well, but she has got super sharp hearing. So any noise you make will draw her straight to you.

That being said, you aren’t completely defenceless. You can make use of a room in the garage, a freeze trap, tranq darts, or — if you’re very lucky — a gun, and use all of these things to buy some time. The level you’re on also determines how much time you have.

Easy gives you around two minutes, while nightmare gives you a measly 15 seconds. So if anything, you can count on the fact that she’ll be spawning somewhere else.

Why It Works

No two games are the same. You can escape in three different ways, and because it’s simple, it doesn’t have to be headache-inducing. As you get better, you up the level — and with it the challenge — which makes it far more replayable too.

The tension comes from the fact that you’re almost defenceless if Granny does catch you. It can truly scare you when she pops out of nowhere, considering she doesn’t sit still. She’s always moving, wandering, watching in the shadows. Or that’s how it feels, anyhow.

The only downside is that you can’t save in a match. So for runs like nightmare mode — which require you to take your time or you die — you’ll have to plan ahead. No saves simply means little to no leniency: if you quit, you restart.

And considering that’s been the case for every single Granny game, I highly doubt anything is going to change in that regard.

My Experience

I originally discovered Granny through a streamer — ItsUncleSam_ — who played the game several times to find all the exits and even the updates. And then I decided to give it a go. This game jumpscared the heck out of me, and on occasion still does, as Granny can truly pop out of nowhere.

I’ve beaten it all the way to hard mode. I’m yet to manage nightmare and nightmare extreme — but that would take a lot of time and patience. And I’ll admit I’m sometimes a notorious risk-taker, which makes a game like this very difficult to beat.

I’ve had so much fun beating Granny — specifically hard mode, which took several gruelling lessons. I relied on a strategy of luring Granny back and forth just to keep track of where she was, because outrunning her on hard mode is essentially impossible.

I really find it a fun and challenging horror game, but it’s still beatable for anyone new to horror. I’d even recommend it for anyone wanting to try the genre out — opt for this one.

The Beauty of Simplicity

Just like I mentioned in Idols of Ash, not every game has to be complicated and jam-packed with content to be successful. There’s true beauty in simplicity, and Granny is no exception.

Granny is available now on Steam, or on mobile where it all began.