History VideoGame / WelcomeToTheGame

* CrapsackWorld: The Deep Web's universal depravity is exaggerated to make the game scarier. The tamest stuff you find are hundreds of people on the Forgive Me website, an anonymous confession generator, talking about how they want to get stalked and raped, or how they want to commit senseless mass murder, or how they've done mountains of sexually explicate things. The worst it gets are actual satanic cults, hitmen organizations, and of course, Red Rooms.

''Welcome to the Game'' is a puzzle-based horror game developed by Creator/ReflectStudios, the same lovely people who brought us ''Videogame/RidesWithStrangers''. It was released June 15, 2016 on Steam.

* IntercontinuityCrossover: The Father from ''Videogame/RidesWithStrangers'' has his own website you can explore. [[spoiler:The two secret endings also further emphasizes this by having the Executioner's Red Room be right outside the ''RWS'' highway right as Elora is picked up by the Father, and revealing that the player is the Nympho.]]

* TheReveal: [[spoiler:In the Who Am I ending, the player is revealed to be the Nympho from ''Videogame/RidesWithStrangers''.]]
* SamusIsAGirl: [[spoiler:The Player is the Nympho from ''Videogame/RidesWithStrangers''.]]

** So many to ''Videogame/RidesWithStrangers'' that it eventually turns into IntercontinuityCrossover.

** When the greedy Black Host hackers were requested the details of a little boy from an obvious pedophile, they not only refused the request, but ''[[KickTheSonOfABitch confirmed they had the pedophile assassinated without hesitation]]''.

* NobleDemon: Tango Down's hitmen seem to be this. While they'll pull a hit on almost anyone, they still won't assassinate [[WouldntHarmAChild anyone under 18]] or pregnant women. Additionally, their website explains that they won't perform torture on a victim. That being said, they ''are'' still hitmen OnlyInItForTheMoney...

* FeaturelessProtagonist: The Player is a mute FirstPersonGhost whose only motivation is finding a Red Room, which implies either childlike curiosity or morbid sadism. The Kidnapper also calls them "kid" though only in the demo version. [[spoiler:Subverted in the Who Am I ending, which revelas the protagonist to be [[VideoGame/RidesWithStrangers Lydia]].]]

-->'''REQ>''' "I saw this little boy today.. I need to know who he is..."\\

* YourCheatingHeart: You'll find a few heartless cheaters on "Forgive Me".

''Welcome to the Game'' is a puzzle-based horror game developed by Reflect Studios, the same lovely people who brought us ''Videogame/RidesWithStrangers''. It was released June 15, 2016 on Steam.

The game follows a FeaturelessProtagonist browsing UsefulNotes/TheDeepWeb, a real-life digital WretchedHive, in search of a Red Room, a live streaming service hosting actual {{Gorn}}. To find the Red Room, the player must find 8 Leicester of the url scattered around the web, all while avoiding the Kidnapper who is after them, [[BigBadEnsemble and]] (as of ver 2.9) the Breather, a SerialKiller who goes after people browsing the Deep Web.

* AllThereInTheManual[=/=]CanonWelding: [[spoiler: If you want to know more about our VillainProtagonist, look up details on Lydia, the Nympho, from ''VideoGame/RidesWithStrangers'']].

* TimedMission / RaceAgainstTheClock: The entire game is this, as you only have 30 days till all Red Rooms are shut down. The hacking minigames are also this.

* HeroicMime: [[spoiler:While the secret ending reveals "heroic" couldn't be more incorrect]], the protagonist is still so silent it's unrealistic. Even when a MalevolentMaskedMan breaks into their house and kidnaps them, our hero still doesn't make a single peep. [[spoiler:[[SuddenlyVoiced Suddenly subverted in the secret ending where the player all of a sudden starts having a conversation on the phone]].]]

* HollywoodHacking: Every now and again, you're assaulted by a hacker that you can block with certain minigames, and did you really think the hacking/counter-hacking would be remotely realistic?

* JumpScare / ScareChord: When you fail at hiding from the Kidnapper or keeping out the Breather.

* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast / ObviouslyEvil: The sites [[ImAHumanitarian The Butcher]], [[GroinAttack Testical Mutilation]], [[HollywoodSatanism Hail Satan]], [[{{Squick}} Grandmas Fantasy]], [[StuffBlowingUp The Bomb Maker]], and ''Is Evil'' aren't very inviting names.

** A website called "The Pedo Handbook" might give you a key on its initial page, so a player might be tempted to go to the actual page to see what lies within... [[spoiler: "[[JumpScare Dobryy]] [[GameOver vecher]]..."]]

* SchmuckBait:
** Go on, go to The Pedo Handbook site and click on enter, see what happens. [[spoiler:[[EvenEvilHasStandards The Kidnapper finds you instantly]].]]
** Even moreso since that site can give you one of the key for the Red Room just by going to its initial page. Which can make an inexperienced player tempted to check the actual site...

A [[VideoGame/WelcomeToTheGameII sequel]] was released about a year and a half later, given a prelude in the form of DLC for this game titled ''The Waiting Room''.

