There’s never been a good video game based on Friday the 13th, but the folks at Gun Media are hoping you’ll let them give it another shot.


Friday the 13th: The Game just went live on Kickstarter, proposing a 1-on-7 multiplayer game where one person gets to prowl around as Jason and everyone else plays the poor camp counselors. It’s possible to attack Jason, apparently, but not recommended. Remember, it doesn’t go well for people in the movies.

Former games journalist Adam Sessler (and horror fan) has been teasing a “dream project” on Twitter for a little while now, and he’s part of the pitch.


(To be clear, Sessler and I used to work together—we’re friends. Cool? Cool.)

If the setup for Friday the 13th: The Game sounds familiar, that’s because it started life as a Friday the 13th-inspired game called Slasher Vol. 1: Summer Camp. When the game was unveiled, the developers were reportedly contacted by Friday the 13th producer Sean Cunningham, who proposed joining forces.

There’s not much to show of the game itself just yet, with the teaser trailer focusing on a CG-rendered setup for the game.

There are, however, a few “pre-alpha” screen shots available.


Asking for $700,000 is no joke, and it comes days after the P.T.-inspired Allison Road abandoned its crowdfunding efforts in favor of a traditional deal with a publisher. One reason Allison Road probably took the deal? Barring a last-minute boost, it wasn’t looking likely the game would get funded. Allison Road was riding a wave of hype that’d lasted months, and it still proved difficult to fund.

Gun Media is claiming they’re avoiding a publisher to keep the franchise’s identity—violence, nudity, etc.—in tact:

We love working with publishers, most of them are great companies to work alongside. Fans of the “Friday the 13th” film series know that when it comes to Jason Voorhees, violence, gore and nudity aren’t just concepts to consider – they’re necessities. Collectively, we wanted to make certain that this game delivers the same kind of fun, brutal scares and creative kills that the franchise is known for and didn’t want to risk having to tell our story with a “T” for Teen rating. We don’t want that. You don’t want that.


Despite being in development for a while now, Friday the 13th: The Game is seeking crowdfunding to increase its scope, including a single player mode:

To that end, the proposed single player portion will give you the Jason experience you’ve never had; direct through his eyes. We’ll be offering several ‘scenarios’ based off classic movie scenes from the franchise as you stalk and kill each and every counselor from a first person perspective. Not to leave the counselors out, we’ll be adding several counselor scenarios where you’ll have to confront your fears and take on Jason directly, especially in compromising situations! We are not going for anything less than a Mature Rating on this; the franchise deserves it! These scenarios might also make their way to VR, and would bring an entirely new perspective to the slasher genre!


As of this writing, it’s raised a little over $20,000, with one person already backing the hefty $10,000 tier. Getting to $700,000 won’t be easy, but as a horror buff myself, I’ll be keeping an eye on how this project does.