u/ScreamOperatorDev

Hi everyone,

I am the solo developer behind Scream Operator. Today, Rock Paper Shotgun published an article about the project.

As an indie dev, having a major outlet which I read all the time pick up the game is such a significant milestone, which is why I am sharing it today 🎉

You can read the RPS article here: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/in-strategy-game-scream-operator-you-run-every-inch-of-a-haunted-house-ride-from-the-all-important-pre-show-to-the-chainsaw-guys

If you are interested in the project, the Steam page is here:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/4480080/Scream\_Operator\_Haunted\_House\_Manager/

Hey r/halloween!

If you are the type of person who starts planning their spooky season months in advance, this is for you. I've been building a game where you construct and manage your own dark ride, and the announcement trailer is finally out. Meet Scream Operator.

What is the game about? You sit in the control booth of your own industrial horror attraction. You have to balance heart-pounding scares with smart business choices. In the game, you place props and animatronics, micromanage ride flow, electrical capacity, and passenger wait times. Expect challenging shifts, infamous horror legends visiting your ride, and the constant need to upgrade your systems to keep your haunted house afloat.

Key features you can expect:

• Manage the full ride flow, from loading anxious guests to dispatching carts.
• Drag-and-drop props, lighting, and animatronics to design the ultimate scare and increase your max Scare Score.
• Spend Prestige to unlock upgrades and automate manual work (like doors, loading, and dispatch, staff, shops and snacks).

🎃 The best news of all: A free demo is dropping this Halloween season!

You can check out all information and Wishlist the game on Steam right here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4480080/Scream_Operator_Haunted_House_Manager/

I'm a solo developer, so any feedback from haunted house enthusiasts and horror fans is incredibly valuable to me. Let me know what you think of the vibe!

I’ve been working on this trailer for the past week in order to properly announce the management sim I’m creating.

What do you think? I feel like I’ve been stuck looking at it for too many times to form a clear opinion on it. Any and all feedback is welcome!

Hi guys!

I am currently working on a simulation project with a specific haunted house dark ride feel. Right now, I am detailing the transition from the outside queue into the lobby and pre-show rooms before guests board the carts.

To the enthusiasts here: when building the anticipation for a horror attraction, what physical elements, thematic details, or crowd control mechanics are absolutely vital to include in these areas? Something I should not miss out on?

Let me know, I'd be happy to discuss!

Sharing some footage from upcoming my Haunted House Management game, Scream Operator 🥳

Free Demo Drops Halloween 2026! 🎃

https://store.steampowered.com/app/4480080/Scream_Operator_Haunted_House_Manager/

Hi Everyone!

Normally, this heavy iron UI gate is just your standard, empty menu screen. But for this specific haunted level, I wanted to hide a phantom in the shadows for a surprise reveal.

Everything is 100% hand-drawn pixel art for a 2D management sim. Let me know what you think of the transition!

Hi Everyone!

Normally, this heavy iron UI gate is just your standard, empty menu screen. But for this specific haunted level, I wanted to hide a phantom in the shadows for a surprise reveal 👻

Everything is 100% hand-drawn pixel art for a spooky 2D management sim. Let me know what you think of the transition!

Hey everyone,

I'd love to share the latest gameplay for my game: Scream Operator: Haunted House Manager.

It's a game where you design and personally operate your own haunted dark ride. It's built entirely around a detailed pixel-art style and a spooky atmosphere. I'm currently working (very) hard to have a free demo ready for halloween season!

You can find the latest gameplay teaser here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cq8P7WwIMsw

If this is something you would like, you can find more info and follow all progress by leaving a wishlist on the Steam page 🤗
https://store.steampowered.com/app/4480080/Scream_Operator_Haunted_House_Manager/

Hey everyone,

After the overwelming positive response I received last time, I'd love to share the latest gameplay of the Haunted House Management Sim I'm building.

It's a cozy-creepy management sim where you design and operate your own haunted house dark ride. Instead of a regular god-mode view, you sit behind an industrial operator dashboard and personally manage the whole attraction. It has a detailed pixel-art style and a cuty & spooky atmosphere.

I'm currently working very hard to get a demo ready for Halloween season. If you like, you can find more info and screenshots on the Steam page:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/4480080/Scream_Operator_Haunted_House_Manager/

No Generative AI was used for the art, animations, code or assets. All (pixel) art and mechanics are created by either me, or the great artists I've been working with on this adventure.

If there are any questions or ideas, feel free to hit me up! I'll be super happy to discuss in the comments.

Hey everyone,

I'd love to share the latest gameplay for the game I'm currently building in GDevelop.

It's a pixel-art management sim where you design and operate your own haunted house dark ride. I've actually never created a game before, and am truly happy with how inituitive it is to use GDevelop and create a game that's entirely what I envisioned.

I'm currently working very hard to get a demo ready for Halloween season. If you like, you can find more info and screenshots on the Steam page:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/4480080/Scream_Operator_Haunted_House_Manager/

I've had lovely conversations with fellow GDevelopers in the past regarding the lightning and mechanics of this game, and I've had more than a fair share of help too. If there's anything you'd like to discuss, or any feedback, please feel free to hit me up here, or on discord!

Obviously still huge work in progress, but really happy with the drag and drop system I’m building for my game.