* AscendedExtra: In the first game, the Executioner was in a single cutscene. Here, he basically takes the Kidnapper's role as TheHeavy.
* BigBad: The Executioner takes full reign as the one running the Red Room, and the protagonist must escape him to avoid being murdered live.

* BigBadEnsemble: The Kidnapper and The Breather are after the player and stalk them at their house, serving as the enemies the player must evade while finding the Red Room.

The game follows a FeaturelessProtagonist browsing UsefulNotes/TheDeepWeb, a real-life digital WretchedHive, in search of a Red Room, a live streaming service hosting actual {{Gorn}}.

On November 11, 2016, the game's content sum was almost doubled with the 2.0 update, adding 30+ more websites, new mechanics, achievements, a new villain, and a duo of HarderThanHard to unlock secret endings.

* BigBadEnsemble: The Kidnapper, The Breather, and The Executioner; the former two are after the player and stalk them at their house, serving as enemies the player must evade, while the last one hosts the Red Room that is the player’s goal (though does not directly antagonize the player until ''The Waiting Room'').

* BigBadEnsemble: The Kidnapper, The Breather, and The Executioner (though the last one does not directly antagonize the player until ''The Waiting Room'').

* DeadpanSnarker: The person running the Black Hat Post website, natch:

** Also, when the greedy Black Host hackers were requested the details of a little boy from an obvious pedophile, they not only refused the request, but ''[[KickTheSonOfABitch confirmed they had the pedophile assassinated without hesitation]]''.

* FeaturelessProtagonist: The Player is a mute FirstPersonGhost whose only motivation is finding a Red Room, which implies either childlike curiosity or morbid sadism. The Kidnapper also calls them "kid" though only in the demo version. [[spoiler:100% averted in every single way in the Who Am I ending.]]

* SamusIsAGirl: [[spoiler:The Player is the Nympho from ''Rides With Strangers''.]]

** Go on, go to The Pedo Handbook site and click on enter, see what happens. [[spoiler: [[EvenEvilHasStandards The Kidnapper finds you instantly]].]]

* JustifiedTutorial: The game's tutorial is just a Skype friend telling you how to navigate around the dangers of the Deep Web, [[HeKnowsAboutTimedHits though he does occasionally break the forth wall to tell you the controls]].

[[folder:Welcome to the Game]]

[[folder:The Waiting Room]]

[[/folder]]

The game follows a FeaturelessProtagonist browsing the infamous Deep Web, a real-life digital WretchedHive, in search of a Red Room, a live streaming service hosting actual {{Gorn}}.

* AuthorAvatar: The tutorial is the game's creator.
* BigBadEnsemble: The Kidnapper, the Breather, and the Executioner (though the last one does not directly antagonize the player until ''The Waiting Room'').

* IntercontinuityCrossover: The Father from ''Videogame/RidesWithStrangers'' has his own website you can explore. [[spoiler:The two secret endings also further emphasizes this by having the Executioner's Red Room be right outside the ''RWS'' highway right as Elora is picked up by the Father, and revealing that the player is The Nympho.]]

* MortonsFork: If you're really unlucky, a hacking minigame can trigger at the same time a home invader is approaching, and the hack will continue even if you turn the lights off, forcing you to choose between letting yourself get hacked(costing you a few days and potentially losing your notes--meaning any codes you typed and saved would be lost) or stopping the hack and risking getting a game over if you can't block the hack and turn the lights back off or hold the door shut in time(instant game over). This goes double late in the game where losing those days and/or codes wouldn't leave you enough time to get all the codes and unlock the Red Room before it's shut down, but blocking the hacks takes much longer, making it more risky to leave the lights on and stop them in this case.

* NightmareFetishist: There's plenty of young women on "Forgive Me" that want to be stalked and raped or have self-admitted sociopath fetishes.

* TheReveal: [[spoiler:In the Who Am I ending, the player is revealed to be The Nympho from ''Videogame/RidesWithStrangers''.]]
* SamusIsAGirl: [[spoiler:The Player is The Nympho from ''Rides With Strangers''.]]
* SchmuckBait: Go on, go to The Pedo Handbook site and click on enter, see what happens. [[spoiler: [[EvenEvilHasStandards The Kidnapper finds you instantly]].]]
** Even moreso since that site can give you one of the key for the Red Room just by going to its initial page. Which can make an unexperienced player tempted to check the actual site...

* TheSociopath: A good chunk of the "Forgive Me" anons (specifically the omnicidal maniacs and cheaters) are clearly sociopaths...or pretend to be (see AmbiguouslyEvil).

* VillainProtagonist: [[spoiler:You play as The Nympho from ''Rides With Strangers'', which means you're a DepravedBisexual rapist. She also blatantly admits she's looking for a Red Room for ''sexual pleasure''.]]

* NintendoHard: It's apart of a contest, so the layman absolutely cannot beat it. The puzzle aspect of escaping is already hard enough, but the Executioner breathing down your neck 24/7 makes it nigh-impossible.

* BigBadEnsemble: The Kidnapper, The Breather, and The Executioner (though the last one does not directly antagonize the player until ''The Waiting Room'').