White Day: A Labyrinth Named School

White Day: A Labyrinth Named School is a survival horror video game played from the first-person perspective. Players explore the school collecting items to solve puzzles and advance the story, much in the vein of a classic adventure game. Micro-management of items is key, as the player has limited item slots and some objects may be important for progression despite not being used for hours from the collection point. As the game offers non-linear progression, various documents can be found throughout the school offering additional backstory and hints on how to advance. Likewise, the player can receive text messages through their cell phone which offers clues on plot progression. Holding certain objects in specific sections of the game can trigger unique events and encounters, such as fights with ghosts that otherwise would not have been prompted. Puzzle solutions, such as combinations for locked safes, are randomized on each playthrough. This encompasses a large portion of the gameplay; searching for items and solving puzzles.
There are no weapons in the game, and thus the protagonist is unable to engage enemies in combat. Therefore, the player must hide from opponents, in a bid to stay alive. If damaged, healing items must be used to restore health, as the game does not feature health regeneration. If health is depleted completely, the player must return to a prior save. Saving can only be accomplished at bulletin boards scattered throughout the school with the use of felt-tip pens, which are limited and must be found around the academy, akin to ink ribbons from the original Resident Evil. Though other characters throughout the title are fully voiced, the protagonist is never heard, and instead communicates with other persons through the use of player-inputted dialogue options. Depending on what is said, conversations and in-game scenarios may change. The title features eight different endings, and the end result achieved is dictated by these decisions made during conversations with story characters. Similarly, the difficulty selected when starting a new playthrough affects gameplay. Easier difficulties offer more items, progression hints and less paranormal encounters, whilst the harder ones include fewer items and hints, more difficult encounters, exclusive enemies and more frequent scares. On hard and above for example, the player’s phone has no signal, thus eliminating the aforementioned text message clues.