Play Things
A downloadable game for Windows
Play Things v1.2.7.1
In this game, you'll be investigating a collection of dolls. Some ordinary, others hiding a dark curse. Through a series of tests, you must determine which dolls are merely toys and which conceal something sinister.
However, not everything is as it seems...
WARNING:
This game includes slight jumpscares, dark themes, murder, domestic abuse blood and flashing lights.
ADDITIONAL WARNING:
(if streaming) This game reads your PCs name at some point. Some people may not want this to be shown. So just a heads up!
Average Play Time: ~1 hour (for one ending)
HOW TO PLAY:
Start by ringing the bell. After doing so, you'll receive a doll and a test sheet. There are 5 tests you MUST do with each doll. Audio Test, Name Call Test, Photograph Capture Test, Temperature Test and Physical Discomfort Test. After completing a test, you can mark it's result in the test sheet. After finishing all tests, you'll determine if the doll is "Ok" or "Dangerous".
Credits:
- Created by: ReynTheStrange
- Released by: Burning Eye
- Voice Acting: ReynTheStrange, Viktorie Šrajberová
- Testing and support: Histmy, Dobytčárna, cesky_vaclav, Pablo, Nickion
- Czech localization correction: Mastitel, ogpavel (Dobytčárna)
- Distribution: Pablo, ReynTheStrange
Thank you so much for taking an interest in our game! I hope you'll enjoy!
All music in the game is original Play Things [OST] - YouTube
Special thanks to the Unreal Engine community
Download
Click download now to get access to the following files:
Development log
- Play Things v1.2.7.1 (Fixed)Jun 01, 2025
- Play Things v1.2.7.1May 31, 2025
- Play Things v1.2.7May 31, 2025
- Play Things v1.2.6.1May 26, 2025
- Play Things v1.2.6May 25, 2025
- Play Things v1.2.5May 21, 2025
- Play Things v1.2.4Apr 17, 2025
- Play Things v1.2.3.Mar 27, 2025
Comments
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Good day,
I got the game just today but I'm having a problem, it seems that the game responds late when I hover over the option buttons in the start menu.
After I start a new game, it all goes okay until the introduction of tutorial, after I pick the option, the instruction dialog plays but the screen freezes and stops moving, no typing noise, and when it's done speaking I stay on the same view hearing the game background audio but it does not respond to me clicking anywhere.
Is there anything I can do?
Dang, that's a lot. I would suggest lowering your game settings, especially graphics and lighting in general. If it responds late when you hover even in the main menu, it just may be that the game is too tough (aka. badly optimized by yours truly).
There is however another reason why this might be happening, as it happened before to one of the game's testers, and that is an antivirus, snooping around the files and using all of your PCs performance. Of course, do not disable your antivirus, but maybe keep the game running. This most regularly happens with 3rd party anti-viruses, like Avast, AVG, etc. As indie games, that are executebles and aren't from platforms like steam and epic AND don't have a "license" bought from the antivirus itself, are all targeted as dangerous automatically.
If you have a 3rd party (non-official by Microsoft) antivirus, check if you can whitelist the game within it. As the antivirus Avast, that a tester used, tanked the performence to oblivion, but only for a few minutes, until it marked the game as "Safe".
If whitelisting, graphics turned down AND waiting with the game on doesn't work, then I am sorry, but that would mean the game is just too much for your PC. I promise to do whatever I can to optimise my games better in upcoming titles and updates. Again, really sorry for this frustrating occurrence.
Hello burning eye,
Thank you for taking the time to see my issue, I did try using both the higher and the lower resolutions, it does the same thing. The farthest I reached is the photograph test audio as I am stuck on the screen showing the chair for name call test.
I do not have a 3rd party anti-virus, only what I have with windows. Regardless of that, thank you so much for working to make the game experience better for players, you deserve more love and attention for your wonderful game.
These are some of my device specs in case it was important:
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-1065G7 CPU @ 1.30GHz (1.50 GHz)
Installed RAM: 16.0 GB
System type: 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor.
