There are plenty of horror games that try to make players panic. Notovia’s I’m on Observation Duty 8 takes a different approach. Rather than throwing you into direct danger, it creates a slow-building sense of unease that lingers long after you turn the game off.
One of the reasons I continue to enjoy the I’m on Observation Duty series is that it delivers genuine creepiness without ever putting players directly in harm’s way. In I’m on Observation Duty 8, you are not sprinting through hallways, clutching a weapon or bracing for constant jump scares. Instead, you sit behind a bank of surveillance cameras, paging through quiet, drab environments and searching for the smallest detail that feels out of place. It is horror at a distance. The experience is similar to liminal horror titles like The Exit 8 or even Pools, but the horror is even more removed, since you are viewing events through security monitors rather than walking the spaces yourself.
Technically, the lore for the Observation Duty series suggests that the entities you are tracking are attempting to invade our world and that your character is in danger. In practice, however, you never feel hunted or physically threatened. That separation between player and peril is part of what makes the series work so well. It’s also great for those who want to dabble in horror gaming without anything becoming too scary.
As in the two I’m on Observation Duty titles we previously reviewed in this long running series, you play as an employee of a mysterious organization tasked with monitoring live surveillance feeds and reporting on otherworldly anomalies that you spot over a single, dark night. Each location in I’m on Observation Duty 8, which is available for the PC on the Steam platform, contains roughly six cameras that you must constantly cycle through while memorizing the layout of every room. When you spot something unusual, you click directly on it and select the type of anomaly you believe you are seeing. That might be an object that has moved, an item that should not be there at all, something actively shifting, environmental changes like smoke or flickering lights or, in more serious cases, an actual visitor occupying the room.
Success depends entirely on your memory and your ability to notice subtle differences. You must first understand what normal looks like before you can identify what is wrong. And because you don’t know when anomalies will first appear, your first few minutes in each new level often involve paging through the feeds (you can only view one room at a time) and trying to memorize the location of every single object in each room.
The eighth installment of this engaging series features six new locations, and they are among the strongest in the series. Four of those locations will feel somewhat familiar in concept, including a ranch, an airplane, an office and a research station. These echo earlier environments such as the train from part six or part five’s office-heavy settings. That familiarity does not make them stale. Each map is thoughtfully designed, filled with detail and supported by crafted backstories that provide context for the types of anomalies you might encounter.
The two new standout locations, however, are the lighthouse and the fashion show. The lighthouse captures a sense of lonely isolation perfectly, with both interior and exterior camera angles that amplify the tension of watching an empty landscape for movement. The shifting light and open darkness make every small change feel significant.
The fashion show is the most memorable environment in I’m on Observation Duty 8. Its premise alone is compelling, as an occult-themed runway event has gone wrong and the models remain trapped in a trance, endlessly walking the stage. Unlike the more static locations, this setting contains constant movement, which forces you to pay even closer attention. Because the models are already moving, identifying when something about them changes requires sharper observation. There are also very complex side locations like a dressing room filled with mannequins and a bar that looks like it was hastily abandoned, which add to the tension and challenge of that level. It’s a busy, complex map that feels fresh and unsettling in a way that elevates the entire experience.
Another welcome addition is the introduction of selectable difficulty levels. Players can now choose between Normal and Hard modes. Normal provided more than enough challenge for me, as I failed each level multiple times before finally surviving long enough to memorize each camera feed so that I could spot subtle changes and survive until the end of the night. Hard mode increases the rate and intensity of anomalies, and it introduces more dangerous threats for those seeking a greater test of their observation skills.
What continues to impress me about this series is its confidence in simplicity. There are no bloated mechanics or overly complicated systems. The I’m on Observation Duty series relies entirely on its players’ memory, focus and patience. That restraint allows the tension to build naturally rather than through forced scares or frantic pacing.
The I’m On Observation Duty series helped to establish the “spot the difference” horror formula, and this latest entry reinforces why it remains one of the strongest examples of the genre. The environments are thoughtfully crafted. The themes are sharp, and the balance between unease and accessibility is carefully maintained. All of that makes the eighth entry in this series the best yet. It’s easy to learn even for non-gamers, and both fun and challenging for anyone who dares to try and survive the night glued to the monitors at one of its newly haunted venues.