Side Effects is a minimalist experimental game focused on psychological tension, uncertainty, and survival through choice. Two test subjects are placed in a clinical environment, stripped of context, and given access to a series of pills. Each pill has an unknown effect. The players, alternating turns, must choose whether to consume one, pass, or use an item. The experience unfolds not through action or storytelling but through stillness, risk, and the weight of possibility.
The Weight Of Every Turn
There are no instructions, no names for the pills, no explanation of their effects. The only guidance is what happens after a decision is made—and even that is often delayed. As each player ingests a capsule, they add strain to an invisible internal system: the tolerance meter. This mechanic tracks the increasing danger of continued consumption. Even seemingly harmless pills can trigger collapse if taken in the wrong order or too frequently. The game never reveals which move will be safe. It only reacts.
A System Of Limited Information
The tension in Side Effects doesn’t come from enemies or timers but from incomplete knowledge. Each choice affects the match, but the outcome may not be clear until several turns later. The game is a contest of restraint and adaptation. Watching an opponent’s decisions, interpreting their confidence or hesitation, and responding with your own logic becomes part of the experience.
The core structure includes:
- Randomly generated pill effects that vary each session
- A tolerance system that punishes repetition and recklessness
- A turn-based loop with no fixed solution
- Simple item use for defensive or strategic actions
- A visual style that emphasizes discomfort and focus
No Right Moves, Only Consequences
Side Effects creates a space where the fear lies not in what is seen, but in what is unknown. The sterile setting, the lack of music, the stillness of the characters—all contribute to a feeling that something is always building, quietly, beneath the surface. The game offers no narrative beyond its rules, and yet each match tells a story: of hesitation, risk, error, and survival.
It’s a rare kind of game where silence carries more weight than sound, where you win not by knowing more—but by enduring longer under pressure. Side Effects doesn’t ask players to master it. It asks them to submit to its structure and see how long they last when every decision might be the one that ends the game.
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