A little update too
I kept the game running, the game moved after a while and played all the tutorials but it still kept freezing the screen, same thing happened with gameplay, but I wasn't getting trigger lines to pick up or drop items.
If you are refering to the on screen notification of the action, like "E" to pickup, and "F" to trigger the held item, they are known to vanish sometimes when you have low frame rate, although, "E" and "F" are the only two buttons corresponding with interactions and item manipulation. Thank you so much for taking time in notifying me about this by the way, really sorry to hear the persistent problems. The freezing screen and the sluggish pace sounds very frustrating and I fear that it may just be my poor job at optimizing.
Yes yes, I meant the action buttons, thank you for the note!
And you're welcome, while it is frustrating, I can wait on an a game update while also checking my own drivers for any.
I'm sure you're doing a great job, perhaps I'll play this game in the future ^^
but for now it'll still be in my library.
Thank you again, burning eye!
I played this a few days ago it worked perfectly. however when i tried to play it today every time the intro cutscene found finish it would crash with a fatal error. uninstalling and reinstalling did not fix the issue
That's pretty frustraiting, by intro cutscene you mean the tutorial? Or the carcrash + warning display? If your game crashes around the time when you start to see the yellow-tinted room, perhaps try to reduce your graphical settings to the lowest. Then, if the game keeps it together to the point when you are able to walk, raise it up again. If all fails, including reinstalling that you mentioned, maybe post the image of the error here, if it isn't a simple "UE5 Fatal Error" with no additional info or crash log. Sorry that this is happening, it is very baffling to me.
To specify its as soon as it starts to load the actual gameplay area. before the character is even fully on the ground the entire thing freezes then "fatal error" shows up. as for a photo this is all it says. this was a fresh install too
Yeah, I thought so, this message most often happens due to outdated graphics drivers, luckily, it is pretty easy to update. If you are running a NVIDIA graphics card, you should have their software pre-installed, if not, go to their website, and you can download it for free there.
Once in the app, you should be able to traverse to the drivers section. Updating your graphics card drivers to the newest version should make a lot of positive changes in your PC, and of course, it should hopefuly let you run the game! I'd recommend doing this, but I can understand if you don't want to go through with this, just for this game, if everything else works fine, but there pretty much is no downside that I know of with having updated graphics drivers. If there is any trouble, you can reply to this comment thread, I'll answer ASAP with further instructions, if necessary.
my drivers are fully updated. doubled checked yet this error still shows up.
I see, dang, alright, here are some other ways to troubleshoot:
If all of this fails, I went ahead and created a fresh save for ya! If you cannot start the game via a new game, maybe you can try loading an existing save file, that I will link below. Here is a guide on how to do that:
Note, that this safe does not include the tutorial, you will simply start from the first doll of the Normal Mode game.
Here is the link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/10gEfCNYmTPX9jDmxBLgiJe_ZNb1-uCDz/view?usp=shari...
Again, sorry for the frustration, I hope this helps. If it doesn't, than it means I did a poor job with optimizing, and hopefully the next update will allow you to enjoy the experience as intended. Wish you a great day! <3
You know what? This game is really good.. But i have a short time playing on my desktop because of my backpain. Can you please port it on android please 🥺
As the lead dev of the game, I have close to no knowledge of porting the game on mobile devices. Unreal Engine does provide support for it though, I really am not planning to port it on mobile as of now, but it may change. I am sorry about this, but we are really just targeting PC and console gaming. The game will definetly not be ported to mobile with the upcoming update, but it can be something we will take a look-see at, later down the line. No promises though, sorry.
Hey, I really enjoyed your game — it was very moving. Would you be okay with me making a Roblox game inspired by a similar concept? I’d give credit where it’s due. Thanks!
Heya! Sure, go for it! It's really nice of you to ask first, and even offer credit <3
Thank you, I really appreciate it! I wish you guys great success with your game!
