SCP-D38813
A downloadable game
SCP-D38813 is a creepy-pasta narrative game for the Playdate console in which you play an SCP Foundation researcher attempting to unravel the mystery of an anomalous Playdate. The device has enciphered classic articles from the SCP wiki, and you'll have to crank to crack the cryptograms and solve the mystery.
Long time fans of the SCP Foundation as well as new folks looking for a creepy thrill can enjoy dozens of tales on their possessed handheld, as it cosplays a text mode terminal, complete with satisfying retro computer bloops and keyboard clacks.
Just, you know... go outside and touch grass every now and again. Director Prescott is a little worried that you're getting obsessed with this thing, and doc Prasad has been making concerned notes about your mental state. I would say it's not the end of the world but I won't, because everything we do here is actually the end of the world; still, take it easy champ, we still need you in one piece to save the universe.
Sideloading and the Playdate
New to purchasing Playdate games on itch? Loading a game onto your Playdate is as easy as dragging and dropping it onto the Playdate website. For detailed information, see the Sideloading article over at Panic!
SCP-D38813 is now also available in Catalog. I'll keep both versions up to date, please feel free to purchase it wherever you prefer!
Licensing
Content relating to the SCP Foundation, including the SCP Foundation logo, is licensed under Creative Commons Sharealike 3.0 and all concepts originate from https://scpwiki.com/ and its authors. The novel content of SCP-D38813, being derived from this content, is hereby also released under Creative Commons Sharealike 3.0.
Purchase
In order to download this game you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $4 USD. You will get access to the following files:
Development log
- Catalog Release!3 days ago
- New Feature! SCP-D38813 Auxiliary Document Protocol3 days ago
- Help, I'm stuck! <spoilers!>Jan 08, 2024
- Launched! Welcome to the creepy world of SCP-D38813Jan 03, 2024
Comments
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Man, I'm really bad at this game :(
Oh no! That sad face makes me sad too :(
Have you taken a peek at the tips in this post? They might help you get over the hump. Once you get past the middle point of a document, I find everything sorta slides into place!
Yes! But I think it's a little harder when you don't know the stories. Anyway, I'll keep trying! :)
One of my favorite games on the Playdate! Such a great game to pick up and play while waiting on food to cook or when you just want to kill 5 minutes. Great selection of SCP stories so far and the GUI is so cute! Are there any plans to add more stories or is there any way to do it ourselves? I'm almost dreading reaching the end of all the articles because it's so much fun lol
Oooh, thank you! Very kind of you to say, super glad you’re enjoying it.
No plans for an expansion yet, but bring-your-own-content? Well, let me think about that.
One of my favorite Playdate games so far! Up there with Bloom, Saturday Edition, and Quantum Phantom Basketball. Incredibly immersive (love the sound effects), excellent UI/UX, and I'm loving the meta narrative that's revealing as I unlock articles. I cannot stop playing.
As I've been playing I've noticed two small issues:
- The progress in an article sometimes doesn't save. I've exited and entered an article after halfway completing and some of my letter choices are different. (edit) I just noticed in your spoilers post that this may be intentional, but I think it may not be the best user experience.
- Secondly, scrolling in a completed article isn't 1:1 with the crank. It seems the crank's dead zone is a bit high, so if I spin the crank very slowly and the article will not scroll. Perhaps intentional?
Thank you for such a wonderful experience! I can't wait to decrypt more.
Many thanks for the comment, Logan! Delighted that you’re having a good time.
Yeah, D38813 may be a little harsh messing with you when you reload. I’ll have a think about that. It’s worth noting that it won’t do that if you just sleep the device. Also, the game doesn’t save unless you change something, so there’s a soft limit to its malfeasance.
You know, I’ve noticed the dead zone thing too. Not super certain what that’s about. I tried to counteract that a bit by adding a little curve to the crank so that smaller cranks scroll less, letting you crank farther to get more precision, before ramping up to much faster when you, err, crank it. Going to have to experiment over time to find the best feeling response. Thanks for the input! Always great to have more insight.
Hello again! So stoked to see a Catalog release. Just purchased. Curious if any changes other than the custom document feature made it into this version?
Thanks!
No other changes as yet. I did experiment a bit with alternative cranking speeds/responses after your last comment, but I’m afraid I couldn’t find any other version I liked better, apologies.
Stumbled across this game over on the Playdate Squad Discord and I'm glad I gave it a chance. Simple concept that's executed well and elegantly displayed with super cool transitions. It can feel daunting at first, especially if you're not as familiar with cryptograms like I was, but the latest dev log did an excellent job helping guide new players that may feel lost at first. Now that I've gotten the hang of it, this game has easily become one of my favorite games to play on the Playdate.
Aww thanks, Tonus_ very kind of you to come here and leave a review. Much appreciated! Glad you’re having a good time with your Playdate 💛
One of my favorite concepts for the Playdate so far. Now, it could be due to my very limited experience with cryptograms, but I am so far finding it very difficult and would appreciate any hints/advice. I really want to figure it out. Part of the difficulty comes from the random letters being placed so unless I write it down, it's hard to keep track of which letters I placed myself. Maybe that is intentional though to make it more difficult, but I have enough trouble just figuring out the cryptogram itself. Thanks for the neat game.
Hey friend, thanks for playing!
I’ve collected a few FAQs and tips for making it through SCP-D38813’s defenses in a new blog post. I hope they help!
This looks like such a good idea, is the game accessible to everyone? Definitely gonna check it out regardless, but was just curious if theres like a certain amount of skill needed
It’s a relatively simple concept: the articles are ciphered and you have to rotate the letters to decode them. It takes a little lateral reasoning to figure out, but if you like word games, I hope you’ll enjoy the process!