Location from A Hat In Time by Gears for Breakfast
A frozen mansion where a shadow queen hunts you through dark hallways and your only option is to hide -- the single scariest level in a game about a girl in a top hat.
Queen Vanessa's Manor is Act 4 of Subcon Forest and it is, without exaggeration, a survival horror level disguised as a 3D platformer. Hat Kid cannot use any of her hat abilities inside except the Dweller's Mask. She has no combat options. Queen Vanessa patrols the hallways, and if she catches Hat Kid, it's instant death -- no health bar, no second chance, just frozen in ice. The level is built around stealth and puzzle-solving. Hat Kid must find keys to progress through the floors while avoiding Vanessa's patrol routes. She can hide under furniture, wait behind doors, and use the Dweller's Mask to see hidden markings. A shortcut exists -- squeezing between barrels in the basement leads directly to the attic, but it skips the Relic chest. The manor is filled with environmental storytelling. Diary entries reveal Vanessa's obsessive love for her Prince. Frozen victims from different factions (Mafia Goons, old men, Subcon Dwellers) show that Vanessa has been killing for a very long time. Using the Dweller's Mask reveals hidden markings on walls, including a chalk outline of Raz from Psychonauts in the attic.
A large, dark manor house at the end of a long path through Subcon Forest. Three floors: basement, first floor, second floor, plus an attic. The interior is pitch-black in places, lit only by occasional candles and the red glow of Vanessa's eyes. Frozen figures of previous victims are posed throughout rooms. Furniture is overturned. Diary entries and scattered notes paper the surfaces. The atmosphere shifts from creepy to terrifying the moment Vanessa becomes aware of Hat Kid's presence.
Also known as: The Manor, Vanessa's Manor