When the Darkness comes is a short first-person walking simulator by Sirhaian. It is not a puzzle-heavy adventure, combat game, or conventional horror challenge. Most of the experience comes from moving through surreal spaces, listening, following or questioning prompts, and noticing how the game reacts when you do unexpected things.
Content warning: This guide discusses a mature psychological horror game about depression, anxiety, verbal abuse, manipulative control, suicide, jump scares, and possible epilepsy triggers. It avoids graphic detail and keeps ending guidance spoiler-light.
The best first run is patient and cautious. Let scenes breathe, do not assume every instruction must be followed immediately, and take the developer’s warnings seriously before launching. The game can interact with files outside the main application, and its late-game routes are much easier to manage if you understand that before chasing every achievement.
Essential Tips
1. Know What Kind of Game This Is
Go in expecting an experimental walking simulator with very light mechanics. Your main tools are movement, interaction, patience, and attention. There are no builds to optimize, enemies to defeat, or complex puzzle systems to learn.
That changes how you should read each scene. If a room feels empty, the point may be the wait, the voice line, the route you choose, or the way the space changes after you obey or resist an instruction. When you get stuck, slow down before searching for a hidden mechanical trick.
2. Check the Controls Before You Start
The basic controls are simple: move with WASD or the arrow keys, interact with F, jump with Space, and sprint with Shift. The game also notes an in-game QWERTY/AZERTY toggle, while the itch.io page says controls can be customized through the Unity launcher and that controller support exists.
Because this is a short atmosphere-first game, control friction can break the mood quickly. Spend a minute making sure movement and interaction feel right. If you use a controller, confirm the interact and sprint bindings before the first tense scene instead of learning them under pressure.
3. Follow the Light, But Stay Curious
The game’s own advice is to follow the light, and that is usually the cleanest way forward. Use it as your default navigation rule when an area becomes abstract, dark, or visually noisy. A visible light, door, button, staircase, path, or voice prompt usually matters.
That does not mean you should rush. Some achievements and scenes reward waiting, looking around, or testing a prompt before committing. If a scene gives you an obvious button or exit, pause long enough to read the room. The game often uses hesitation as part of the interaction.
4. Take File and Save Behavior Seriously
When the Darkness comes warns that it may manipulate files and gather some local data. Community guide material also describes files being created in desktop and documents locations, save-state consequences after certain endings, and situations where cleanup or backups may be needed to continue experimenting.
If that makes you uncomfortable, do not launch the game on your main profile. If you do play, treat it like an experimental meta-horror title rather than a normal Steam install. Close other work, avoid running it during a stream or recording session unless you are prepared for surprises, and consider making a manual note of any file locations the game creates.
5. Do a Blind First Run Before Achievement Cleanup
Steam lists 32 achievements, and community guides can walk you through many exact unlocks. Resist using them immediately. Several achievements depend on waiting, trying odd interactions, repeating scenes, or taking routes that are better discovered naturally the first time.
A blind run also protects the tone. The game is short enough that missing a few achievements is not a disaster. Finish once, decide whether you want a completion pass, then use a walkthrough for the remaining unlocks after the core experience has already landed.
6. Be Patient With Early Doors and Buttons
Some early scenes teach you that the obvious action is not always the only meaningful action. If a door, button, or exit is presented dramatically, waiting may matter. If the narrator or environment pressures you, that pressure may be part of the design.
Use a simple rule: try the clear route first when you want story momentum, but wait and test alternatives when you are achievement hunting. This keeps the first playthrough readable while leaving room for a second pass focused on unusual triggers.
7. Treat Chapter IX as the Main Navigation Spike
Chapter IX, the school area, is one of the few places where navigation can become a real blocker. The objective involves clocks, doors, and a layout that even the developer later clarified with an annotated map because it was harder than intended.
If you reach the school and feel lost, do not assume you missed a complex puzzle rule. Build a mental map from doors and room names, check side rooms carefully, and remember that one clock is tied to approaching a machine rather than finding a normal pickup. This is the safest point to use a map if you want help without spoiling the ending.
8. Use Sprint Sparingly in Dark or Narrow Spaces
Sprint is available, and some scenes make it tempting to rush. In dark or surreal areas, sprinting can also make you miss a turn, overshoot a prompt, or blur the environmental cue you needed.
Walk when the scene is changing, when a voice line is playing, or when you are near a light source, doorway, or interactable object. Sprint when you are retracing a known route or moving down a long safe path. The game is short; a few slower steps are worth the clarity.
9. Understand That Choices Are Often Thematic
Some choices are not about solving a system. They are about how the game frames purpose, obedience, despair, hope, and whether you accept what the scene asks of you. Pick what makes sense for your first read instead of trying to calculate a perfect answer.
For later completion, different choices and second-playthrough states can matter. That is a reason to separate your blind run from your cleanup run. First, play honestly. Later, route intentionally.
10. Avoid Ending Guides Until You Are Ready
The true ending path depends on reaching the right state after earlier completion, and the bad ending path is tied to heavy late-game content and save-file consequences. Even a short checklist can spoil the point of the final arc.
If you only need general help, keep it general: follow light, listen, wait when a scene seems built around waiting, and back up save-related files before experimenting late. Use direct ending instructions only after you have already seen at least one full route.
11. Do Not Force Long Sessions
The first arc is roughly an hour, and the full experience can be emotionally heavy. Stop if the themes, jump scares, or visual effects are affecting you more than expected. You do not lose anything by taking a break.
Because the game is designed around discomfort and uncertainty, a pause can also make you a better player. Return when you can pay attention to voice lines, visual cues, and the game’s attempts to unsettle your normal habits.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
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Do not expect combat or deep puzzles - The meaningful actions are movement, interaction, waiting, and interpretation.
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Do not ignore the content warning - The game directly warns about mental-health themes, suicide, jump scares, and epilepsy risk.
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Do not stream it casually - The developer notes that the experience may not suit streaming audiences, and the game can behave outside normal expectations.
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Do not rush every button - Some scenes reward waiting or trying a less obvious response.
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Do not achievement-hunt on your first run - A checklist can spoil the game’s strongest surprises.
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Do not sprint through changing scenes - Walk when the environment is teaching you where to go.
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Do not assume Chapter IX is your fault - The school layout is a known navigation spike, and map help is reasonable there.
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Do not experiment with endings without a plan - Late-game routes can affect whether you can continue without file cleanup.
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Do not overlook basic controls - Confirm interact, jump, sprint, and keyboard layout before the mood turns tense.
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Do not push through distress - Stop playing if the themes or visual effects feel unsafe for you.
Summary
| Category | Top Tip |
|---|---|
| Expectations | Treat it as an experimental walking simulator, not a challenge game |
| Controls | Confirm movement, interact, jump, sprint, and layout before starting |
| Navigation | Follow light first, then test alternatives when achievement hunting |
| Files | Be aware that the game can create or modify local files |
| Achievements | Save completion routing for a second pass |
| Chapter IX | Use door names, room routes, and map help if the school blocks you |
| Endings | Avoid direct ending guides until after a blind route |
| Safety | Respect the mental-health, jump scare, and epilepsy warnings |
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5 checked for this guideEvery factual claim in this guide was checked against at least two independent sources before publication. These are the references used for When the Darkness comes.
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