Holy hell that was good. Well done! 10/10
Thank you so much!!! Awesome let's play, you earned a new sub!
It can be play with controller like xbox ? i´m bad with the mouse
Unfortunately it cannot be done as of yet, but we are planning to add controller support to the upcoming update, until then, the game can only be controlled via mouse n' keyboard
40k DOWNLOADS REACHED!
Even though it wasn't even two weeks since we reached 30k, we have got to this point already!! The game apperently blew up thanks to TikTok, which I do not own :P. It has been a seriously BIG week and a half for this game! EVEN with the game literally not being indexed (appearing on the itch.io page)!
So thank you once more!!! You have been amazing and I hope that we can keep on going forward! I hope that ya'll are excited for the upcoming games and updates that we are cookin' up for ya!
Love this game! Definitely deserves more attention :D
Thank you so much!! <3 We have gotten a lot of attention from a lot of very nice people, yourself included, and we are very greatful!!
how do i drop items
"G" should do it :P
Hello,
I downlowed the game but i can't play it, it keeps crashing and telling me "fatal error", what can i do ?
Sorry for my wobbly english, i'm french
Might be two reasons, one is that an antivirus is still trying to scan it for malware. It has none, but a lot of antiviruses give 0 damns about your PC, and take 100% of power to "scan". So, if you are using one, try and open the game once more.
If it continues to appear, I am afraid that it might be that you are not meeting the lowest required specs for the game, they are listed below.
It may also help to update your graphics driver. Sorry for the inconvenience :(
is this okay to download in mobile?
Hello! The game has no apk version. You can download it, but you won't be able to play it, or even open it. An app version is also not planned. So, no, sorry to say, but the game is not on mobile, PC only.
amazing game actually and i just finished 2/4 endenig
but sadly there is no clues or hints on how to do other endings ;-;
Heya! You may have skipped over the dialogue, but every ending gives you a hint on how to do the next one! To reach ending 3, you have to do something more specific, as said by The Craftsman. "RETRY" Lily from your PC, and before you touch the chair and beat her in Hide n' Seek, turn OFF THE POWER. Touch the chair in the dark with the power off. If you succeed, he will come for you. But for now, this is it giggawigga232, let us play some more! Thank you for reaching ending 2 and for your lovely remark about the game
Yeah its not working for me (and I have games like farcry on my pc). The quality is very hard to see. I cant even pick up the flashlight. Cant go through the door.
Guess ill wait for the steam version. Hope that I can use. I was excited for it but now im just frustrated.
I am very sorry to hear that. Can you descibe what is actually happening? Given your listed problems, I am guessing low frame rate. If that's the case, try going to the settings and lowering the quality. Although, you did say it is hard to see, which happens when your quality is LOW (Light bouncing gets disabled). If your problem is low fps, try lowering the graphics ettings, if your problem is NOT low FPS, but rather the game being too dark, set your quality of to high (and insure you have turned on the lights, using a light switch on the wall).
Hope either of these solutions help, again, sorry to hear you are frustrated. It's pretty frustrating for me too, hearing people not being able to enjoy our games, because of a factor making it unplayable for them.
I tried to do both. Ive seen it played on tiktok and it doesnt look like that. Its dark. Its very pixelated. And I can't do anything other than pick up the scissors. Ill take a pic soon
I see, I am sorry to hear that, it may be that the game is just not optimised well enough for your specs, in which case, it will be unplayable. The game was made in UE5.5 which has a pretty high minimal standart for an amature programmer like myself. I will do my best to make a lot of optimasation for the upcoming update, but in the mean time, I am afraid it will be unplayable.
List of the min. Req.
