Glitches are typically treated as bugs to be fixed, but when applied to horror NPCs, they become a powerful driver of player discomfort. Drawing from a qualitative study of 40 players encountering humanoid monsters, this talk explores how visual, mechanical, and systemic glitches in NPCs elevate horror in video games. We will discuss how both deliberate glitch design and unscripted anomalies in NPC animation and behavioral logic combine to create deeply memorable horror experiences.
1. The Impact of Glitch Design: How modern horror and sci-fi games use intentional visual and mechanical glitches to shape enemy design, set narrative tone, and destabilize player confidence.
2. Player’s Experiences with Unintended Bugs: Why unscripted, systemic anomalies in enemy movement and logic can potentially generate far deeper feelings of dread and unpredictability than scripted events.
3. Reframe Development Pipelines for Unpredictable Animation and Behaviour: How rethinking traditional animation and AI design can allow for controlled, unscripted “happy accidents” to occur in horror NPC design.
