Wikipedia

Puppet Combo

Puppet Combo is an American independent video game development studio founded by Benedetto "Ben" Cocuzza in 2012 and based in Brooklyn. It is operated solely by Cocuzza. Puppet Combo's games, such as Nun Massacre (2018) and the critically acclaimed Murder House (2020), are mostly survival horror games developed solely by Cocuzza and modeled after early PlayStation games and VHS.[1] They are also frequently inspired by 1980s horror films, specifically exploitation and slasher films. Puppet Combo primarily releases their games through Patreon and Itch.io. Cocuzza launched Torture Star Video, a video game publisher for lo-fi horror games, in 2021.

Puppet Combo
FormerlyPig Farmer Games
IndustryVideo games
Founded2012; 13 years ago (2012)
FounderBenedetto "Ben" Cocuzza
Headquarters
New York City
,
U.S.
Websitehttps://puppetcombo.com/

History

edit

Developing

edit

Puppet Combo was founded in 2012 by Benedetto "Ben" Cocuzza in Brooklyn as Pig Farmer Games. Cocuzza began developing games in 2000 and, inspired by his desire to adapt a slasher film into a video game, he later learned how to develop survival horror games.[2][3] His games became known for their PS1–based graphics, graphic violence, jump scares, and inspiration from 1980s "video nasties";[4][5] he and Kitty Horrorshow are considered progenitors of the wave of independent PS1–style horror games that followed in the 2010s and 2020s.[6]

In 2012, Pig Farmer Games began developing Sanitarium Massacre, a stealth horror game in which the player controls a serial killer named Neokalus Burr who goes on a killing spree throughout a sanitarium in 1978, with a soundtrack produced by Cocuzza in Ableton Live. It was scheduled to be released the following year, but it was later scrapped, and assets from it were used to make Halloween, which Cocuzza developed using software taken from a Friday the 13th fangame made by Microstuff Studios.[7][8][9] Halloween was a survival horror game heavily inspired by the 1978 film of the same name and released as freeware in October 2013.[10] The game was briefly taken down due to copyright infringement and re-released as Babysitter Bloodbath in December 2013.[11] It focuses on a teenage girl named Sarah who is chased by a serial killer while babysitting; it uses tank controls and can be viewed in third-person or first-person.[12][13] Its intentionally haphazard shooting controls and Sarah's moon-shaped head were inspired by the 1999 horror video game Silent Hill.[6]

The low poly, exploitation-influenced slasher game Power Drill Massacre was developed by Puppet Combo using Unity and released for PC in 2015.[12][14] [15] It has four texture packs, and its plot, which was inspired by the 1974 film The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, focuses on a young woman who goes into an abandoned factory in the woods, where she is chased by a murderer. Luke Winkie of Vulture called the game "a pure slasher pastiche that somehow manages to squeeze out the most intense jump scares on the market", while Kill Screen wrote that it was "capable of a genuine and sudden fright" and "a thrill that not many horror games are able to reach".[16][17] Puppet Combo launched a Patreon account in 2017 through which to release their games.[18]

In 2018, Puppet Combo developed and released Nun Massacre, a 32-bit stealth survival horror game in which the protagonist, Mrs. McDonnell, must escape from a run-down Catholic boarding school and avoid a knife-wielding killer nun, all while figuring out the mystery of the school. It has options to make its graphics resemble cathode-ray tube televisions and VHS tracking; Zoey Handley of Destructoid praised it as "a PS1 game that didn't exist but would have been awesome if it did".[19] Nun Massacre was released for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and iOS in March 2022, when a difficulty option was added to the game.[20] The game received mostly positive reviews from critics.[19][21] Feed Me, Billy!, a psychological horror game about a serial killer who must feed the hole in his closet with the bodies of his victims, was released by Puppet Combo later that year through Patreon. Vice's Michael Siebert deemed its gameplay "psychologically disturbed", "simple", and "repetitive", with mechanics that "belie a dreary and upsetting world", and Lewis Gordon of The Verge called it "gruesome pulp horror".[22] Their game Night Shift was also released in 2018, with a film adaptation of the game directed and written by Cocuzza in post-production as of April 2025 and scheduled to be released in October 2025.[23] In April 2019, Puppet Combo released The Glass Staircase on PC through Itch.io. It is a survival horror game about a group of young women in the early 1900s who are kept in a mysterious treatment facility and was inspired by PlayStation 2 games and Italian horror films.[24]