I been enjoying this game since i saw it on tiktok and i decided to try it myself and i noticed that when it comes to andy he just doesnt appear for me i tried leaving the game and opening it again and even starting a new game but andy just refuses to appear meaning i cant progress i think it might be a bug
Hello! Ah, yes, it is NOT a bug.Andy hides from the player! He does not drop from the chute next to table like the others. If you cannot find him, you can go to the PC and click "Highlight all items", that will reveal his location.
thank you so much for telling me i had no idea he was hiding from the player ill make sure to drop him into the dangerous pile for pranking us
Haha! No problemo! Thank you for playing, and yeah, Andy ain't very nice :P
Very Enjoyable :)
Thank you so much! Nice vid by the way, you earned a sub and a like <3
Thank you for the sub ☺️, It’s a fantastic game!
Will it come to Steam? <333
Heya! Yes, we are planning to release all our upcoming titles to steam, including Play Things. It will be there for free and it will come to steam, gamejolt and of course itch.io with the 1.2.8. update (The Endless Mode update), which will have more content then all previous updates combined!
30k DOWNLOADS REACHED!
The game recently sky rocketed, don't know what or who started it, apparently something with TikTok, which I don't have :P
The game is still missing from the page. I am pretty much giving up on trying to get it back. Even if deindexing is such a simple problem, that can very likely be fixed with a change of a boolean variable. The admins don't seem to care, as they have too much on their plate. Although, I do feel a bit ignored on the discord server, given that there are about 1-3 messages per day sometimes. (Of course, the actual help service they provide is filled to the brim with problems from users. A lot of them have the same problem as I do.)
Even then, you managed to reach this milestone! Thank you people so much! Must say, the update have been held for a little bit. Given that I have focused on a another small title. (Even if Play Things & Burning Eye titles SHOULD be my priority, I do procrastinate easily D;) Still, the update will come. Even if not in 2025. 2026 however, has not just the update planned, but two new titles to be released, as well! That of course depends on my time. I am a working (semi) student, so I cannot put all my time in videogames.
Still. I love all of you players. I gathered a lot of great critisism for the game! Also, if there is a video you made about the game, and it has "Play Things" in the title, I have 100% seen it on youtube. I also follow the game on twitch, so if you stream the game, there is a chance that I will stop by :P.
One more huge thank you to all of you. I am really excited to move the game to steam, given how badly Itch is doing, but without it, I would've been nowhere! Have a great rest of your day, you amazing people!
Hi it me again so I try hide in the room where the boxes or under the table and Lily still able to find me an few times. How I beat her in that hide an sneek?. And thank you.
To beat Lily, you need to hide under the table and cover yourself with cardboard by holding F. When you hear Lily's singing is getting safely far away enough, you get out under the table and make it to the chair ASAP and interact with the chair
is endless mode here yet or are you gonna add more game modes in the next year
I am certain that the Endless Mode will come out later than in 2025, but it is being work on, although, it has come to a somewhat hold recently. There will be no other gamemode, just fixes and some updates. The endless mode update will pretty much be a free whole DLC, with more content then the original game, because of the replay ability, and the fact that it is endless. After that will be finished, and some patches will be made, we will move on to our upcoming NEW title, that has been in the works even before the writing for Play Things started!
thank you, i will play the endless mode
Hi I have some questions about the graphics of the wall. I seen like fuzzy and it hard for me to see and I try edit to low shadows or light it just make it worst I just not want see any dots or shadow. There a way to fix it?
Hello! Unfortunately, no, the dots you are referring to are just the game's shader (post process), that and the fact that it has a moasic style (it is semi-pixelated, like an old PS game). I am planning on adding more post process options in the upcoming update, but in the 1.2.7's, the style is unchangeable, you can only tamper with lights and shadows. I am sorry that you find the shader unpleasant, I understand how that can ruin the atmosphere.
That make sense.I thought it was not normal Graphics and alright and thank you
I really enjoyed this game thank you love the lore and the gameplay
Thank YOU for your heartwarming comment <3, I am really glad that you enjoyed the lore, even if there are some unanswered questions-a-lurkin'
I need more games like this. Also i love the music. Great experience
Thank you!! It's always nice to hear, and I appreciate your liking of the game's ost!
Loved the concept, the story and the atmosphere. Had fun playing and trying to get all the ending. The hide and seek part did had me sweating to figure out whether she was close or not. Do you plan to release it on steam as well?
