When I started jotting down my list of Game of the Year contenders for 2024 earlier this fall, I aimed to sift through a chaotic mix of popular hits I hadn’t yet played and personal favorites I was prepared to champion. The Casting of Frank Stone effortlessly slid into my personal top 10, fitting squarely into the latter category.
Honestly, the game already had my curiosity piqued from the start. In my book, Supermassive Games’ horror offerings never miss, coming in only three delightful flavors: “good,” “great,” and “amazing.” The only time I ever felt slightly let down by one of their games was the ending of Little Hope, and even that disappointment faded fast.
Despite not logging a ton of hours playing Dead by Daylight, I’ve spent countless hours diving deep into its lore, which qualifies me as a bona fide fan. Therefore, a Dead by Daylight story mode developed by Supermassive was a dream come true for me.
Going in, I wasn’t expecting any groundbreaking revelations—just the allure of a Dead by Daylight story told through the lens of The Dark Pictures Anthology was enough to have me hooked. Frank Stone may not have been a massive hit when it launched on September 3rd—incidentally sharing the same birthday as mine, though I swear that hasn’t clouded my judgment too much—but I was pleasantly surprised by how much it resonated with me. It might just be among my top three favorite games from Supermassive, truthfully.
The Casting of Frank Stone is both intriguing and haunting. It follows the complex narratives of five playable characters across three timeframes, all woven together by a historic string of murders in Cedar Hills, Oregon, and the release of an indie student film drawn from those grim tales. Just trying to unravel the mysteries keeps you engaged for much of the game. It drips with atmosphere and offers varied, choose-your-own-adventure gameplay. But above all, it’s tailor-made for lore enthusiasts like me.
One of its biggest drawbacks might be its ending, a gut-wrenching narrative twist that only hits home if you’re at least somewhat familiar with the larger Dead by Daylight universe. While I don’t see this as a failure—I think the game delivers exactly what it intended and successfully captivates fans of the main series—I suspect its modest reception is partly due to this reliance on pre-existing lore.
In a world where the entertainment industry is often led by profit-driven brand partnerships and aggressive copyright issues that stifle smaller creators, I find myself rooting for more projects like The Casting of Frank Stone. It represents two studios combining their talents out of artistic synergy rather than financial gain, a collaboration that feels refreshing and almost nostalgic.
So, even if this game didn’t strike a chord with everyone, I’d love to see more developers take a page from its playbook. If you’re someone whose favorite games include both Dead by Daylight and Until Dawn, then this might just be your perfect Game of the Year—it certainly came close to being mine.