The survival horror game Murder House was developed by Puppet Combo and released on PC through Steam in 2020. Like many of Puppet Combo's games, it takes inspiration from 1980s horror films, early PlayStation games, and VHS, and follows a news crew as they are hunted down in an abandoned home by the Easter Ripper, a serial killer who wears a rabbit costume and was thought to be dead after being executed three years prior. The game uses tank controls and is viewed from a third-person perspective, though players can choose to play in first-person, and it has a horror synth soundtrack and intentionally low quality sound mixing.[25] Kotaku's Mike Fahey praised Murder House as "old-school nightmare fuel", stating that its "antediluvian 3D visuals" give it a "classic creepy vibe that's almost timeless", while Bloody Disgusting called it "seemingly the gory survival horror crescendo Cucuzza has been building towards" and "such a memorable survival horror ride".[26][27] The A.V. Club's Alexander Chatziioannou described Murder House as one of "the scariest, most imaginative horror games of 2021"; Kelsey Raynor of VG247 listed Murder House as one of the best horror games of all time in 2021, while Hadley Vincent of Destructoid ranked it as one of the best indie horror games for its "fantastic mix of comedy and frightening scenes".[28][29][30] The game also received widespread acclaim from Steam users.[31] In October 2021, it was released for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.[32] Its Nintendo Switch icon, a close-up image of the Easter Ripper's face, trended on social media after being described by users as disturbing; Puppet Combo refused to change it.[33][34]

In December 2021, Puppet Combo released the score attack game Christmas Massacre to Steam, in which Larry, a serial killer dressed as Santa Claus, is told by his Christmas tree to kill as many people as possible.[35] Ryan Dinsdale of IGN wrote that it bore resemblance to the 2003 video game Manhunt.[36] On his list of the best horror games of 2021, Neil Bolt of Bloody Disgusting listed Christmas Massacre as an honorable mention.[37] Puppet Combo announced in early November 2023 that a port of the game would be released on the PlayStation 5 later that month, but that its Nintendo Switch and Xbox ports had been barred from release for being "too crazy" for either console.[4][38] Puppet Combo's stealth horror game Stay Out of the House was released on Steam in October 2022. It follows Roxanne, a store clerk working the night shift who gets kidnapped by the Butcher, a cannibalistic serial killer, and must escape his home while avoiding his grandmother.[39] Handley gave the game a score of 8.5 out of ten, writing that, though it was "more marketable" than other Puppet Combo games, it was also "wonderfully nuanced" with "a cohesive and polished design" and "may be [her] favorite of the Puppet Combo game[s]".[40]

IGN's 2022 list of the best horror games for PC included Puppet Combo's games at number two, while Dwayne Jenkins of Vice called Puppet Combo "one of the greatest things to happen to indie horror games" in 2025.[41][42] Will Nelson of PCGamesN wrote in 2023 that many of Puppet Combo's games, including Murder House, had become cult classics among horror games.[43] Tomás Esconjaureguy, the developer of the 2022 horror game The Night of the Scissors, stated that Puppet Combo was a major inspiration on him and the game and that the company had "defined a new kind of game genre".[44]

Publishing

edit

Puppet Combo published the 8-bit horror game Tonight It Follows, developed by Jordan King, under the name Puppet Combo Presents, and released the game through their Patreon in June 2019.[45] In 2021, Puppet Combo launched Torture Star Video, a video game publishing company with a focus on lo-fi horror games.[46] Bloodwash, a giallo- and PlayStation-inspired horror game developed by Henry Hoare and Jordan King, was published by Torture Star Video and released in September 2021. The game revolves around Sara, a young woman who goes to a laundromat to do her laundry while a serial killer of pregnant women, dubbed the Womb Ripper, is on the loose.[47] Survival Horror Downloads named Bloodwash the fifth best horror game of 2021.[48] For PC Gamer, Joseph Knoop gave the game a mixed review, praising its characters and settings but writing that it "walks the line between stylish homage and cliché-ridden romp" and contains "often exploitative" and "problematic" tropes.[49]

Puppet Combo also published Night Signal Entertainment's 2024 game Home Safety Hotline for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch in September 2024.[50] Torture Star Video has additionally published the games Sniper Killer, The Enigma of Salazar House, The Lakeview Cabin Collection, and The Booty Creek Cheek Freak. For Puppet Combo's work as a publisher, Dwayne Jenkins of Vice wrote that the company was "just as important to indie horror games" as "A24 is to indie movies and shows and Devolver Digital is to 'more mainstream' indie games".[42]

