Jumpscares

Jumpscares are a commonly utilized scare tactic meant to activate the real player's Fight-or-flight response which causes momentary unease for a split second as the player attempts to unravel what happened. These types of scares last very briefly, as they are meant to spook the player.

It is unknown how the protagonist responds to jumpscares, however, they often vaguely describe the jumpscares as "something weird" which is usually qualified with "just happened".

Reception
Jumpscares in Simulacra are viewed as a narrative crutch by reviewers including Nightmind, as instead of a tangible sense of dread that the player slowly draws nearer toward the source of which is usually qualified as true horror, scares are delivered instantaneously, quashing any semblance of suspense or elements that put the player on the edge of their seat rather than jumping out of it.

As the game simultaneously excels at suspenseful horror with the phone being in the player's face, obscuring their view of what could be in front of them, the successful dread is muddied by the mere presence of jumpscares.

The sounds that randomly trigger outside of the phone range from achieving the true horror aspect, such as footsteps, to audio jumpscares such as a sudden gasp which contradict each other, confusing the atmosphere.