How do you guys handle it?

[Eigenmusic]

I find that I seriously have to push myself mentally to continue. I'm a desk-ridden engineering student, but I have had to force my way through some pretty strenuous physical labor in the past; my ability to push myself further through the game comes from the same place that keeps me running long after I've hit what I thought would be too far.
When you hit that "runner's high" in the game; that is the ultimate sense of full immersion. Amnesia gives me the mental equivalent of a marathon run!

[CHANCEPHOENIX]

lol , (way) back in the days ...

THIS was wut scared me :

[Mekose]

This is my trick. Friends. I have played through nearly the entire game with my buddy in Canada on the other end. We talk over voice chat and play the same areas at the same time. We talk out strategies and theories on the story. We laugh our asses off when the other one starts crying like a little girl. If one of us goes ahead, we wait for them to catch up. We describe the environment and set up markers for quick reference. We renamed all the scary shit in the game to soften the blow. The fleshy castle mold we called "Grace", so it's kind of funny to enter "a room full of Grace". We renamed the grunt "Mr. Sacky", the Water Horror "Splashy Mcgee". We renamed the brute "Tinny". When we get too afraid or flustered after a big scare we sit in a corner and joke around. Having someone else really takes the complete isolation aspect away, which to me is the scariest part of the game. Being alone is one my worst fears. I wouldn't even attempt to play this game alone. My heart couldn't take it.

[Hannibal]

With scary games like this, I find that I can't play for more than 20-minute intervals (need to relieve the tension, you know?). But I know there are people that just sit down and play and play and play. So how do you guys manage to do that? What makes you keep going?

Well, I'm your typical horror fan, and I've just seen it all before--The Devil's Rejects, Saw, The Mist, Drag Me to Hell, and The Descent. I've read Clive Barker, Dean Koontz, and Stephen King. In real life I've seen limbs lost and the aftermath of a fatal car crash. And some nastier things I would prefer not to mention. :hrug::

I played for hours at a time to feel immersed in the experience, but, a big compliment to the game, I was startled a few times before I finished, and I cut short one play session because I felt uneasy. Spoiler:

Spoiler below!

It was in the morgue... the part where you drill a hole through someone's head, then a damn zombie begins breaking the door down, and you have to hide amongst the corpses...

[autumnsleaf]

Would be nice if the game had places where you can relieve the tension. Like, I remember in Penumbra (too scary, couldn't even finish it) there was on the first level this room with a very soothing music in it, and there was a broken roof and the light was spilling down. Very beautiful there. Very good to just stand there and take deep breaths before going out further.

In Amnesia, there's this place where there's piano music being played, but it's meant to scare you cause nobody is supposed to be there, but I was thinking wouldn't be awesome if, together will all these scary rooms and corridors there were also rooms where you can relieve the tension? Listen to piano music?

Naah, the game needs to be scary as it is. All the way cause then.... where's the real immersion?
I started playing a few days ago... This game is one of the best games ever. I seriously love the environment the feeling, the idea of game, the.... I don't know I just love everything. Especially love going really slow around places cause I'm too scared to move too fast (weird huh), but you get to appreciate places much more that way. I noticed that if you play quite long the fear transforms into adrenaline that helps you overcome a very tiny slice of your "feeling haunted" thing, but you never get rid of it completely (and that's a great thing). The only problem is that I too... Need quite a few breaks sometimes and am always scared to continue, but I always end up satisfied after I do.. So I just plug courage up the best I can and double click that "Amnesia the dark descent" icon and make myself be absorbed. Thank you Frictional Games for this masterpiece.

[ThePaSch]

Short answer, regarding the thread title?

I don't.

[Macil]

I had to cheat with some lights a few times (I don't regret it!) ... but that's quite a statement for me. No other movie, game, book, or real life experience has scared me as much as this game.

Which is why I loved the game to bits.

If you're looking for some practical tips, I can offer a few.

You can, of course, just refuse to suspend your disbelief -- as another poster mentioned -- which would kill your fear altogether, but then what's the point?

So let's assume you set your "reasoning" mind aside while playing and get immersed.

There are generally three classic ways to trigger events: picking up stuff, switching stuff or stepping on stuff. Before grabbing a plot item or flipping a switch, check out the area (grab goodies) and make a mental map of whats-what. Floor triggers are not as easily avoidable.

Always know the place you'll hide if you need to run and make sure you have multiple spots -- pick the spot that is closest and remind yourself in your head which spot you'll go to as your position changes.

I also liked to "create" hiding places in each new area I went with boxes, crates and barrels. The game will reset these if you zone out, but setting up little "hidey holes" are useful for both hiding and morale boosting.

Conserve your oil and tenderboxes. Use them when you get really scared -- not all the time. Its a huge morale boost when you have a stockpile of this stuff. You can also use tenderboxes to "mark" strategic spots -- like the end of a hall, or a turn in a corridor.

Spoiler below!

My massive stockpile made Storage a lot easier for me because I lit the place up like the Fourth of July.

Recognize monster screams and the "something lurking" music. Run when you hear it. Turn your lantern off by reflex if its on. Keep hidden and your lantern off until the music goes away.

Always close doors. It breaks line of sight and slows monsters down.

When you find a closet, make sure you clear it out so you can get inside. You might also try to place an object in front of one of the doors, so its less likely to accidentally swing open. Its easy to make mistakes when you're in panic-mode.

And don't stare at monsters. Seriously. You lose sanity and it makes it a lot easier for them to see you. If you can't find a good place to hide, then its better to find a bit of darkness, duck down and stare at the wall.

If its still too much, you can always "cheat" and pause the game with the escape key for a breather.

Hope that helps.

[Mjarr]

Short answer: I didn't need to.

Long answer: thanks to balls of steel (snarf snarf), I didn't have any issues playing the game even in middle of the night in pitch black room. There was few moments where heartbeat rate went up slightly, few genuine startles and atleast one scare to the point it chilled my spine even for a split second, but nothing too special.

The scare:

Spoiler below!

the iron maiden in the huge hall that leads to torture chambers. I didn't see that one coming at all

(And yes, for some reason it takes seriously major effort\weird stuff to give me even a proper startle in a game, and those rare (horror) games that gave me some sort of startle - or even an actual brief scare - are limited down to five games in the past 10 years)

[Mr. X]

I spam my friends on steam telling them whats happening. Relaxes me :3 Though they do get annoyed at my spam at times.

[Gunslingerjh]

After i had to much scares, i need a break ;-)