Games

edit
Year Title Platform(s) Notes
2013 Babysitter Bloodbath PC Originally titled Halloween and released under Pig Farmer Games; title and elements of game changed due to infringing on the copyright of the 1978 horror film Halloween.
2015 Power Drill Massacre —
2016 Meat Cleaver Mutilator —
2017 The Night Ripper —
2018 Night Shift —
Spiders —
Feed Me Billy —
Nun Massacre PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, iOS, Android, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S Originally released on PC in 2018; released on all other platforms in 2022. An updated version of the game titled Nun Massacre: Definitive Edition was released in the same year.
2019 The Glass Staircase PC —
The Riverside Incident —
Day Seven —
Samhain —
Scary Tales Vol. 1[51] Compilation of previously released games.
2020 Night Watch —
Murder House PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch Originally released on PC in 2020; released on all other platforms in 2021.
2021 Christmas Massacre PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 Originally released on PC in 2021; In 2023, the game was released on Playstation and Xbox.
2022 Stay Out of the House PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, iOS, Android, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S Originally released on PC through Patreon page in a nearly completed state and it was on Early Access; it was fully updated and released on Steam on October 14, 2022. On June 16, 2023, the game was released on other platforms.

Games published

edit
Year Title Developer Platform(s) Notes
2019 Search Party Lum PC —
Tonight It Follows Jordan King —
These Trees Are Spectral Fingers kavvkka —
2020 Ski Freak Jordan King —
The Summoning[52] —
The Enigma of Salazar House Maldo19 —
2021[53] Bloodwash Jordan King PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S Originally released on PC; released on all other platforms on October 12, 2022.
2022 Deadly Night Cubyte Games PC —
The Booty Creek Cheek Freak[54] Jordan King —
Night at the Gates of Hell Jordan King PC, PlayStation 4/5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S Originally released on PC; released on all other platforms on September 8, 2023
2023 Rewind or Die COMP-3 Interactive PC, Xbox Series X/S —
Ding Dong Dead[55] Jordan King —
No One Lives Under the Lighthouse[56] Marevo Collective PC, PlayStation 4/5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S Released independently in 2020; however, it was republished by Torture Star Video on May 18, 2023, for the console release.
2024 Cannibal Abduction[57] Selewi PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S Released independently in 2023; however, it was republished by Torture Star Video on February 8, 2024, for the console release.
The Night of the Scissors[58] PC, PlayStation 4/5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S Released independently in 2022; however, it was republished by Torture Star Video, by being bundled with Cannibal Abduction in its console release on the 8th of February, 2024.
The Lakeview Cabin Collection[59][60] HypnoGames PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S Released independently in 2015; however, it was republished by Torture Star Video, on July 25, 2024.
Home Safety Hotline[61][62] Night Signal Entertainment PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch Released independently in 2024; however, it was republished by Torture Star Video, on September 20, 2024.
Sniper Killer[63] Jordan King PC —

