The Park is a first-person psychological horror game set in the same universe as the MMORPG The Secret World by the same developer. It starts in the parking lot of the Atlantic Island Park just after closing time and it is played from the perspective of a woman called Lorraine. Her son Callum is waiting in the car and when she walks up to the ticket office, Callum runs past her into the park, so the attendant lets her in to fetch her son. Lorraine gets to explore the park at the moment it is already almost dark. It quickly becomes a very different location when more of the background story is revealed.
There is free movement, but generally only a linear path to follow. The game focuses on letting the player experience the story and there are no action or puzzle elements. Lorraine can optionally interact with certain items such as objects, letters and books to examine them. In certain cases it is also possible to rotate the objects. This is not mandatory, but often reveals more of the circumstances. The same goes for going on certain rides. At other times Lorraine narrates a part of her life story herself. The right mouse button is used to call Callum. He responds, usually running off in the distance, and often it is a way to follow a path to a next event. A separate button is used to toggle running instead of walking.
The game has horror elements and a number of scares that later on take on a more psychological nature. An evil force is present in the park and Lorraine fears it is after her son. During the course of the story much is revealed about Lorraine's life and her son, her link to the park, the history of the park and its owner, and how the community reacted to it. The game can generally be completed in less than two hours.
