Both Slender and Slender: The Arrival are based on the obscure myth that somewhere out there, there is a tall thin, faceless freak called "Slenderman" who not only abducts people (mainly children it seems), but mashes people's brains telepathically with his mind when he gets near.

It might sound like madness, but it's a myth that's become increasingly popular over the years with low budget horror films like The Blair Witch Project loosely based on it. Slender was one of the first games to be based on it and went on to become a phenomenon in 2012, inspiring several spin-offs and countless "Watch how scared I get playing Slender at midnight" YouTube videos.

As soon as you start Slender: The Arrival, its clear that its a more polished game than the original which is to be expected. Slender: The Arrival has a far more detailed environment than Slender although the basic gameplay remains disappointingly similar. There are more levels (Easy, Medium and Hard) in Slender: The Arrival but the basic aim is the same i.e. collect eight pages saying creepy, cryptic things like, "Don't look, it takes you", "He's out there" and "He's got massive limbs". The more you collect, the more the heartbeat music ramps up and the closer the sickening beast that is Slenderman is to suddenly appearing in his tuxedo and mashing your brain telepathically.

To control your character, the keyboard controls are:

W=Walk forward
S=Walk backwards
A=Walk left sideways
D=Walk right sideways
T=Turn Flashlight On/Off
SHIFT=Turn HUD display On/Off

Initial impressions are that it's hard to see what's radically new in Slender: The Arrival. I've already seen one walk-through where the player collected all eight pages and nothing happened. It seems that if there is a more complex plot as promised by the developers, it's not exactly clear what it is.

Slender: The Arrival is more polished than Slender with a richer world to explore but initial impressions are that it doesn't add much to the original.

Download Slender: The Arrival 1.13 Preview in Softonic

What's the story behind Slender?

The myth of Slender started quite simply as a rumor and has also been popularized as an internet meme. The story is that Slender Man is a mythical creature often depicted as a tall, thin figure wearing a black suit and a blank face.

According to legend, Slenderman can stretch or shorten his arms at will and has tentacle-like appendages on his back. Slender Man can cause memory loss, insomnia, paranoia, coughing fits (nicknamed "slendersickness"), photographic and video distortions and can teleport at will.

How to play Slender

The basic premise of the game is the more directly you come in contact with the Slender Man, the faster your sanity drains. You therefore have to careful not to look at the enemy for too long and remember that your flashlight has a limited battery so you must turn it off from time to time to save it. Also, the more you sprint, the lower your maximum stamina becomes, so you must sprint only when you need to.

The controls to the game are simple:

Mouse -- Look around
W,A,S & D -- Move
Left Shift -- Sprint
Left Mouse Click -- Pick up pages
Right Mouse Click -- Flashlight
Q & E -- Zoom in/out

Is it scary?

Slender does well in creating quite a creepy atmosphere for a very basic game. It feels like just you, your torch and the sound of crickets chirping as you fumble your way through the forest looking for manuscripts. However, the overall aim of collecting 8 pages of the manuscript is quite limited and so the gameplay is a bit limited.

Technical issues

Note that you'll need WinZip or WinRAR to unpack this Slender game download.

Since Slender was originally released, there have been several spinoffs with varying degrees of quality. We tested them on the Softonic staff to see which one is the scariest so don't forget to check out how they got on:

Conclusion

Slender is an eerie horror game that's well worth trying whether or not you've ever heard of the Slender Man myth.

Download Slender: The Eight Pages 0.9.7 Beta in Softonic