Demo guiding the way to Static Dread: 15 Nights at the Old Lighthouse 

• Announcements by Jack Allin
• Published:

Horror-themed procedural described as "Lovecraft meets Papers, Please" coming in August to Steam

Being a lighthouse keeper must be a lonely job that would test anyone's mental stability at the best of times. All the more so, however, when the planet's atmosphere is going berserk, the ships in your care start encountering unexplained phenomena, and you may not actually be imagining the ghosts and cosmic horrors you think you see in solarsuit.games' upcoming horror-themed procedural, Static Dread: 15 Nights at the Old Lighthouse.

Following a "global cataclysm" that has left the entire world shrouded in an aurora that wreaks havoc on navigational equipment, the harbor authorities have decided to reactivate the ancient Outsmouth Lighthouse in an effort to "keep the seas navigable amidst the growing chaos." With a wife and child at home, you are the latest in a long line of seemingly ill-fated keepers assigned to man the lighthouse and its life-saving beacon, putting "the fate of passing vessels and the nearby town" in your hands. At first the tasks are straightforward, but each night becomes more challenging and perilous than the last. You'll need to maintain your courage, your health and your wits in order to successfully "guide the vessels entrusted to [you] through the abyss." If not, perhaps you too are destined to be "lost to the dark tides gathering beneath the surface of the world."

Accurately described as "Lovecraft meets Papers, Please," Static Dread promises a "unique blend of atmospheric storytelling and bureaucratic gameplay." Presented in first-person, free-roaming 3D, the game doesn't ever make you roam very far as the entire story takes place in and around the eerily lit lighthouse you're tending. As its sole keeper, you must to ensure the power stays on and the beacon remains functioning, in between monitoring the radio for any incoming transmissions. It's your job to chart safe courses for ships passing through the area, based on a variety of conditions that become increasingly complex. You'll also need to balance interactions with the nearby villagers who drop in, each with their unique personalities and agendas, and keep yourself physically fit with a limited budget for food and other supplies. 

All that would make an interesting enough procedural on its own, but really it's just scratching the surface, as underneath the game's natural events are the supernatural ones just waiting to be let out. You'll receive mariner reports of "encounters with creatures beyond the reach of science" and ships that "drift back from distant waters – empty, their crews vanished without a trace." Meanwhile, in the neighbouring fishing village, "the locals whisper prayers to sea gods and perform rituals to raise the dead." Even you begin hallucinating shadows in the dark – perhaps from lack of hunger, or are they really hallucinations at all? And who is behind the ominous radio transmissions that threaten you with every key decision you make? It's all a delicate balancing act in a game that forces you to navigate not just ships but also "moral dilemmas, eldritch mysteries, and the creeping dread of the unknown." The stakes are critical, for yourself and for others, as "every decision can lead to salvation – or doom."

You can already mark your calendars for the full version of Static Dread: 15 Nights at the Old Lighthouse, as the game is due to launch on Steam on August 7th. But you don't have to wait until then for a sample taste of what to expect, as a playable demo allows you to spend your first few nights all alone in the dark.