Free horror game Descending, where you drill a huge borehole to the glory of your nation.

I love a shortform game that has you doing a practical task under unpractical circumstances. I'm referring to David Szymanski’s terrifying submarine adventure Iron Lung. The procedure, the claustrophobia and the fact that it was over in less than an hours time, is a fantastic example for surgically precise game-design (and how to scare me out of my wits).

Descending was therefore, naturally, my first choice. I was like a wayward minnow attracted to the light of a anglerfish. This is a "free experimental horror game" by indie developer Eugene Radaev in which you are a new recruit for a government-run industrial organisation and have to operate two large drills that bore deep into Earth. You're required to complete a daily drilling distance each day.

Descending, like Iron Lung, takes place in one location: the pit where the drills are located, and the corrugated-iron shack that is above. The game's emphasis is also on the mechanics of operating the drill. You will be replacing drill batteries, monitoring the temperature of the drill and generally maintaining those giant spinning spikes.

The situation gets weirder and stranger as the day goes on. You wake up and find holes in your shack. You need to use the faxed orders to cover them. The orders can also change from merely giving instructions on the drill to referring to an apparent war in which your country is involved, and in which you are a key player. One order tells you to stay in your sleeping bag until the shift begins. This is a little unsettling.

The game is about an hour long and, while I won't reveal the plot, it's a pretty good one. Descending, which is free, is a must-play if you've ever wondered what's down there after reading the Wikipedia page of the Kola Superdeep Borehole.

Download Descending from a variety of places, including itch.io and Free Game Planet. Play it while listening to the Mountain Goats' 'The Destruction of the Kola Superdeep Borehole Tower.' This will give you a deeper immersion.