Thank you so much for your positive message! We do indeed plan on releasing the game on steam, alongside the endless mode update, for free!
that's amazing to hear i cant wait for it to come to steam i have enjoyed playing the game as well
What's the system requirements for this game? You may be surprised but i have an old HP laptop with Intel Celeron N3060 4gb ram DDR3 and some intel graphics with 128 v ram and I want to play your game!
It has the min. Requirements of any UE5 Game, which can be ~avarage
These are the minimum specs required. But usually, the most important aspect is your graphics driver. Sometimes updating it to the latest version can help, but it is not guaranteed. I am sorry that you are unable to reach these with your setup. I only know how to make full games in UE, but it does have relatively high standarts (especially for such a not-heavy looking game. If possible, I will check if it can be altered for the future, but I highly doubt it. Even if you did run the game on your setup, it would likely run terribly, to the point of it being unplayable)
It's okay! Im even going to just like in like 3-4 months(damn that's long if i think about it) buy an new pc or laptop so i can then play the game. Have a great day and continue making good games!
Super j'ai adoré =)
Thank you for the video <3 I'll check it out!
I’m very confused I’ve got the game but with the items do you need to keep going back and forth into the other room to use them it’s not letting me place them anywhere
Hello, no, you can bring the items to wherever you want, all you need to do is press G to drop them at the desired place.
oh my thank you!!! I was so confused
No problem! Hope you have fun! <3
Amazing game! I love the atmosphere and the map design but please give the option to change the keys
Thank you so much! Key mapping is something that is going to be added in the 1.3 update, along with the Endless mode! Until then however, I do not plan to make any small updates for the game, unless a big bug gets found or some special occasion. I am sorry that the button layout doesn't suit you
Actually I think the key mapping is great! It's just my left shift key broke a while ago and I've been too lazy to get it fixed. On another note, you are the most responsive and helpful dev I've seen, wish you and the game the best
Ah, I see, I am sorry to hear about your keyboard, I hope that you can get it fixed ASAP (or whenever you'll feel like it :P). Thank you, that really means a lot. It's really nice to respond to all you amazing people, you are very polite and direct, it just makes me happy to communicate with all of you. But thank you again for your kind words, it means a ton to me.
Hello i wnat the sound test music, any ideas?
Hi! If you are referring to the Audio Test, in order to do the test, you must place the doll in the testing chamber room (room with the metal door and a big window). Once the doll is placed, go to the computer, interact with it, hit run tests => Audio => Play Audio Test.
Thank you, but what i mean is i wnat the track to download it, sorry for i didnt clarify it before
Ah, I see! The burning eye youtube channel has a playlist with all the songs from the game, that I have decided to upload. The audio test music is a song that I have made myself, using the public domain melody of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, but because I am not certain that it is fully public domain (even though it is from the 18th century), I decided not to upload that one. The song "40", also includes this melody, but it has so many other sounds and instruments playing, I felt comfortable enough to post it.
So, since I am really flattered, that you want to find a little (not even a) song I made outside the game, I will check the rights, and if it is ok, I will post the audio test music today!
I love your outstanding work in terms of the game and the sound tracks and appreciated your valuble time and efforts to fulfill my request. Best of luck my friend
Thank you so much, that really means a lot to me <3 And of course, always happy to help!
Play Things - Audio Test here is the music on it's own!
Can you make it for mobile aswell someda
Currently, this is not planned. We focus on PC games, as that is where most of the team has experience in.
NICE GAME, i really like it !
Thank you so much! Glad you enjoyed!
Please drop a tut how to survive the hide and seek. I waited for 10 min under the table and nothing happend. HELP PLEASE
Hi! During Lily's game of hide and seek, you need to LISTEN. When hiding under the table, you can hear Lily sing to hearself and her voice gets louder / quiter based on how far she is (she can also be heard in your heaphones, panned to the left or right). Go out when she is on the right, not guarding the door and touch the chair in the testing chamber to beat her in her game! I wish you good luck!