References

edit
  1. ^ Mendoza, Christine (2022-01-31). "30 Best Modern Horror Games That Use PS1 Graphics". Game Rant. Retrieved 2024-06-25.
  2. ^ Raynor, Kelsey (September 21, 2021). "Indie developers are doing their best: An Interview with Lantern Studio and Puppet Combo". NME. Archived from the original on May 16, 2022. Retrieved May 16, 2022.
  3. ^ Pementel, Michael (November 3, 2020). "How a Love of Slashers, VHS, and Survival Horror Fuels the Work of Developer Puppet Combo [Interview]". Bloody Disgusting. Archived from the original on May 15, 2022. Retrieved May 15, 2022.
  4. ^ a b Blake, Vikki (November 4, 2023). "Puppet Combo's Christmas Massacre is "too crazy" to be released on Switch or Xbox". Eurogamer. Retrieved July 22, 2025.
  5. ^ Smith, Ed (September 2, 2022). "New horror game by Puppet Combo launches on Steam". PCGamesN. Retrieved July 22, 2025.
  6. ^ a b Bardhan, Ashley (October 16, 2024). "How Indie Horror Games Are Bringing Back Retro Grime". Rolling Stone. Retrieved July 20, 2025.
  7. ^ Schafer, Josh (January 16, 2013). "Ben Cocuzza and PigFarmer Games put you behind the blade with the retro-horror inspired Sanitarium Massacre! And it has a VHS mode! TOO GROOVY!!". Lunchmeat VHS. Archived from the original on May 29, 2022. Retrieved May 16, 2022.
  8. ^ Barton, Steve (December 11, 2012). "Classic Slashers Inspired Upcoming PC Title Sanitarium Massacre". Dread Central. Archived from the original on May 15, 2022. Retrieved May 15, 2022.
  9. ^ Dodd, Adam (December 11, 2012). "80's Slasher Film Inspired 'Sanitarium Massacre' Represents Everything I Love About Indie Horror Games". Bloody Disgusting. Archived from the original on May 15, 2022. Retrieved May 15, 2022.
  10. ^ Dodd, Adam (October 20, 2013). "John Carpenter Would Approve Of This Free 'Halloween' Game". Bloody Disgusting. Archived from the original on May 15, 2022. Retrieved May 15, 2022.
  11. ^ Dodd, Adam (December 13, 2013). "Pig Farmer's Free 'Halloween' Inspired Indie Horror Slasher Is Back!". Bloody Disgusting. Archived from the original on May 15, 2022. Retrieved May 15, 2022.
  12. ^ a b Henderson, Collin; Malloy, Johnny; Coughlan, Sean (April 25, 2020). "Anthropomorphic Animals and Lo-Fi Horror Games". 25YL. Archived from the original on April 16, 2021. Retrieved May 16, 2022.
  13. ^ Sale, Joseph (April 17, 2018). "Bringing 1980s Horror to Videogames: A Conversation With Puppet Combo". GameSpew. Archived from the original on November 27, 2021. Retrieved May 16, 2022.
  14. ^ "The rise of VHS horror games". Kill Screen. August 29, 2016. Archived from the original on August 10, 2022. Retrieved May 16, 2022.
  15. ^ Valentin, Christian (August 5, 2016). "Power Drill Massacre brings grindhouse horror to videogames". Kill Screen. Archived from the original on May 15, 2022. Retrieved May 15, 2022.
  16. ^ Winkie, Luke (October 15, 2021). "When Video Games Feel Haunted: Inside the Low-Res Horror Boom". Vulture. Archived from the original on May 16, 2022. Retrieved May 16, 2022.
  17. ^ "20 free horror games you should play on Halloween". Kill Screen. October 31, 2016. Archived from the original on May 16, 2022. Retrieved May 16, 2022.
  18. ^ Gordon, Lewis (August 14, 2019). "Patreon has become a lifeline for creators of weird, alternative games". The Verge. Archived from the original on May 16, 2022. Retrieved May 16, 2022.
  19. ^ a b Handley, Zoey (March 26, 2022). "Review: Nun Massacre". Destructoid. Retrieved April 3, 2024.
  20. ^ Wilson, Mike (March 23, 2022). "Throwback Horror Game 'Nun Massacre' Lands on Switch and PlayStation March 24th". Bloody Disgusting. Archived from the original on May 15, 2022. Retrieved May 15, 2022.
  21. ^ Seagrave, Richard (March 30, 2022). "Nun Massacre Review". GameSpew. Archived from the original on June 27, 2022. Retrieved May 15, 2022.
  22. ^ Siebert, Michael (December 18, 2018). "The Pixelated Ghosts of Horror Games Past Are Haunting Us This Year". Vice. Archived from the original on May 16, 2022. Retrieved May 16, 2022.
  23. ^ DiVincenzo, Alex (April 16, 2025). "Indie Slasher Game 'Night Shift' Gets 16mm Film Adaptation". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved July 20, 2025.
  24. ^ Tarason, Dominic (April 3, 2019). "The Glass Staircase is a short, sweet tribute to Italian horror". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Archived from the original on January 22, 2022. Retrieved May 16, 2022.
  25. ^ Devore, Jordan (October 14, 2021). "Puppet Combo's Murder House just hit Xbox, PS4, and Nintendo Switch". Destructoid. Archived from the original on May 15, 2022. Retrieved May 15, 2022.
  26. ^ "Talking Puppet Combo's 'Murder House' With Rue Morgue's Evan Millar [Safe Room Podcast]". Bloody Disgusting. November 1, 2021. Archived from the original on May 15, 2022. Retrieved May 15, 2022.
  27. ^ Fahey, Mike (October 28, 2021). "Murder House Is Everything Terrifying About Low-Poly Horror". Kotaku. Archived from the original on June 5, 2022. Retrieved May 15, 2022.
  28. ^ Chatziioannou, Alexander (October 28, 2021). "Some of the best horror games of 2021 lurk far off the beaten path". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on May 15, 2022. Retrieved May 15, 2022.
