Teleforum is a point-and-click analog horror game from Monumental Collab, who look like they have a fine knack for this sort of game. The good news for those still suffering from PTSD over the 90's era of pixel-bitching point-and-clicks is that this one is full of modern conveniences, so it plays well and I advise when playing that you mouse over everything, some stuff will trigger that you might not expect. I did a playthough and then handed it over to my son to do his own run; I have found that the boundless energy and optimism of youth will lead to unexpected results every time over the old jaded Gen X gamer. A single playthrough can be done in less than an hour (my first run was only about 35 minutes), but subsequent playthroughs yielded some interesting additional results I had overlooked, and my son unlocked several new achievements. Indeed, if achievements are a goal of yours, this thing is loaded with plenty of low-hanging achievement fruits.
The premise of Teleforum is simple: a reporter named Juliana and her cameraman (your character) are visiting the apartment of a fellow reporter Walter who recently killed himself following a grisly event at the broadcasting station. He brought a tape to be played, but a technical error prevented it from playing. Juliana wants to interview his widow, and see if she can figure out why Walter did what he did...and see if there's a working copy of the tape somewhere. Things get increasingly weird until at last the tape is available for viewing, and then things begin to loop, as your cameraman begins to sense that he's done this before...
Teleforum is also adjacent to the hidden object subgenre which has recently evolved into horror with walking simulator elements, where you move through a familiar environment and then look for things that are different each time. Teleforum is more of a hybrid.....but subsequent playthroughs with different choices have yielded some interesting results that were not evident or accessible the first time around.
While playing, I did start to think a bit about the book and film Ringu, which of course has a haunted VHS tape at the center of its mystery. Unlike Ringu, Teleforum provides a compelling mystery with plenty of hints, but offers few real answers.
Ultimately Teleforum works well for having a 80's era analog setting, excellent creepy audio and a compelling short story with lots of variables within its restricted environment. It is also free on Steam, so there is that! I enjoyed it enough I purchased the supporter's pack. I give it a solid A, especially considering the price of admission.
Bonus Spoiler/Hint:
There are codes you need to find for hidden endings....
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