Don’t Stare is a pixel art horror dating game in which you gaze at your dates’ weak places until they feel uncomfortable and leave.
In Don’t Stare, you speed date with one goal: getting rejected. This pixel art horror dating sim, created by Ozone Soft (with programming and sound by Gabe M Carvalho, and art and music by Owen Melisek), puts you in a situation your character never intended to be in. The creepy premise is established with a text message from an unknown number that reads, “Hey, I signed U up for speed d8,” and a creepy reference to missing children. Your aim is just to scare off all the people who sit down at your table.
Don’t Stare tests you from the moment you see the title screen, which is a giant wall of the word “stare.” First, you want to hover over the one word, “don’t.”
When speed dating starts, the aim is to make your dates uncomfortable, within a rigorous 20-second time limit:
There are 67 different dates, each shown in two or three flat colours in one spotlight. They make strange small conversation while you stare. You'll meet someone who complains about teaching Proust in high school, a date who suspiciously asks you where you were on November 16th, and someone who just screams at you for the whole chat.
You can play in a browser with a mouse, or on phones and tablets using touch screens and styluses.
Don’t Stare turns awkward social situations into a quick and creepy puzzle game where staring at the wrong person is the only way to win.
