Lacey’s Wardrobe Review: Lost 2006 Flash Game Finally Found?

On October 11th, 2022, a YouTube user named ghosttundra uploaded a video of what they claimed to be a lost 2006 flash game named Lacey’s Wardrobe. The game went about dressing up Lacey for different occasions, and eventually going on a date in the night with the cutest guy (phew!). In terms of gameplay and aesthetics, it looked like a regular game made for little girls. However, things start turning out slightly different as we keep preparing Lacey for her date…

Many comments in that same video established that they remembered the game and how traumatic it was for them to experience it at such a young age, but nothing pointed out that this game ever existed at all, until now… Lacey’s Wardrobe appeared out of nowhere on Steam not so long ago. Have we finally found the lost, disturbing, and horrifying flash game that traumatized several little girls in 2006? Well, actually, no.

This game is a fan-made recreation of the awesome “creepypasta” made by ghosttundra. The original game never existed, but it was a great concept for a horror game. And the whole “lost flash game” vibes gave the original video (which I’ll leave below) a creepier background. However, today I will be reviewing the “Steam Version”, which includes many different new endings and a whole deeper meaning to “Lacey’s Wardrobe“

Lacey’s Wardrobe is available for Free on Steam.

Story – Prepare for a Date!

I find it particularly impossible to talk about the short and simple story of this game without ruining the whole point of it, so I’ll try my best to not spoil anything.

Lacey is a regular girl who needs to get dressed up for several different occasions, which are all pretty normal at first glance. However, each outfit selection gets progressively stranger because we end up finding out (very soon in my opinion) that something, or someone, is watching us. Watching and following Lacey with an unspecified goal wherever she goes.

It’s pretty notorious that even the “original” Lacey’s Wardrobe was inspired by Doki Doki Literature Club! in some of its ways of presenting a jumpscare or breaking the fourth wall at times. However, this version is even more inspired by the aforementioned horror masterpiece, especially towards the end of the full 30 minutes of gameplay. The anti-climatic fourth wall break of the end was considerably bland in my opinion, but it works for a decent ending of… whatever the story tried to say.

Prepare the perfect outfit for every fun activity!

I feel the story is all over the place, like, I don’t even know what was the actual point of it. As some of the users commented below the original Lacey’s Wardrobe video, it feels like a metaphor of how girls’ games show how “cute” and “colorful” it is to be a girl, when in reality it’s very different considering the world we live in. However, I think this game didn’t scratch that point at all (besides the first original ending) and goes deeper into the concept of helping a video game character escape from the nightmares they’re trapped in. Despite I felt this made the game maybe too inspired by Doki Doki Literature Club, I still believe Lacey’s Wardrobe is a unique type of game with many elements I didn’t see before in a horror game.

I actually liked the addition of new endings regarding the original video, most of them are pretty unexpected and the jumpscares were well-placed. In terms of story, the game is good. There’s nothing outstanding to mention other than you will definitely get creeped out by it, but there’s definitely a decent amount of cleverness in Lacey’s Wardrobe.

There will be a few surprises while you dress Lacey up!

Gameplay – Dress Lacey Up!

The gameplay is extremely simple but a little bit frustrating at times. We have to constantly select the outfits for Lacey and get her ready for whatever appointment she has that day. Most of the outfits you select have no impact on the game’s progression, but some of them are important to get most of the six endings it includes.

The outfits you need to select for each occasion to get a certain ending aren’t very intuitive at all. I had to end up looking for a guide after getting most of the game’s endings because I didn’t know how to progress any further (because some of the endings work as a “game over” screen). And that ruined the immersion for me because it kept reminding me that it was not actually a lost 2006 mysterious flash game that I was playing, but rather another horror game that intended to startle me a few times.

There are also some intended bugs in some parts of the game, however, some of them don’t feel intentional. I believe loading a save was the most buggy thing of the entire experience, but we will never know which bugs were intended and which weren’t. I think my main complaint about this is that loading a save shouldn’t be as complicated as it was in some specific sections of the game.

Dress Lacey up for every occasion!

Graphics & Sound – Nightmare Fuel (I Mean, Cute & Adorable!)

The graphics and music were as you would expect them to be. Disturbing, awkward, and unbearable at times. The drawings are so simple yet can make you easily uncomfortable from the very beginning, which I actually liked about the game. I feel the developer could have played a little bit more with the music, but the overall sound of the game was on point nonetheless. There were parts where I was definitely not expecting certain sound effects and they gave me a good scare. The jumpscares didn’t feel boring or cliché, I have to say I actually loved them and I think some of the bigger horror franchises should take note of games like this one. A jumpscare that gets followed by an uneasy feeling and an awkward silence is exactly how it should be. I loved that they didn’t just startle me, but they made me uncomfortable after they occurred. That, ladies and gentlemen, is actual psychological horror.

Lacey’s Wardrobe was reviewed on PC.