Demo illuminates Candlelight: Lament on Steam

• Announcements by Jack Allin
• Published:

Expanded version of black-and-white Lovecraftian 2D point-and-click horror adventure in development for PC

You could literally say that Candelight: Lament has had an on again/off again experience, as its initial bare-boned "Prologue" version was removed following its debut on Steam. The good news, however, is that the side-scrolling Lovecraftian point-and-click adventure from Lawsquare133 will be returning soon enough in its full, completed form, and a new demo is available to show off its progress.

Following a series of unexplained mass disappearances in Tames City, rumours of "eerie beings and horrible creatures" began to spread among the spooked residents. An older gentleman named Ed "broke the curfew to visit his friends in order to find out the truth of his granddaughter's disappearance," but what he discovered was "far more terrible than he thought." Throughout the game, players will assume the role of four different characters investigating the mystery in search of answers. But this is no ordinary missing persons case, as everything changes when you "awaken in the Back World, an ancient, sinking civilization." There you will need to explore unfamiliar surroundings, interrogate the people you meet, and keep your wits about you as you "carefully study objects to discover hidden secrets that will lead you to the truth."

Conceived as "a series of interactive videos," Candlelight proved so popular on the Chinese social network BiliBili that its indie creator decided to "adapt the videos into a full-fledged video game and add more stories and characters into this Lovecraftian-inspired world." As with its video predecessors, the side-scrolling game is presented in a distinctive hand-drawn black-and-white aesthetic "inspired by 70s art." Although heavily steeped in a haunting atmosphere of dread, the experience is meant to represent a "chill" kind of psychological horror that can be enjoyed by everyone, even those who are usually too timid to play such games.

Originally released as Candlelight for Windows PC in May 2022, its return has been rebranded with the new subtitle on Steam. (Those who purchased the earlier version of the game can rest assured that it will be updated free upon final release.) There is still no word on when it will be complete, but a playable demo is available now now to download for a sample taste of what to expect.