Gdevelop is a true delight for systems as these. Especially when using the “Virtual grid” extension for this specific element!

What do you think?

Hey everyone,

My background is in marketing, but I’m currently developing my very first indie game. I just hit my first 500 wishlists without spending a dime on ads, and I wanted to share some early insights on how the positioning is working out.

The Hook: The game is called Scream Operator. It’s a Haunted House Dark Ride Simulator. The angle is an inversion of the usual horror trope: instead of walking through the house, you sit in the control room. You drag-and-drop the scare actors, strobe lights, and animatronics, manage the power budget, and try to maximize the 'Scare' factor all the while maintaining a healthy profit.

The Strategy so far: All 500 wishlists have come purely from organic Reddit posts and a few social media updates.

Biggest lesson so far:

• Niche down: Positioning it strictly as a "dark ride sim" / "tycoon" instead of just a "horror game" made targeting so much easier. Tycoon players are hungry for deep management systems with unique themes. Same goes for what subs to post in. Niched subs as r/tycoon and r/hauntedmansion were hyped instantly, whilst posting in r/games and r/pcgaming led to a lot of downvotes

It’s a small milestone, but validating the core hook this early gives me the confidence to keep building the funnel (and the game itself, of course).

Happy to answer any questions about the organic Reddit grind!

For context on how I structured the Steam page and capsule art around this hook (or if you'd like to play something like this yourself :o), you can check it out here:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/4480080/Scream_Operator_Haunted_House_Manager/

Hey fellow solo devs,

I just hit 500 wishlists today and I wanted to share this milestone with you all. As someone making their very first game completely solo, seeing that number tick up is an incredible feeling.

The game is a haunted house dark ride simulator. The hook is that instead of walking through a haunted house and getting scared, you are the one running it from the control room. You drag-and-drop the animatronics, strobe lights, and scare actors into the rooms, manage the power grid, and try to scare the guests in the carts whilst also maintaining a healthy cashflow.

The best part for me: these wishlists are 100% organic. I haven't spent a single cent on ads. It's all just been from posting updates here on Reddit and doing some social media posts. The marketing side of solo development is honestly just as daunting as the coding, but seeing people respond to the core concept gives me so much motivation to keep going.

To anyone else grinding away on their first project: keep sharing your stuff!

If you want to check out the page or the vibe of the game, here is the Steam link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4480080/Scream_Operator_Haunted_House_Manager/

I've always loved theme park games, but I wanted to focus on the grit and chaos of running a single, terrifying dark ride.

In Scream Operator, you play as the ride operator. You have a fixed track, and it's your job to drag-and-drop the scares, like strobe lights, chainsaw actors, and creepy props, into the rooms. You have to balance the 'Scare' factor with your budget and power supply to keep the attraction running.

This is my first time developing a game, and today I just crossed 500 wishlists! I haven't spent a dime on marketing; it's all just been from posting updates on Reddit and chatting with the community.

Seeing people actually interested in playing a dark ride simulator gives me a massive boost to keep building. You can check out the Steam page here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4480080/Scream_Operator_Haunted_House_Manager/

Hitting 500 wishlists might not sound like much compared to the big indie hits, but as a solo dev, seeing 500 people actually want to play your game is an insane feeling.

I’m building Scream Operator, a management/tycoon game where you run a haunted house from a control room. You place the animatronics, manage the power, and try to scare the visitors.

Just wanted to share this little victory. If managing a haunted ride sounds like your kind of tycoon game, a wishlist means the world to me: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4480080/Scream_Operator_Haunted_House_Manager/

TL;DR - Building A Haunted House Management Sim, would like to share with hardcore fans and collect insight on what should be included.

Hey everyone!

I've always loved haunted houses, but I've never really found a game that captures what it's like to run one from behind the scenes. So as a solo dev, I decided to just build one myself. It's called Scream Operator: Haunted House Manager

Steam page:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/4480080/Scream_Operator_Haunted_House_Manager/

Instead of a standard overhead camera where you just place paths, you actually sit behind an industrial dashboard. You have to manually dispatch the carts, trigger the animatronics at the right time to get the best scares, and make sure the whole ride doesn't break down (or catch fire) while guests are inside.

As a player, you'll need to find balance between these elements;

• Scare-Score & Immersion: keep guests terrified but fully entertained
• Waiting times and queue flow
• Safety: prevent accidents and ride breakdowns
• Power grid, oil levels, and animatronic reliability
• Shop storage and merchandising
• Cashflow and prestige

You start out doing everything manually (dispatching carts, loading guests, etc.) and gradually unlock automation, new terrifying animatronics, pre-show rooms, and custom decorations as you earn cash and prestige.

I figured this community might appreciate the theme! Everything is hand-drawn pixel art, and the music is created by a great composer I was lucky enough to find on good ol' reddit.

Since you guys are the experts on commercial haunts and dark rides, I'd love to pick your brains. What makes a haunted attraction truly unforgettable for you? Is it the perfect timing of the scares, the build-up of tension, or the practical effects?

Also, what kind of crazy or realistic things would you absolutely want to see (or manage) in a game like this? I really want to make sure I do the haunt community justice.

Would love to hear your stories and ideas!