  29. ^ Raynor, Kelsey (April 27, 2022). "The 15 Best Horror Games of all time". VG247. Archived from the original on May 15, 2022. Retrieved May 15, 2022.
  30. ^ Vincent, Hadley (May 23, 2025). "The 10 best indie horror games". Destructoid. Retrieved July 20, 2025.
  31. ^ Fischer, Tyler (October 15, 2021). "Nintendo Switch, PS4, and Xbox One Players Surprised With Stealth-Release of Popular Horror Game". Comicbook. Archived from the original on May 15, 2022. Retrieved May 15, 2022.
  32. ^ Wilson, Mike (October 15, 2021). "Puppet Combo Has Brought Their Throwback Slasher 'Murder House' to Consoles". Bloody Disgusting. Archived from the original on May 15, 2022. Retrieved May 15, 2022.
  33. ^ Fahey, Mike (October 20, 2021). "Not everyone is thrilled about Murder House's icon". Destructoid. Archived from the original on May 15, 2022. Retrieved May 15, 2022.
  34. ^ Fahey, Mike (October 20, 2021). "Please Don't Ever Change This Nightmare-Inducing Switch Icon". Kotaku. Archived from the original on May 20, 2022. Retrieved May 15, 2022.
  35. ^ "Review: Christmas Massacre". Destructoid. December 25, 2021. Archived from the original on July 21, 2022. Retrieved May 16, 2022.
  36. ^ Dinsdale, Ryan (November 7, 2023). "Christmas Massacre Developer Says Game Is 'Too Crazy' for Switch and Xbox but Coming to PlayStation". IGN. Retrieved July 22, 2025.
  37. ^ Bolt, Neil (December 20, 2021). "Bloody Disgusting's Neil Bolt Selects the 10 Best Horror Games of 2021". Bloody Disgusting. Archived from the original on May 16, 2022. Retrieved May 16, 2022.
  38. ^ Middler, Jordan (November 4, 2023). "Nintendo and Microsoft won't allow horror game Christmas Massacre, dev claims". Video Games Chronicle. Retrieved July 22, 2025.
  39. ^ Wilson, Mike (February 25, 2019). "Escape a Cannibalistic Serial Killer in Retro Horror Game 'Stay Out of The House'". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved July 22, 2025.
  40. ^ Handley, Zoey (October 31, 2022). "Review: Stay Out of the House". Destructoid. Retrieved July 22, 2025.
  41. ^ "The 12 Best Horror Games on PC". IGN. January 30, 2022. Archived from the original on May 18, 2022. Retrieved May 20, 2022.
  42. ^ a b Jenkins, Dwayne (January 3, 2025). "Puppet Combo: Otherwise Known as the Rightful Champions of Indie Horror Gaming". Vice. Retrieved July 20, 2025.
  43. ^ Nelson, Will (November 4, 2023). "Hit Steam indie horror game is 'too crazy' for Xbox and Nintendo". PCGamesN. Retrieved July 22, 2025.
  44. ^ Marvin, Ian (June 7, 2022). "Bringing Back Bargain Bloodbaths with Tomás Esconjaureguy of The Night of the Scissors". Dread Central. Retrieved July 22, 2025.
  45. ^ Butler, Colton (20 June 2019). "'Tonight It Follows' Set to Scare on Puppet Combo's Patreon this Saturday". Indie Ranger. Archived from the original on 19 August 2022. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
  46. ^ Chatziioannou, Alexander (October 29, 2021). "A new wave of lo-fi games is reshaping horror". The Verge. Archived from the original on December 9, 2022. Retrieved May 16, 2022.
  47. ^ Handley, Zoey (September 16, 2021). "Review: Bloodwash". Destructoid. Archived from the original on May 16, 2022. Retrieved May 16, 2022.
  48. ^ "Los mejores juegos de terror de 2021". Survival Horror Downloads (in Spanish). January 7, 2022. Archived from the original on August 9, 2022. Retrieved May 16, 2022.
  49. ^ Knoop, Joseph (September 19, 2021). "A laundromat becomes a blood-soaked nightmare in Bloodwash". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on May 16, 2022. Retrieved May 16, 2022.
  50. ^ Wilson, Mike (September 12, 2024). "'Home Safety Hotline' Comes to Consoles September 20th". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved July 20, 2025.
  51. ^ "Scary Tales Vol. 1 by Puppet Combo". Archived from the original on 2023-12-24. Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  52. ^ "The Summoning".
  53. ^ "Bloodwash". Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  54. ^ "The Booty Creek Cheek Freak". Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  55. ^ "DING DONG DEAD". Retrieved 2024-02-06.
  56. ^ https://twitter.com/PuppetCombo/status/1654476492326285318. Retrieved 2024-02-06. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  57. ^ "The family is hungry and he must provide in". Archived from the original on 2024-01-29.
  58. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2024-02-18.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  59. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2024-07-30.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  60. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2024-07-30.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  61. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2024-09-23.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  62. ^ "Buy Home Safety Hotline | Xbox". www.xbox.com. Retrieved 2025-04-07.
  63. ^ "x.com". Archived from the original on 2025-01-21. Retrieved 2025-04-07.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Puppet_Combo&oldid=1303011762"