SHE WAS 98

SHE WAS 98 is a PC first-person psychological horror game built around caregiving routines, domestic exploration, and a steadily worsening supernatural mystery. Steam currently lists it under the same title, with no verified rebrand, definitive edition, or alternate storefront name replacing the original listing. Developed and published by the independent teams N4bA and Notex, it is a compact, single-player walking-simulator experience for players who prefer atmosphere and story over combat systems.

Caregiving turns into psychological horror

The premise begins with an ordinary responsibility. You play as a grandson returning to his elderly grandmother's deteriorating apartment to look after her. Giving her pills, moving through familiar rooms, and handling domestic tasks establish a routine that feels mundane at first, but the grandmother's behavior gradually makes the setting impossible to read with confidence.

The central tension comes from uncertainty. She sometimes appears not to recognize you, then seems to look at you as though you are someone else. Noisy walls, nighttime footsteps, and unexplained changes turn the apartment into a space where ordinary caregiving actions acquire a threatening second meaning.

The game uses a first-person perspective to keep the player close to the apartment's details. You inspect rooms, follow clues, interact with household objects, and move through a mostly linear sequence of story events. This is not an open-ended survival sandbox. Progress is driven by attention, positioning, and discovering what the environment is trying to conceal.

A compact loop built on atmosphere

Exploration is the main activity. The apartment is both the setting and the primary source of information, with furniture, corridors, doors, sounds, and neglected rooms helping establish the relationship between the grandson and his grandmother. The game expects players to notice small inconsistencies rather than manage a large inventory or optimize a character build.

There is no verified evidence of a traditional weapon system, crafting tree, loot economy, or combat progression. Steam categorizes the game with tags including walking simulator, psychological horror, mystery, story rich, supernatural, and linear, which more accurately describes its structure than action-oriented horror labels do.

Sound design is especially important to the experience. Footsteps, distant noises, silence, and the general pressure of the apartment create anticipation before the player understands what has changed. The horror is therefore built less around constant confrontation and more around the fear that a familiar domestic space is no longer behaving normally.

Story themes and player expectations

SHE WAS 98 is not only a haunted-house setup. Its story is framed around fear, self-interest, and payback, asking why the grandson has returned and what he expects to gain from caring for a relative who has been abandoned by the rest of the family. That moral uncertainty gives the supernatural elements a personal foundation.

The grandmother is not presented simply as a monster waiting behind a door. Her age, apparent dementia diagnosis, isolation, and shifting behavior are part of the mystery. The game deliberately blurs the roles of victim and threat, so players should expect an unreliable emotional situation rather than a straightforward rescue narrative.

Its linear story structure makes it best suited to players who want a focused horror vignette with an authored progression. It is a poor fit for anyone looking for branching role-playing systems, extensive exploration, repeated procedural runs, or a long-term mastery loop.

Content model and storefront status

The current Steam product is a paid standalone game rather than a free-to-play title. The storefront listing does not identify a season pass, bundle of table-sized expansions, or announced DLC structure. The available content is centered on the main single-player story, with Steam Achievements providing an additional completion incentive.

Steam lists 12 achievements, including objectives associated with returning home, cleaning, basement-related discoveries, and confronting dangerous moments. These achievements reinforce the game's exploration and story progression rather than adding a separate challenge mode or competitive layer.

There is no verified current storefront rebrand to track. Players searching for the game on PC should use the exact stylized title SHE WAS 98; references that shorten it to “She Was 98” describe the same product rather than a separate edition.

Who should play SHE WAS 98?

This is a strong match for players who enjoy short psychological horror, first-person walking simulators, domestic supernatural mysteries, and games where sound and environmental detail carry much of the tension. It also suits players who prefer a story to unfold through routine actions instead of combat arenas or elaborate puzzle interfaces.

Players sensitive to frequent violence or gore should review the mature-content labeling before playing. The game also deals with aging, isolation, dementia-related perceptions, family abandonment, and manipulation, so its subject matter can be uncomfortable even when no immediate threat is visible.

Those seeking a more puzzle-heavy first-person horror experience may prefer psychological horror adventures like Layers of Fear, which place greater emphasis on environmental puzzles and reality-bending spaces. SHE WAS 98 is more restrained, more domestic, and more dependent on the pressure created by its central relationship.

PC features, input, and localization

The PC version is listed for Windows through Steam and includes single-player support and Family Sharing. Steam also lists achievements. No online multiplayer, local co-op, split-screen mode, or competitive mode is advertised, so this is designed as a solitary narrative experience.

Steam data indicates controller compatibility tagging, but the storefront does not clearly advertise a named full-controller-support feature. Players should therefore treat keyboard-and-mouse play as the safest assumption and verify their preferred input method before purchase.

The storefront lists interface and subtitle support for English, Russian, French, German, Spanish from Spain, Simplified Chinese, Korean, and Japanese. Full audio is not listed for these languages, and the available storefront data does not identify a separate voice-localization package.

The game uses the Unity engine, according to current PC metadata. No verified mod-support, Workshop integration, dedicated-server tool, Cabinet Mode, or anti-cheat system is advertised. The relevant PC ecosystem is therefore Steam's account features, achievements, Family Sharing, input options, and language selection rather than multiplayer infrastructure.

Related first-person horror games

Fans of authored apartment horror may also find useful comparisons in first-person mystery horrors such as The Suicide of Rachel Foster. Both games use an isolated domestic setting, family trauma, environmental observation, and story-led exploration, although SHE WAS 98 is more tightly focused on a grandmother's home and the tension of caregiving.

For players who want the walking-simulator side of the formula with less emphasis on direct horror mechanics, narrative exploration games like Dear Esther: Landmark Edition offer a useful contrast. That comparison highlights SHE WAS 98's defining choice: it uses a simple movement-and-interaction loop to make routine household spaces feel threatening.

These comparisons should not be read as evidence that SHE WAS 98 has combat, branching dialogue, or large-scale puzzle systems. Its identity is narrower and clearer: a linear, first-person psychological horror story about a grandson, an elderly grandmother, and a home whose apparent reality keeps becoming less trustworthy.

SHE WAS 98 FAQ

Is SHE WAS 98 a renamed or rebranded game?

No verified rebrand was found. The current Steam listing uses SHE WAS 98, and “She Was 98” is simply a capitalization variation used in some references to the same game.

What type of game is SHE WAS 98?

It is a first-person psychological horror game with walking-simulator, narrative exploration, mystery, supernatural, and linear story elements. Its primary activities are moving through the apartment, completing routine interactions, noticing environmental details, and following the unfolding mystery.

Does SHE WAS 98 have multiplayer or co-op?

No. Steam lists the game as single-player. There is no advertised online multiplayer, local co-op, or split-screen mode.

Does SHE WAS 98 include combat?

The verified storefront description presents it as a walking simulator focused on story, sound, atmosphere, and tension. It does not advertise a conventional combat, crafting, loot, or character-progression system.

What languages are supported on PC?

Steam lists interface and subtitle support for English, Russian, French, German, Spanish from Spain, Simplified Chinese, Korean, and Japanese. Full audio is not listed for those languages.

Is SHE WAS 98 suitable for players who dislike gore?

Use caution. The storefront carries mature-content warnings for frequent violence or gore and general mature content. Aging, dementia-related perceptions, family abandonment, and psychological distress are also central to the story.