Fingers of Fear: Sons of the forest's NPCs unleash unsettling pointing behaviour

Endnight Games' latest Steam Early Access game, Sons of the Forest, is garnering attention for one specific feature: the pointing fingers of the game's NPCs

Endnight Games' latest Steam Early Access game, Sons of the Forest, is garnering attention for one specific feature: the pointing fingers of the game's NPCs, Kelvin and Virginia. While the game is already packed with cannibals, corpses, and other terrors, the mere sight of the NPCs (Non-Player Characters) pointing chills players to the bone.

Virginia in Sons of the Forest

The game features Kelvin, who is a resource gatherer and builder, and Virginia, who is equipped with a gun to dispatch enemies. They usually assist players and sometimes point out dangers, but the way they point is deeply unsettling. They stand still and silently point at perceived threats, and the mismatch between their blank expressions and the information they are conveying only adds to the feeling of wrongness.

Their silent pointing is especially terrifying when players are in the dark and have to rely on their portable mini-torch. The lack of malice and apparent urgency in their actions makes it all the more creepy. Players are speculating that the horror stems from the primal nature of pointing, which predates the evolution of language.

While the fear may not be rational, it is still affecting players, much like the classic horror movie, The Haunting of Hill House.