Doll Impostor Review: Creepy Dolls, Deduction, and Pure Panic
If you’ve ever had a doll staring at you from across the room and thought, “That thing wants me dead”, congratulations – you’re already halfway to understanding Doll Impostor.
The game has officially crawled out of Early Access and into full release on Steam, and it’s every bit as unnerving as you’d expect of a game themed around nightmare-fueled dolls.
So What is Doll Imposter?
At its core, Doll Impostor is a deduction-based horror experience.
You’re dropped into environments stuffed with lifeless dolls, but one of them isn’t just decoration. It’s a killer. Your job is to figure out which doll is the impostor before morning or things get…messy. Think of it as Among Us or Town of Salem meets Child’s Play, but with fewer memes and way more porcelain death glares.
The premise is simple: watch the dolls, bait them with environmental triggers, and use your wits to catch the faker. Easier said than done when you’re constantly side-eyeing every plastic smile in the room.
How Doll Imposter Plays
The gameplay leans heavily on observation, deduction, and a dash of activating trap cards.
Each doll has a little personality dossier with likes, hates, quirks, and relationships that help you separate the good from the bad. Flip on the TV, play some music, or shuffle objects around and see who reacts wrong. The real impostor eventually slips up.
Video: Doll Imposter Circus | HeadArrow Studios
Modes range from chill to nightmare fuel:
Easy Mode gives you labels and training wheels.
Normal/Nightmare? No labels, no mercy, and the impostor’s a master of mimicry.
Race Mode makes you figure it out in three minutes flat.
Endless Mode keeps going until your nerves fry.
Maps include everything from cozy cabins to circuses and now – the brand-new Toy Factory. That one cranks up the industrial dread. Each space isn’t just a backdrop. It’s a pressure cooker for paranoia.
What’s New in the Full Release
The official launch (Update 15) cleaned up a mountain of beta issues. Floating dolls, busted jumpscares, contracts not counting—patched. The devs even noted that over 11% of the entire player base tested the beta, their highest number ever. That means what you’re playing now is the smoothest version yet, and yeah, it shows.
Here’s the Toy Factory spotlight video they dropped, showing off the map’s vibes:
My First Few Nights in Creepy Doll Hell
Playing Doll Impostor feels deceptively simple: just watch the dolls, record changes, go to the next night – rinse and repeat.
But once you’re in it, that simplicity hits hard. I found myself leaning way too close to the screen, scanning for micro-movements like playing a demonic Where’s Waldo. One night I baited the impostor with music, only to watch a stiff little nightmare twitch at the wrong moment.
Chills. Actual goosebumps.
The atmosphere is what makes it work. You’re not just solving puzzles. You’re trapped in a slow-burn panic, waiting for the impostor to blink wrong and on the edge of your seat to out what happened overnight.
Even when you win, you’re sweating like you just slammed a bottle of Cholula.
Why Doll Imposter Works
Honestly – horror is a tough genre to stand out in these days, but Doll Impostor nails it by doing something most games avoid. It makes you paranoid in silence. No endless jump-scare spam, no cheap tricks.
Just you, your deduction skills, and a room full of dolls that might kill you.
Video: Doll Imposter Campground | HeadArrow Studios
Replay value is high too. Endless mode dares you to keep going, Nightmare laughs in your face, and co-op play lets you drag a friend into the madness. Plus, it’s optimized for Steam Deck, VR, and Remote Play, so you can get creeped out however you like.
Admittedly, I haven’t tried it out on my Quest 3 yet and probably not going to…the little things freak me out enough on PC, thanks.
Why Doll Imposter Works
Doll Impostor doesn’t need gore or blockbuster visuals to freak you out. It weaponizes the uncanny valley and dares you to stare back.
For horror fans who love deduction and dread in equal measure, this one’s worth your time. Just…maybe don’t visit your grandma and her doll collection anytime in the near future.
If you want to try playing with dolls in the most manly way possible, grab Doll Imposter for yourself on Steam!
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