Erica is an interactive live-action mystery game where your choices affect the outcome of the game. The game was released on August 19th, 2019, and it is available exclusively for PlayStation 4 and can be played by using the DUALSHOCK 4 controller or a personal device to better interact with your surroundings in-game. Erica is sort of like one big movie where you can choose what the characters do. Like other interactive games, there can be multiple outcomes depending on what choices you make, and if you make the wrong choice, you have to suffer the consequences.

You play as main character Erica, as you help guide her through the haunting mystery of her father’s murder. You meet a cast of wild psych ward patients and detectives to help solve the mystery of not only your father’s murder but the death of your mother. 

You are able to investigate Delphi House, the mysterious institution where your mother and father fell in love, raised you, and eventually died. Your first night at Delphi House results in a police escort to the building, but once you are left alone, shadowy cultist figures can be seen lurking. Strange phone calls also seem to find you no matter where you might be, the voice on the other end being frightening but oddly familiar. In the morning we meet the strange girls who live at Delphi House: Tobi, Hannah, and Kristie. They all suffer from strange hallucinations; Hannah gets the worst of it, nose-bleeds and seizures accompany the hallucinations. Your choices also determine your relationship with the other characters, choose the right ones and you might make it out alive.

The longer Erica is at Delphi House she starts to develop strange hallucinations as well and learns that Delphi House has more secrets than she thought. Depending on which choices you make, you start to learn of the odd cult-like behavior that surrounds the institution. Sometimes the line between hallucination and reality starts to blur at certain points of the game, and it makes it hard to determine what was and wasn’t real.  However, you are constantly being drawn back to a mysterious symbol and strange smelling perfume, something that ties back to both your parent’s deaths. Just as the picture starts to become clearer, you can be thrown off track just as easily. Think about your choices and how it’s going to affect the characters, can you unravel the mystery? 

Erica is a wonderfully visual game. The graphics are stunning, and at times it felt like you were right there in the moment with Erica. If you aren’t much of a gaming person, Erica might just be the right game for you. It is more of an interactive movie, where you get to slowly see your choices unfold, and if you didn’t like the ending you got, the game is made to be played multiple times. That way you can see all of the outcomes, instead of settling for a certain ending like in movies.

I definitely recommend playing Erica, the run time is about 2 hours for a full playthrough, so it’s not super long. The acting is amazing, and the graphics even more so. There is some disturbing imagery and language throughout, typical for a cultist mystery thriller. I found myself quoting Shane Madej (Buzzfeed Unsolved host) frequently during my playthrough, yelling “We’re here for the cult stuff!” whenever something remotely cultist occurred. Overall, I was very pleased with the game, it should definitely be played with a group of people so you can argue over what decisions to make.