Can you please give me a tutorial how to play the game on mobile when I downloaded it I'm confused because I didn't see the game but instead a bunch of files
Hello! This game is exlusively on PC, and isn't ported on mobile. (nor is it planned to be). I am sorry, but it is not possible to play this game on mobile.
tina is my favorite she did the right thing tho i love tina i love tina io love tina i love tina i love tina
Aww that's nice to see. A lot of people found an attachment with Tina, and a lot more people agree that Charles deserved what happened, it's amazing to see people making these moral decisions!
20k Downloads reached!!
Even with the game missing from the browser, you guys somehow manage to still let it raise and raise! Thank you all so much! I am happy to say that the endless mode is looking good so far, I've been working on it whenever I could, pretty much if I am not at school / work / with my friends or my dog, I am doing the endless mode update. Thank you all so much again, every like, rating, video, playthrough, view, download, comment helps a TON! Ya'll amazing <3
hi i just played the game and i loved it it scared me a couple of times but its the best game I've played in the horror genre please continue updating it and i just wanted to ask if its ok if i use the screenshots you have of the game on the site because i forgot to get a thumbnail i just have an issue with the graphics its hard to read some stuff but i figured out what i needed to do but i loved the game please update it more.
Thank you for your lovely words <3, we certainly will continue with updates and other titles!
And yeah, using the screenshot on this page is totally fine, go for it!
I really hope this game can become bigger and bigger. I will sponsor and support it. My God, this is truly an extraordinarily good horror game.
Thank you so much!! It's been difficult for our game to stay relevant, because itch.io seems bugged. It hid the game from the browser and it is only accessible through direct links and google (or other browsers) and admins have not yet responded with my problem. (But they did ban the scammer, that stole this project).
I am working on an update, that will also be posted to steam right now! Seeing yours and other peoples comments really keeps me on it! So thank you once more <3
Yes, I couldn't find your game on itch.io, but luckily I saw it because I followed you. I'm looking forward to your work, keep it up, or you could set up a Discord, that would make support and interaction more convenient.
This FUCKING game is the best, one of the better horror games that i've ever played, made me shit myself. 1000/10 thank you for not making throwing away Tina the right option.
Dang, thank you! That is quite the review xP, seriously, thank you, and of course! Tina was neutral, so it's up to the player's judgement, but most decided to save her, rightfully so :P
I had an amazing time playing Play Things! The concept of inspecting dolls to determine if they're haunted is both unique and chilling. Each doll has its own backstory and personality, making the experience feel fresh and engaging. The atmosphere is tense, and the subtle horror elements kept me on edge throughout.
Sorry for the week-after reply!! Thank you so much for your video! I am really happy that you enjoyed the gameplay loop of the Story mode! Words like yours seriously inspire me to create more! So thank you once more <3
will this be optimized more? (HP EliteBook 840 G6, crashes at random point, before actually can start playing, after starting game)
I checked the specs, and I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to bring down the requirements with the engine I use (that being Unreal Engine 5). I am sorry, but the optimization part, while it will be expanded, you'll very likely not be able to run the game on this device
Which specs are the problems? I was given my laptop by someone known from family who works as tech, so might be modified, IDK If those specs are improved from the regular model.
From what I've found, this laptop has a Intel UHD 620 integrated graphics card, which is way below UE5 standard, also, 8 GB RAM is below the recommended, but that's not the main issue. I'd say the graphics card, used b this laptop, is just not strong enough to run our game. I am sorry about this, but given the engine we use, this will not change.
The idea of judging dolls through five eerie tests was both creative and unsettling, with each character adding depth to the story.
Thanks for making such a unique horror experience—I played it in Japanese and shared a gameplay video here: 🎥
I’ve already seen all the endings, and I’m excited to follow your future works!
Thank you so much for your review and video! It's awesome to see the game popular abroad! I really hope that you'll enjoy our future projects, that we're working on for you amazing people <3